E-commerce titan Amazon is pulling out its kindle business from China. The company said on Thursday that it will cut its supply of Kindle e-readers to Chinese retailers. It also said that it will shut down its Kindle e-bookstore in the country by next year.
Amazon is the latest US company pulling out of the restrictive Chinese market. Last year, Microsoft pulled out its professional platform LinkedIn from the Chinese market. The decision follows a number of regulatory changes and actions from regulators in the country which have put tech companies, both local and foreign, in tight spots. The decision to pull out LinkedIn from the Chinese market also followed after Microsoft came under regulators’ watch for deciding to block the profiles of some U.S. journalists in China.
The announcement to pull out its Kindle business from China was announced via Amazon’s WeChat account on Thursday. The company said that it made the decision because it was adjusting the strategic focus of its operations. It also added that its other businesses in the country will continue.
Starting from the 30th of June 2023, the Kindle China e-bookstore will halt sales of e-books but customers will be able to download already purchased book for another year. Subsequently, in 2024, the Kindle app will be totally removed from all Chinese app stores.
Amazon noted that its decision to close down its Kindle business was not due to pressure from the government or censorship. In an emailed statement, an Amazon spokesperson said that “We remain committed to our customers in China. As a global business, we periodically evaluate our offerings and make adjustments, wherever we operate. With our portfolio of businesses in China, we will continue to innovate and invest where we can provide value to our customers.”
Amazon’s remaining businesses in China include cross-border e-commerce, advertising and cloud services after it shut down its China online store in 2019.
