Amazon’s Kindle China official website announced on June 30, 2024, that the cloud download service for Kindle e-books was discontinued on June 30, 2024, and as a result, undownloaded e-books can no longer be downloaded and read, with Kindle customer service support also ending on that day. This marks the complete withdrawal of Amazon’s Kindle e-book store from the Chinese market.
Kindle, an e-reader launched by the global tech giant Amazon, is known for its e-ink screen, which is believed to be eye-friendly and convenient for reading, providing a blend of the experience of physical books and the convenience of an e-reader. Since its inception in 2007, e-books have become one of Amazon’s fastest-growing product categories, sparking a global craze for e-book reading.
In June 2013, Kindle entered the Chinese market, allowing Chinese users to purchase, download, and read e-books, newspapers, magazines, blogs, and other electronic media using wireless networks. Following its introduction into China, Kindle quickly gained popularity among young Chinese students.
Data shows that between 2013 and 2018, Amazon sold millions of Kindle reading devices in China. An internal Amazon document in 2018 stated that by the end of 2017, China had become the largest market for Kindle, with device sales accounting for over 40% of the global market share.
Ten years after Kindle’s entry into China, the Chinese e-book market witnessed the emergence of domestic brands such as iFlytek, Huawei, Palm Reading, Waveshare, and WeChat Reading, posing a certain challenge to Kindle’s market share. With the rapid expansion of 4G and 5G networks in China, consumer demand for e-book readers has sharply declined. In recent years, Kindle’s presence in the Chinese market has continued to shrink.
In June 2022, Amazon announced the cessation of operations for the Kindle China e-book store on June 30, 2023. After this date, users were no longer able to purchase new e-books. For those who had already purchased e-books, they were allowed to download them until June 30, 2024, and continue reading them thereafter.
At 6 p.m. on June 30, 2023, Amazon ceased the operation of the Kindle e-book store in China.
The complete withdrawal of the Kindle e-book store from China has led many netizens to express regret, with some describing Kindle as another example, after Nokia, of “going from glory to decline” in the Chinese market.
Some view Kindle as “tears of the times,” while others find it unacceptable, as Kindle held many memories of their youthful days. With Kindle exiting China, what will be its replacement?
In addition to the shutdown of the Kindle e-book store, Amazon has been continuously adjusting its business in the Chinese market in recent years. Influenced by intense competition in the retail sector and the impact of Chinese e-commerce platforms, Amazon closed its domestic e-commerce business in China in 2019.