News: 1654241559

  ARM Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set fire to him and he's warm for the rest of his life (Terry Pratchett, Jingo)

Amazon’s Kindle bookstore to quit China

(2022/06/03)


Amazon.com has decided to end its Kindle digital book business in China.

A [1]statement posted to the Kindle China WeChat account states that Amazon has already stopped sending new Kindle devices to resellers and will cease operations of the Kindle China e-bookstore on June 30, 2023. The Kindle app will last another year, allowing users to download previously purchased e-books. But after June 30, 2024, Kindle devices in China won’t be able to access content.

An accompanying FAQ doesn’t offer a reason for the decision, but an Amazon spokesperson told [2]Reuters “We periodically evaluate our offerings and make adjustments, wherever we operate.”

[3]

The WeChat statement says Amazon’s other businesses in China will continue. “We have established an extensive business base in China and will continue to innovate and invest,” the statement reads (after machine translation).

[4]

[5]

Amazon has offered those who have acquired a Kindle device during 2022 a refund – provided they send the device back by October 31st. Only working devices are eligible for the refund, and buyers won’t receive a payment for cases and other peripherals.

China’s web giants have created their own e-bookstores and their enormous customer bases probably made China a tough market for Amazon. China’s many crackdowns on content felt to be a threat the Communist Party, or the development of the young, or both, may also have proven difficult for Amazon to implement.

[6]India probes ZTE and Vivo over finances, sparking Chinese protests

[7]China’s top court calls for blockchain to record vast number of transactions

[8]Drone ship carrying yet more drones launches in China

[9]No more DRM-free downloads as Amazon's ComiXology app set to disappear inside Kindle

Amazon’s departure was sufficiently big news that, [10]according to Chinese outlet Pandaily , it rated a mention at the Ministry of Commerce’s daily press briefing.

Ministry spokesperson Gao Feng reportedly said that businesses routinely adjust their activities as they see fit, adding that Amazon’s decision should in no way be taken as a sign that foreign investment in China is waning.

[11]

The Register awaits the sequel to that story. ®

Get our [12]Tech Resources



[1] https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/jJG36Hbrw2-ZeUT3aDXKBA

[2] https://au.news.yahoo.com/1-amazon-pull-kindle-china-074608839.html

[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YpnbxgoavnButDs9jvPBKQAAAIk&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0

[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YpnbxgoavnButDs9jvPBKQAAAIk&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YpnbxgoavnButDs9jvPBKQAAAIk&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[6] https://www.theregister.com/2022/06/01/india_china_zte_vivo_probe/

[7] https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/31/china_supreme_court_blockchain_opinion/

[8] https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/29/unmanned_dronecarrying_research_ship_launches/

[9] https://www.theregister.com/2022/01/14/comixology_kindle/

[10] https://pandaily.com/amazons-kindle-e-bookstore-to-withdraw-from-china/

[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YpnbxgoavnButDs9jvPBKQAAAIk&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[12] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/



Is "The Brick" a modern Tarot card?

Notas Badoff

"But after June 30, 2024, Kindle devices in China won’t be able to access content."

This is the part that makes me never want to buy any of the "magic boxes" on offer. The disappearing trick...

Re: Is "The Brick" a modern Tarot card?

entfe001

In Capitalist Amazon, their products own you

"Amazon’s decision should [not] be taken as a sign that foreign investment in China is waning"

Pascal Monett

So I'll wait for the list of all the multinationals based outside of China that are not investing (or outright pulling out) in China to make up my own opinion ?

Maybe if China stopped forcing foreign companies to consent to placing a Chinese national they don't control, investment would start flowing again ?

All too slow

steviebuk

Azure announced a few months back it had opened new Azure points in China ignoring its CCP issues. An knob Elon has invested in China with his car factory and claimed how they are leading the way with electric cars. Totally ignoring the fact they are also a massive coal miner and still burn it.

Re: All too slow

VoiceOfTruth

-> CCP issues

Do you mean the CCP which has raised hundreds of millions of Chinese people out of poverty? There's quite a few brain dead westerners who shriek like McCarthy about reds under the beds, all the while crapping over their own people.

But, officer, he's not drunk, I just saw his fingers twitch!