Will it be "instant noodles"? The Kindle quit China and began to count down. In the afternoon of June 2, Amazon's Kindle service account announced that Amazon would stop the operation of Kindle e-bookstore in China one year later, that is, on June 30, 2023. This means that after that, Kindle users will not be able to buy new e-books.
Amazon also said that for the e-books that have been purchased, users can download them before June 30, 2024 and continue to read them after that. In addition, the Kindle e-book reader will also stop selling. Products purchased through Amazon China's authorized distribution channels in the first half of 2022 will be refundable.
As soon as the news came out, the Kindle was on the microblog hot search. "Has the Kindle really become a bubble?" became a topic of discussion in various wechat groups and social media. Some people cherish the memory of their lost youth, while others think about whether to return the Kindle they recently bought.
The Kindle has been in China for nine years. It was once very popular and has been widely discussed so far. Today, China's digital publishing market has grown year after year, reaching nearly 50billion yuan. The reading artifact once respected by countless people has become an instant noodle cover. Who beat the Kindle? What will be the new changes in the future digital reading market?
The former reading artifact is no longer brilliant
"Kindle really wants to exit China". At 2:00 p.m. on June 2, a crowd of 500 Kindle users gathered together.
In the group, some users said for the first time that "they have used the Kindle for 7 years, and it seems that they want to read in a different way", while others pointed out sharply that "I didn't expect that the Kindle will soon become a real instant noodle artifact before it is opened".
In fact, the discussion on the polarization of the Kindle has not stopped since it entered China in 2013. On the one hand, the Kindle, as the synonym of E-Reader in the hearts of the people, is a product that can not be bypassed. On the other hand, the Kindle always eats ashes at home and becomes a "bubble noodle artifact", which is ridiculed.
In 2007, the first generation of Kindle was born. It took three and a half years to develop this product. At that time, Amazon founder Bezos encouraged to create an e-reader, saying that "people who sell paper books will lose their jobs". In Bezos' mind, this reader may be able to change the world.
After the birth of the First Generation Kindle, the price was $399, which was not low, but it was sold out six hours after it was put on the shelves. On the Amazon platform, it took only three years to beat the sales of traditional books. At that time, the Kindle was backed by the Amazon platform, with rich content and hot hands. It was bundled with preferential e-book prices, creating a new reading paradigm.
We media person "Kindle select Jun Ranran" bought the first Kindle of his life through overseas online shopping in 2010 and entered the E-book Industry by mistake. At that time, there was no e-bookstore, only self-made e-books. Then he met a group of Kindle users who loved reading through e-books, and accumulated 2million fans. He told China Newsweek that his relationship with the Kindle had changed his career path.
Before officially entering China, Amazon has contacted many Chinese publishers to pave the way for its operation in the Chinese market.
At that time, a domestic publishing house decided to cooperate with Kindle, and said that Amazon China had basic experience and system, and everyone had basic trust. "Things are more standardized and lasting," the person said. At that time, the publishing house took great pains to cooperate with the Kindle. On the one hand, it had to renegotiate the copyright, and on the other hand, it had to carry out digital transcoding.
When Amazon China Kindle bookstore was officially launched, the number of e-books reached 24000, including many well-known domestic publishers and popular books. A person in the publishing industry said that when the Kindle entered China, in fact, everyone thought it was a new thing, a new attempt, with a very simple attitude.
In june2013, the Kindle officially entered China. In previous years, it maintained a double-digit growth rate every year. By 2016, China had become the largest Kindle market in the world. At that time, the Kindle was as popular as the iPhone( https://apple.pvxt.net/c/1251234/435400/7639?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.apple.com%2Fcn%2Fiphone%2F )。
However, it is worth noting that, according to public data, the global e-reader shipment reached 23.2 million in 2011, and then fell all the way. Amazon has only published its sales data in China once. In 2018, it said it sold millions of kindles in China, and the online bookstore resources reached 700000.
Then the Kindle became silent. Until the end of last year, the flagship store of Kindle tmall was closed and JD flagship store was out of stock in a large area, which attracted wide attention and discussion from netizens. However, Amazon China did not admit that it would withdraw from China.
In the announcement, Amazon also replied to some users' concerns, such as "can the Kindle e-book reader still be used? What about the purchased books?" Amazon said that users can continue to use the Kindle e-book reader to read downloaded e-books. Users' e-books and personal documents stored on the device will not be affected. In addition, it also responded to questions about the official and authorized channels in China and the return amount.
Who beat the Kindle
In 2019, Amazon e-commerce business announced its withdrawal from the Chinese market, leaving only Kindle e-book business and cross-border e-commerce business in China. At that time, there were various discussions about Kindle business, and many voices thought its prospects were worrying.
Yuanbo, a senior engineer, told China Newsweek that Kindle's business in China could not continue because it was "acclimatized" and its playing method was too simple.
In terms of product sales, new Kindle products can no longer be compared with new iPhone products. The new Kindle paperwhite5 produced by Amazon was launched in China at the end of October last year. At the time of pre-sale, the sales volume of JD flagship store exceeded 10000. However, on the day of real sale, it only showed that there were more than 400 sales. Many netizens who wanted to start said they could not buy it. At that time, the future of Kindle in the Chinese market had declined.
With the entry of Kindle into China, many domestic enterprises have entered the e-reader market. Duokan, Wenshi, ZhangYue, Xiaomi, iFLYTEK, etc. have launched their own e-readers. Wang Biao, director of the digital publishing Institute of the China Press and Publication Research Institute, analyzed that these hardware are not inferior to the Kindle in terms of product performance, functions and reading experience. Some of them are similar to the Kindle and better meet the reading needs of Chinese readers. For example, wechat reading has also launched its own ink screen reader with an infinite year card. According to relevant data, the number of registered users of wechat reading reached 210million. Wechat reading itself started based on wechat friend relationship and brought its own social gene, which many users liked.
Yuanbo pointed out that the technology, products and business model of the Kindle have not changed substantially. In the early years, the Kindle was easy to carry and the screen was large enough. However, with the arrival of the mobile Internet era, 3G and 4G enabled smart phones, tablets and other terminals have given users more choices.
According to public data, the contact rate of China's digital reading methods (online reading, mobile reading, e-reader reading, pad reading, etc.) rose from 50.1% in 2013 to 79.6% in 2021. Mobile phone reading has increasingly become a popular choice. At present, the mobile phone reading contact rate of China's adult citizens has risen from 41.9% to 77.4%, and the average daily mobile phone contact time has also increased significantly from 21.7 minutes to 101.12 minutes. However, only 27.3% of the people read on e-readers. In addition, 21.7% of the people use pads.
"Mobile phones and domestic e-books beat the Kindle," Yuan Bo concluded. In terms of functions, the Kindle's comprehensive functions have been completely inferior to those of Huawei, Xiaomi, etc., and the format support for e-paper books is not rich; In terms of marketing means, Amazon's e-books are relatively numerous, and the enterprises that play reading and punching cards are also out of date; In terms of content, Amazon e-book has a thin book source and does not have much support for the popular online articles.
Kindle used to be famous for its ink screen not hurting the eyes. In fact, ink screen is no longer a rare technology in China. As early as the beginning of 2017, Hisense mobile took the lead in launching the first ink dual screen mobile phone A2. After that, Hisense mobile will launch a new reading mobile phone in an average of two years. On December 22, 2020, Hisense mobile will release the industry's first 5g reading mobile phone A7. Recently, after Huawei entered the ink screen flat panel market with matepad paper, Hanwang Technology (002362.sz) and other manufacturers rushed to launch the latest ink screen equipment. In addition, it is said that Apple Color electronic ink screen technology is being tested to prepare for foldable products.
In addition, the profit-making mode of digital reading has shifted from a single payment mode to multiple ways such as advertising revenue, copyright operation, book publishing and even user rewards. Recently, at the first national reading conference, miguyun Bookstore revealed its main computing power and AI, realizing content co creation. It has more than 18million users, with an average monthly consumption of more than 65 yuan and an activity rate of more than 90%.
The free reading mode has risen strongly in recent years. Tomato free novels, seven cats free novels and other free novels are firmly in the top position of mobile reading, with a monthly life of 50million. For the platform, the business value that can be realized only through user reading is limited. A large number of free reading platforms achieve large-scale accumulation of users to obtain traffic through free users and realize more business value.
Wang Biao said that it is a normal business choice for Kindle to withdraw from China. On the one hand, it is difficult for Kindle to make profit. On the other hand, China's digital publishing market is becoming more and more mature, and its competitiveness has been very weak.