Amazon Pulls the Plug on Kindle Services in China, Users Prepare for E-Book Drought
Beijing: Amazon, the US tech giant, has made the decision to shut down its Kindle online services in China, which could be attributed to the wide coverage of 4G and 5G mobile networks and the increasing popularity of smartphones among Chinese consumers. This move marks the end of Amazon’s efforts to compete in the vast Chinese consumer market and has left avid readers scrambling to stock up on e-books before the service discontinues.
In recent years, Amazon has faced tough competition from local Chinese rivals like Alibaba and JD.com, leading to the closure of its online retail operations for Chinese consumers in 2019. Last year, the company also announced its decision to cease operations of the Kindle e-bookstore in China without providing a specific reason.
Starting from Friday, Kindle users will no longer be able to purchase new books online, although they will still have access to their purchased books for another year. Anticipating the deadline, Chinese users have been rushing to download and stock up on e-books.
The Kindle e-reader had gained significant popularity in China, with millions of devices sold between 2013 and 2018, as reported by China Daily. However, industry experts suggest that the widespread availability of 4G and 5G mobile networks, coupled with the prevalence of smartphones, has made dedicated e-book readers like Kindle less relevant in the Chinese market.
Zhang Yi, the founder of iiMedia, a research firm based in Guangzhou, explained that Chinese users have shown limited demand for e-book readers based on their user behavior research. Additionally, the ease of access to free e-books and the affordability of printed books have rendered the Kindle store less valuable in China, according to Li Chengdong, the founder of Dolphin, a tech-focused think tank in Beijing.
However, for Kindle enthusiasts like Zoe Xu, the closure of the e-bookstore is a source of disappointment. Xu, an avid reader, expressed her sadness about the closure, highlighting the difficulty of transitioning to a new platform after being accustomed to using Kindle for a decade. In response to the closure, she has purchased and downloaded enough books to last her for years.
Another user on Xiaohongshu, a social media platform, disclosed spending 2500 yuan ($345) on e-books in the past month, demonstrating the rush among readers to secure their preferred titles before the Kindle services end.
