Amazon announces its Appstore coming to Japan this year
Internet retail giant Amazon has announced it its bringing the Appstore, their own distribution market for Android apps, to Japan before the year’s end. Having launched in the U.S. in March of last year, and expanding to Europe this summer, Amazon revealed its decision alongside a call for developers to submit their mobile applications. Amazon’s market differs from Google’s own Play Marketplace, as it allows customers already familiar with shopping on the site to use the secure payment methods their used to, like the popular 1-Click checkout, in addition to their advanced recommendation services.
Jim Adkins, the Amazon Appstore’s Vice President, commented that their marketplace will be a great way to reach Japanese customers. Aided by the growing popularity of Android among Japanese smartphones, many existing developers are looking forward to localizing their apps for the international market. Amazon has already reached out to several well-known Japanese game developers, including Square Enix, TinyCo, Halfbrick, and also Yahoo Japan. Square Enix CEO Yoichi Wada stated that they look forward to taking advantage of Amazon as a new to reach customers.
With Amazon’s long-awaited launch of the Kindle e-reader in Japan due almost anytime in the coming weeks, it would probably be a safe assumption that the Appstore would launch alongside it. It’s still not clear which model of the popular Kindle will be making its way overseas, but Amazon’s latest flagship, the Kindle Fire, is more of a small-sized tablet than a stand-alone e-reader, and the fact that it runs the Android operating system means it can run users’ favorite apps. Japan follows the UK, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain as countries where the Appstore has successfully launched.
[via Daily Finance]
