Amazon online Kindle store opens in China

Hot on the heels of the news that Apple intends to release its iPad Mini and iPad 4 in China comes the announcement made on December 13, 2012 that Amazon have extended their Chinese business ventures to now include an online Kindle store offering e-books and apps. Although now considered to be likely, an Amazon spokesman did not reveal whether or not this meant Amazon was planning on officially introducing products such as the Kindle and Kindle Fire to China.

Amazon is well known in China, having had an online presence in the country since 2004 after buying out the website Joyo.com. The 3G version of the Kindle is very popular in the Chinese "gray" market, which is a legal but unauthorized method of distributing certain goods. It appears the popularity of this particular device is down to the fact it can bypass the restrictive internet censorship measures put in place by the Chinese government, also known as the "Great Firewall", and allows users access to blocked sites such as Facebook.

With an estimated internet user base of over half a billion people in China, Amazon will likely be looking to become an official retailer in the Chinese market. The Kindle Touch and Kindle Fire have already received approval from the board of the State Radio Regulation of China.

Source(s)