Amazon is Closing its Kindle Store in China
American multinational e-commerce company, Amazon is shutting down its Kindle bookstore in China, which marks yet another retreat by a Western tech giant in the world’s second biggest economy.
Amazon announced that from July 2023, Kindle users will not be able to buy online books in the country.
However, existing customers will be able to download previously purchased titles until June 2024. Amazon (AMZN) also added it would stop supplying Kindle devices to retailers beginning from Thursday this week.
According to a statement, “Amazon China’s long-term commitment to customers will not change. We have established an extensive business foundation in China and will continue to innovate and invest.”
The move adds to a series of corporate withdrawals from China in recent months. Just last week, Airbnb (ABNB) announced that it would take down all its listings in the country and concentrate instead on outbound travelers, saying that it had incurred mounting costs that were made worse by Covid-19.
Starting this summer, guests will no longer be able to make bookings in China.
In October 2021, LinkedIn announced that it would shut down the local version of its platform in China, citing a “significantly more challenging operating environment” and compliance hurdles.
