Is Amazon releasing the Kindle in China?

The Amazon Kindle Paperwhite could be officially making its way to China soon.
(Credit: Amazon)

Fans of Amazon.com's Kindle may soon be able to purchase the e-readers directly from the e-commerce company. 

According to QQ Tech Report, a source close to Amazon China said the online retailer could begin shipping directly to customers in China as early as this month.

ZDNet, which uncovered the story, also found that Amazon might be planning to release a Mandarin-based Kindle to attract Chinese customers. People who bought the new Kindle Paperwhite found a user's manual in Mandarin. A section of the manual states that customers can return their device to Amazon China for after-sales servicing. An anonymous Amazon representative told QQ Tech Report that Amazon has been developing a Chinese-focused Kindle for the last two years.

Speaking from experience, this is great news. I had two Kindles break on me during my first year in China. Because they were under warranty, Amazon agreed to replace them at no charge. However, customer service was unable to ship directly to China and I had to get the devices shipped to a family member who then mailed it over.

The big question will be whether or not Chinese customers are willing to pay for the Kindle and the accompanying e-books for the device. It isn't hard to find many generic tablet computers in China--some good and some not so good. Would it be that hard to put Android or some other operating system on a tablet that costs a fraction of what a Kindle retails for?  Written by by Jeff Eisenhauer

Please read the whole story at Asiacnet .