Jul 02, 2024 07:24 PM
BUSINESS
Analysis: Why Kindle Couldn’t Keep the China Fire Burning
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Amazon’s e-reader failed to tailor its products to local customers as well as its competition. Photo: VCG
The shutdown of the Kindle e-bookstore in China shows how Amazon.com Inc. failed to keep up with the Chinese e-reader market and tailor its products and services to local customers as well as its domestic competition.
On Monday, Amazon completed the last phase of its exit from the Chinese market, leaving local users no longer able to download books they had purchased from the Kindle store. It also discontinued customer service for Kindle users in China, according to an announcement on Amazon’s China website.
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- Amazon shut down the Kindle e-bookstore in China, concluding its exit by ceasing downloads and customer service for Kindle users.
- Originally popular, Kindle's market share declined due to competition from domestic apps and a shift towards smartphone reading.
- The trend reflects broader U.S. tech companies' retreat from China, including Microsoft’s retail closures and LinkedIn and Airbnb ceasing operations.
AI generated, for reference only
Who’s Who
- Amazon.com Inc.
- Amazon.com Inc. exited the Chinese market, completing its withdrawal by shutting down the Kindle e-bookstore. It stopped supplying Kindle devices in June 2022 and sales of e-books by June 2023. Despite initial success, Amazon failed to keep pace with local competitors and consumers' shift to smartphone reading. The company is among several U.S. tech firms, including Microsoft and LinkedIn, that have recently pulled back from China.
- Qimao
- Qimao is a domestic competitor to Amazon's Kindle in China. It offers a more extensive library of popular novels compared to the Kindle, making it a preferred choice for many Chinese readers. As domestic apps proved more convenient, Qimao contributed to shifting user preferences away from e-readers towards smartphones for reading, impacting Kindle's market share in China.
- ByteDance Ltd.
- ByteDance Ltd. is mentioned in the article as the owner of Fanqie Novel, a popular digital reading platform in China. Fanqie Novel, along with other domestic competitors, offered a larger library of popular novels compared to Amazon's Kindle China store, contributing to the latter's struggle to retain users.
- Fanqie Novel
- Fanqie Novel, owned by ByteDance Ltd., is a domestic competitor in China that offers a vast library of popular novels. Unlike Amazon's Kindle, Fanqie Novel caters more to the preferences of Chinese readers, contributing to Kindle's declining appeal in China. The convenience and extensive selection on platforms like Fanqie Novel have made them more favorable among users.
- Tencent Holdings Ltd.
- Tencent Holdings Ltd. is mentioned in the article as the company behind WeChat, which launched a reader app in 2015 incorporating social media features. This app allows users to see what their friends are reading and discuss books, contributing to the trend of reading on mobile devices rather than e-readers in China.
- Microsoft Corp.
- According to the article, Microsoft Corp. has closed all its retail stores on the Chinese mainland as of June 30. While Microsoft didn’t comment directly, the company stated it is consolidating its channels in the mainland market. Consumers can still purchase Microsoft products and services through its website and certain retail partners.
- Airbnb Inc.
- San Francisco-based Airbnb Inc. ceased operating in China in May 2022 due to the impact of harsh Covid-19 restrictions on its business.
AI generated, for reference only
What Happened When
- June 2013：
- Kindle entered the China market.
- Before the end of 2017：
- China became Kindle’s largest market, accounting for more than 40% of global sales.
- June 2022：
- Amazon announced it would stop supplying Kindle devices to retailers in China and stop selling e-books from June 30, 2023.
- June 30, 2023：
- Amazon stopped selling e-books in China and allowed users to download purchased books until June 30, 2024.
- 2023：
- The number of online readers in China reached 570 million, and total revenue of the digital reading market rose to 56.7 billion yuan.
- August 2023：
- Microsoft-owned LinkedIn shut down its professional social networking platform on the mainland.
- April 2024：
- The 2023 China Digital Reading Report was released, indicating an increase in online readers.
- June 30, 2024：
- Amazon allowed users to download purchased books until this day.
- As of June 30, 2024：
- The American tech giant Microsoft closed all of its retail stores on the Chinese mainland.
AI generated, for reference only
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