Online retail titan Amazon announced on Thursday it is expanding sales of its Kindle tablets to “over 170 countries and territories around the world,” and its Appstore in nearly 200 countries.
The move steps up the offensive of Amazon against rivals like Apple and Google in the market for tablets and content sold for the devices.
“Kindle Fire HD is the No. 1 best-selling item in the world for Amazon since its launch, and we’re thrilled to make it available to even more customers around the globe today,” Amazon Kindle vice president Dave Limp said.
Photo: AFP
“Not only does Kindle Fire feature advanced hardware, it’s also a service. When combined with our content ecosystem, great e-mail and browsing and top-rated customer service, we hope people around the world will agree that Kindle Fire HD is the best tablet for an incredible price,” he said.
Amazon said the Kindle Fire, which start in the US market at US$159, will start shipping to the additional countries by June 13. Up to now it had been sold outside the US only in Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Japan.
The company said its Amazon Appstore “is now available to millions of customers in nearly 200 countries,” offering games, books and other content.
Amazon sells apps for Kindle, but also for PCs and other Android phones and devices.
The Appstore was launched in 2011 and prior to Thursday was only available in Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, China, Japan and the US.
Amazon is competing with the likes of Apple and Google in the market for tablets and also online content and apps.
The Seattle-based company has not released sales figures, but research firm International Data Corp said Amazon is the fourth-leading seller of tablets despite limited distribution, with 1.8 million units sold in the first quarter.
Amazon is likely using the Kindle to globally expand its power as an online retailer, Silicon Valley analyst Rob Enderle said.
“They are selling digital storefronts,” Enderle said of putting Kindle tablets into the hands of people around the world.
“The Kindle is a window into Amazon,” he said. “It is about much more than e-books, music and movies; once you are, there Amazon wants to sell you televisions, refrigerators, stereos and more.”
Even when sold at a loss, Kindle tablets power a profitable “ecosystem” for Amazon with sales of digital media boasting attractive margins, Morgan Stanley said in a note to investors.
“Amazon could lose money on every Kindle they sold and it would still be a great deal for Amazon,” Enderle said.
A challenge for Amazon will be getting retailers around the world to embrace peddling Kindle tablets that will compete for customers’ cash once in their hands, he said.
“Amazon still has to sell Kindles in places where they are not big,” Enderle said. “If I am a retailer in South America, do I really want to sell someone a doorway into Amazon?”
To many, Tatu City on the outskirts of Nairobi looks like a success. The first city entirely built by a private company to be operational in east Africa, with about 25,000 people living and working there, it accounts for about two-thirds of all foreign investment in Kenya. Its low-tax status has attracted more than 100 businesses including Heineken, coffee brand Dormans, and the biggest call-center and cold-chain transport firms in the region. However, to some local politicians, Tatu City has looked more like a target for extortion. A parade of governors have demanded land worth millions of dollars in exchange
An Indonesian animated movie is smashing regional box office records and could be set for wider success as it prepares to open beyond the Southeast Asian archipelago’s silver screens. Jumbo — a film based on the adventures of main character, Don, a large orphaned Indonesian boy facing bullying at school — last month became the highest-grossing Southeast Asian animated film, raking in more than US$8 million. Released at the end of March to coincide with the Eid holidays after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, the movie has hit 8 million ticket sales, the third-highest in Indonesian cinema history, Film
BIG BUCKS: Chairman Wei is expected to receive NT$34.12 million on a proposed NT$5 cash dividend plan, while the National Development Fund would get NT$8.27 billion Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday announced that its board of directors approved US$15.25 billion in capital appropriations for long-term expansion to meet growing demand. The funds are to be used for installing advanced technology and packaging capacity, expanding mature and specialty technology, and constructing fabs with facility systems, TSMC said in a statement. The board also approved a proposal to distribute a NT$5 cash dividend per share, based on first-quarter earnings per share of NT$13.94, it said. That surpasses the NT$4.50 dividend for the fourth quarter of last year. TSMC has said that while it is eager
‘IMMENSE SWAY’: The top 50 companies, based on market cap, shape everything from technology to consumer trends, advisory firm Visual Capitalist said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) was ranked the 10th-most valuable company globally this year, market information advisory firm Visual Capitalist said. TSMC sat on a market cap of about US$915 billion as of Monday last week, making it the 10th-most valuable company in the world and No. 1 in Asia, the publisher said in its “50 Most Valuable Companies in the World” list. Visual Capitalist described TSMC as the world’s largest dedicated semiconductor foundry operator that rolls out chips for major tech names such as US consumer electronics brand Apple Inc, and artificial intelligence (AI) chip designers Nvidia Corp and Advanced
RSS