Why does Amazon want me to go to Burma to get a Kindle?
December 13, 2009 9:27 PM   Subscribe

How does Amazon decide where to sell the Kindle?

I live in Singapore, so Amazon won't let me purchase a Kindle. But if I lived in Myanmar, then they'd be happy to sell me one.

Why is this? It can't be the size of the market: Singapore is full of rich gadget buyers, while Myanmar is not.

I thought maybe it's because Singapore regulates the media. But then again, Myanmar isn't exactly laissez-faire when it comes to press freedom. Neither are Vietnam or Laos, two other Kindle-friendly countries.

Looking across 10 Southeast Asian countires, Amazon will sell Kindles in 60% of them:
Singapore: No
Myanmar: Yes
Laos: Yes
Indonesia: No
Cambodia: Yes
Vietnam: Yes
Malaysia: No
Philippines: Yes
Thailand: No
Timor-Leste: Yes

There's got to be a pattern here, but I don't see it. If anything, they're selling in the countries with lower per capita incomes, but that doesn't really make sense.

So how does Amazon decide where to distribute these things?
posted by blue mustard to Shopping (15 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
Probably depends on which mobile network operators Amazon has cut deals with.
posted by reegmo at 9:37 PM on December 13, 2009


Amazon doesn't expect the Kindle to be a big seller in most countries, especially those where a $260 device would be out of reach for most people. But "100+ countries" sounds good. In countries where the mobile network usage is likely to be low it was probably easier/cheaper to cut deals with the network operators.
posted by acidic at 9:44 PM on December 13, 2009


acidic's theory can't be right. Singapore and Malaysia have some of the highest mobile network usages in the world, arguably higher than the rest of South East Asia. I was going to suggest piracy concerns, since those are big issues there, but then that doesn't explain the rest of SEA either.

I think reegmo has the right idea, with cutting deals for mobile network operators.
posted by divabat at 10:07 PM on December 13, 2009


Response by poster: Thanks for the replies.

Apparently Amazon can sell it without a deal with the local telco. Of the countries I listed where the Kindle is sold, five (all except the Philippines) have the Kindle without wireless. For these countries, Amazon says "Kindle wireless is currently not available in your country. You can transfer books and personal documents to your Kindle via USB." So why not sell it everywhere, even if there is no wireless deal?

It could be any number of things. Perhaps there are laws in the countries where it does not sell them which prohibit their sale.

Perhaps. I don't know, which is why I asked the question. But if this is the case, I'm surprised that Amazon finds it easier to import e-readers into Burma than business-friendly Singapore.
posted by blue mustard at 10:11 PM on December 13, 2009


From a quick Googling it looks like it might either be a distribution or a licensing issue, though why this would affect the more properous developed countries in SEA I'm not certain. The fact that Amazon requires a US credit card for a lot of things may also be a hassle.

There's ways to jailbreak it in Malaysia and Singapore, and this collection of Kindle articles in Singapore might shed a light.
posted by divabat at 10:13 PM on December 13, 2009


Remember how the Kindle works. You buy it once, and you get free wireless data forever. So they have to work out a deal to support that.
posted by delmoi at 10:15 PM on December 13, 2009


I think it is a combination of the lack of local deal and rights issues.

Amazon currently doesnt sell the Kindle in New Zealand, saving me a bunch of cash. Local media attributed this to our ridiculous data charges (about 10-50c/MB depending on plan) and lack of deal with local carriers. If I had to guess the reason they don't ship it here without 3G support is that they still hope to cut a deal with a local carrier, they have likely given up with the idea of finding partners in say Fiji or Burma.
posted by scodger at 12:38 AM on December 14, 2009


Yeah what's weird is the countries where they require USB. Why don't they allow that in every country that they can't do wireless?

My guess is that in countries that they have no hope of getting a wireless deal, they sell it for use with USB.

Perhaps the countries that they don't sell it in are countries that they are working on getting a wireless deal. Just look at Canada, for example.

Another issue could be licensing the radio device, perhaps.
posted by delmoi at 1:04 AM on December 14, 2009


Kindle Gets Wireless 3G in Canada.
posted by rokusan at 1:14 AM on December 14, 2009


The closest I could find to a clue was this quote in a Reuters story: "Amazon has an agreement with AT&T wireless for the international version, under which the carrier handles global network relationships.... The new device is designed to work with the globally popular 3G GSM standard." Other news items, even those specifically about the Kindle not being available in some countries, avoid asking why.

In countries like Korea, where the local tech industry and sales networks are controlled by chaebol, it's possible that Amazon didn't consider the market one they could compete in profitably. It's worth keeping in mind that Apple didn't introduce the iPhone to Korea until this fall either, which on the surface also sounds odd given Korea's fondness for new technology and mobile phones.
posted by ardgedee at 7:26 AM on December 14, 2009


Singapore's leaders have filed many 'libel' lawsuits against news publications that are published there. I wonder if that could have something to do with it?
posted by dcjd at 8:44 AM on December 14, 2009


If anything, they're selling in the countries with lower per capita incomes, but that doesn't really make sense.

They also weren't selling it in Canada when the international version first came out, but now they are. So my guess is that Amazon doesn't want to sell it as non-wireless in countries where they think they can work out a free wireless deal that's worthwhile. These would tend to be the more affluent countries.
posted by smackfu at 11:00 AM on December 14, 2009


Yeah, its weird, they just opened up the Kindle iPhone app to other countries, so no wireless restrictions, I'm guessing it must be a combination of content licensing and wireless negotiations. The iPhone app supports Thailand, but they won't ship the physical Kindle.
posted by curse at 10:05 AM on December 15, 2009


> its weird, they just opened up the Kindle iPhone app to other countries, so no wireless restrictions

Any bandwidth consumed by Kindle software on your iPhone will be handled by your iPhone's data plan. The hardware Kindle ebook has to deal with wireless networks independent of any phone service you have, and that's where Amazon (or its proxies) have to negotiate laws and data contracts.
posted by ardgedee at 10:26 AM on December 15, 2009


Well, that's what I meant. The Kindle app on the iPhone would use its own data plan, the Kindle device would require Amazon negotiating for a provider in those areas for wireless support. So given that the app supports at least some of the countries that aren't supported by the device suggests that in some cases, Kindle availability may be restricted by wireless negotiations, and some it may be that ebook licensing or some other issue might be a problem.
posted by curse at 1:33 PM on December 15, 2009


« Older iPhone challenged   |   Sun Type 6 Keyboard in Windows Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.