Analysis: Why Kindle Couldn’t Keep the China Fire Burning

Amazon’s e-reader, which just completed its exit from its largest market, failed to tailor its products to local customers as well as its competition

Amazon’s e-reader failed to tailor its products to local customers as well as its competition. Photo: VCG

The shutdown of the Kindle e-bookstore in China shows how Amazon.com Inc. failed to keep up with the Chinese e-reader market and tailor its products and services to local customers as well as its domestic competition.

On Monday, Amazon completed the last phase of its exit from the Chinese market, leaving local users no longer able to download books they had purchased from the Kindle store. It also discontinued customer service for Kindle users in China, according to an announcement on Amazon’s China website.

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