Kindle is out of stock on a large scale or will it withdraw from the Chinese market? Amazon: Some models are sold out

Reporter | Wu Yangyu

January 4 news, this morning, some consumers reported that Amazon's e-reading product Kindle is out of stock in a large area, related reports questioned whether the business will withdraw from the Chinese market.

It is understood that at present, Kindle's official flagship store on Taobao has been closed, and only one e-reader released in March 2019 is still on sale in Jingdong's self-operated flagship store, and the rest of the Kindle paperwhite and so on are showing a sold-out status.

The interface news reporter then asked Amazon's official for verification, and the other party responded, "The Kindle e-book reader is favored by consumers, and some models are currently sold out in the Chinese market." ”

"We are committed to serving Chinese consumers. Consumers can purchase Kindle devices through third-party online and offline retailers. The high-quality customer service and warranty services provided by Amazon will not change. ”

Judging from the response, Amazon did not answer the future direction of Kindle in the Chinese market, and the only thing that can be determined is that Kindle's business in China has not been affected. However, the closure of official sales channels and insufficient supply, coupled with Amazon's statement that the service and warranty service remain unchanged, there is indeed a possibility that the subsequent Kindle will not be sold in China, but will only maintain the daily operation of existing users.

Although "Kindle's withdrawal from the Chinese market" is still rumored, the current scene is difficult to ignore.

Since the closure of Amazon's local e-commerce business in China in 2019, Kindle and cross-border trade are the few businesses that Amazon has left in China.

It is difficult to find data that can explain the current situation of Kindle, but from the relevant reports in 2019, there are third-party data that show that Kindle once occupied more than 65% of the market share in China, which can be described as a monopoly.

However, according to the data compiled by the China Commercial Industry Research Institute, the domestic e-reader market in which Kindle is located, on the one hand, is small in scale, and on the other hand, the growth rate is slow, and the market size from 2014 to 2017 is 30, 32, 34 and 3.7 billion yuan, with an average annual growth rate of around 7%.

In addition, since this market has been reclaimed, many domestic brands such as Palm Reading, Reading Text, JD.com, Dangdang, and Wenshi have also successively launched their own e-book reader products, and the degree of competition is intensifying.

In fact, Kindle's Chinese market business has been quite valued, for example, the Kindle Paperwhite launched in 2019 has a very detailed localization transformation, and its color naming includes ink black, fog blue, smoke purple, jade Qing, based on traditional Chinese pigment colors, ink, fog, smoke, jade is also a very clear Chinese cultural symbol. Not only that, Kindle has also released co-brand products with Migu and launched a joint gift box with the Forbidden City culture and Dunhuang culture.

It can be said that after officially entering the Chinese market in 2013, Kindle is one of Amazon's most successful businesses in China. From the perspective of brand recognition, Kindle is basically equivalent to "e-book" in the minds of domestic consumers.

Once the Kindle does withdraw from the Chinese market, Amazon's presence in China will be further reduced.