Amazon: hardware sells in China, not content - Shaun Rein

Shaun Rein

Amazon is trying to sell its books in China, but is not yet selling its hardware - for regulatory reasons. A mistake, says business analyst Shaun Rein in Bloomberg, because in China you cannot make money with content, only with hardware.

Bloomberg:

Amazon’s approach to introducing e-books without the readers may be getting the market backward, said Shaun Rein, managing director of China Market Research Group in Shanghai. 

“People will pay for good quality hardware, but they won’t pay for content,” Rein said. “If I were Amazon I’d be selling the hardware, not the content.”

More in Bloomberg.

Shaun Rein is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers request form.

Amazon is not the first foreign firm doing it wrong. Last week the China Weekly Hangout organized a conversation on failing foreign firms with Richard Brubaker of Collective Responsibility and Andrew Hupert, expert on conflict management in China. Moderation: Fons Tuinstra of the China Speakers Bureau. Including references to Apple, Mediamarkt, Foxconn and many others.  

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