When the "Kindle may withdraw from the Chinese market" rushed to the top of the hot search, many people remembered that there was a Kindle "eating ash" in their drawer. On January 4, some netizens found that there were abnormalities in the domestic Kindle product line, and there was a large shortage of Kindle products in the official self operated stores. In Jingdong's flagship store, except for a low-end model, the Kindle series products are out of stock. As soon as the news came out, there were speculation: is this a signal that the Kindle is going to withdraw from the domestic market? In response, Amazon China officials also quickly responded: "we are committed to serving Chinese consumers. Consumers can buy Kindle devices through third-party online and offline retailers." Jingdong Kindle self operated store is out of stock in a large area, and only one youth e-reader is on sale/ JD.COM The shortage of Kindle products does not only occur in China. Even a large number of Kindle products on Amazon's overseas shopping are generally out of stock. It turned out that the shortage was caused by the manufacturer's lack of chips, not off the shelf or "delisting". This can make Chinese Kindle users breathe a sigh of relief: "the instant noodle artifact is finally saved." The Kindle, which focuses on improving the reading experience, may not have changed much over the years, but earth shaking changes have already taken place in China. The Kindle can be used not only to read books, but also to read comics. Kindle, a necessary "chicken rib" for readers I still remember that when the First Generation Kindle was born in the United States in 2007, it was very popular. Although the price was as high as $399 (nearly 3000 yuan at the then exchange rate), it was sold out in six hours. After all, in the era when Nokia was in power, an electronic screen enough to simulate paper books did give people endless surprises and imagination. However, the First Generation Kindle was a little "shabby" in terms of appearance and technology. Rough white plastic shell, 6-inch electronic black-and-white screen, only 250MB of memory. At that time, it was hard to predict that such a small black-and-white screen could help Amazon win a beautiful turnaround in the future. It changed from a discount bookseller to the world's largest book retailer. In 2013, the Kindle e-reader officially entered the Chinese market. In just three years, China has become the world's largest market for Amazon Kindle devices. China is an important market for Kindle business/ Interface x data line The Kindle also quickly became the white moonlight of a group of literary and artistic young people who "love reading", and took holding a Kindle as the "secret code" of identity recognition. Now, more than ten years later, the literary and artistic young people who lingered in cafes, campuses and libraries have become social animals running for life. How can they have leisure to take out a Kindle? In order not to waste hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy a Kindle, it had to be used to cover instant noodles. Since 2007, 15 years later, the iPhones "born" in 2007 have been updated and iterated to the 13th generation, and the Kindle is still like the old people trapped in time, lacking in innovation. You can think that this is the focus of the Kindle. For so many years, it has only been dedicated to bringing users an immersive reading experience comparable to paper books, but it can also be interpreted as "not enterprising". In China, Kindle represents a human design and a way of life. Over the years, the most impressive innovation of the Kindle is that it can support PDF, connect WiFi, increase the function of reading lamp, adjust the color temperature of cold and warm, and other "chicken ribs" functions, which are dispensable for reading itself. The latest generation of Kindle oasis and the previous Kindle paperwhite still have no breakthrough upgrade in technology, but they have changed the metal material, added the physical page turning key and upgraded the processor. However, many problems that really affect the user experience and are most reflected have not been solved: the page is jammed obviously, the reading speed is too slow, the ink screen is easy to be bumped and damaged, only supports the color effect of black and white screen, and can not present color picture books... The Kindle can no longer bring users freshness and purchase impulse. It's still very inconvenient to read PDF with Kindle. The "chicken ribs" of hardware innovation not only make consumers lose their desire for renewal, but also gradually forget the existence of Kindle and become useless "furnishings". At the end of 2021, Xianyu selected the "top ten useless commodities in 2021", and the e-reader ranked third. The reason for winning the award was "a relatively expensive instant noodles". However, it is more and more convenient to order takeout now. For the Kindle, there may be no chance to cover instant noodles in the future. As a digital product with high idle rate, various versions of Kindle occupy "half" of idle fish and second-hand digital categories. Kindle in China, acclimatized? In fact, the Kindle had been quietly "retreating" long before it rushed to the top of the hot search. In 2019, Amazon's Chinese website only retained Kindle e-books and overseas purchase business, and other proprietary e-commerce businesses, including Kindle hardware sales, withdrew from the Chinese market. In October 2021, the official flagship store of Amazon Kindle tmall was closed and has not been restored yet. Today, there is only Jingdong self operated flagship store in China. In November 2021, Amazon China's Kindle hardware team was completely abolished. The industry estimates that Amazon will entrust a third party to provide after-sales service for existing Kindle users for the transition until the end of the warranty period for all users. Therefore, judging from a series of actions taken by Amazon in recent years, it may be too early to "exit the Chinese market", but there are traces to follow if it pays less attention to the Chinese market. According to the vice president of Amazon China in 2017, in terms of Kindle unlimited e-book monthly service, China is the third largest market after the United States and the United Kingdom/ Interface x data line This "retreat" may not be all active, but it is likely to be passive. In China, Kindle always seems "acclimatized". Isupply, a research organization, disassembled the Kindle 2 released in 2009. According to isupply's analysis, excluding software, design and other expenses, the parts and assembly cost of the Kindle has reached $185.49, and there is no profit when it is sold at $189. In recent years, the pricing of the new version of the Kindle has been decreasing year after year. The price of the Sixth Generation Kindle launched in 2012 has been as low as $69, while the price of the main product of the Kindle in China is about 600-1000 yuan. For the Kindle's profit model of "acquiring users with hardware and making money with virtual products", the Kindle's hardware sales profit is only the second, and the main source of profit is the sales of e-books in the Kindle mall. Judging from the forecast data, most of the profits of the Kindle come from the sales of e-books/ Interface x data line However, for the "powerful" Chinese people, this set of Kindle can't play. It seems that we are not so suitable to use the price of physical books to buy an e-book that can be seen but not touched. Book resources website, PDF transcoding, sharing among friends... We have many ways to find the books we want to read, and we don't need to rely on the Kindle e-book mall. Moreover, the Chinese books in the Kindle e-book mall are not comprehensive enough, and many niche good books are not included. Most Chinese have not developed the habit of paying for "high quality", and are still addicted to finding cheaper or even free alternative services. For them, "experience" can be sacrificed, and "benefit" is the biggest pursuit. This is just contrary to the business philosophy of Kindle. The reader's Kindle eventually became a prop for covering instant noodles. The era of Kindle is over? "Internal worries" have not been solved, "external troubles" have always been around the Kindle. From founder and Shanda literature to today's iFLYTEK, palm reading and aragonite reading, domestic e-book brands are growing like wild grass, "wild fire can't burn out, and spring breeze can blow again". The Kindle's competitors are not only e-books, but also various evolving "screens": the mobile phone can be loaded with wechat reading, Douban reading and other reading apps, which can come and go at any time, or free. Tablet computers with increasingly rich functions not only have electronic reading function, but also facilitate writing and recording, and even enter the color "ink screen". An endless stream of domestic e-readers continue to impact the status of Kindle/ Interface x data line The rising star listening app is also changing users' reading habits bit by bit, and has a great momentum to catch up with and surpass e-readers. For Kindle, a giant in the e-book industry, perhaps hardware innovation can still be made efforts, user consumption habits can be slowly cultivated, and competitors can also be knocked down one by one by virtue of their irreplaceable nature. These so-called "difficulties" are not enough to fear. However, the Kindle also has one of the deadliest "enemies" - the era. In 2019, the results of the 17th national reading survey show that the amount and length of paper reading for adults in China have decreased. The number of paper books read by adults per capita was 4.65, slightly lower than 4.67 in 2018. The per capita e-book reading volume was 2.84, a decrease of 0.48 compared with 3.32 in 2018. Yes, Chinese people have become less fond of reading. This is the three inch lifeline of Kindle in China. There are "bow heads" in the subway. It's hard to see books again. On the commuter road with faster and faster Internet speed, not many people can resist the temptation of mobile phones; After more and more heavy work, few people can concentrate on a book again; In the face of the pressure of life, reading has really become a luxury. If you want to reverse the decline of reading, I'm afraid Kindle can't do it alone. At that time, Xiang Yu was trapped under the ridge. His soldiers ran out of food and were helpless. At night, he heard the song of Chu from all around. He mistakenly thought that the Han Army had occupied Chu, and the Chu army was desperate. Xiang Yu, once invincible, immediately lost his fighting spirit. After saying goodbye to his beloved Yu Ji, he committed suicide by the Wujiang River. Today's Kindle, which is working alone in China, is not like the besieged Chu army, hesitating whether to embark on the journey home. (Xinhua News Agency)