Is this the new Kindle? Internet rumours are swirling that Amazon will unveil the second-generation Kindle at a New York City press conference on Feb. 9. And while some commentators question whether or not the market for dedicated e-book readers can really sustain a new model, financial figures released yesterday suggest that Amazon is having a good enough year to experiment.

Despite a disastrous quarter for bricks-and-mortar retailers in the U.S., Amazon’s Q4 sales were up 18% to 6.7-billion for the three months ending Dec. 31, 2008. And while precise figures for Kindle sales are still hazy, the company is boasting that the selection of downloadable e-books is growing apace. From GalleyCat:

The company’s press release also noted that Amazon Kindle digital titles increased to 45,000 at the end of the year “ 103 of the 112 books on the NY Times bestseller list.