Starting a little after 3 PM in Japan on June 26th, Amazon Japan updated their homepage with a prominent banner that announces its popular Kindle e-reader will be available in the country soon. Getting noticed by Twitter users in Japan almost immediately, many took to posting questions for the internet shopping giant. Amazon Japan was kind enough to respond to a few, but unfortunately only said they would make a formal announcement before the end of the year, and that they couldn’t comment on which model of the Kindle would be available or at what price.
It was revealed back in April that Amazon had intentions to bring the Kindle to Japan. As their online store already has a significant customer base, it’s believed they have been looking to break in and expand the e-book market in the country. The internet company has already had talks with some of the largest publishers in Japan, but no names have been released and it’s unknown how many titles will be offered for the device.
Amazon Kindle banner says “World’s best selling e-book reader coming soon, sign up to be notified”
Market analysts predict the e-book market will be worth roughly 200 billion yen (approx. $2.5 billion) by the year 2015. In terms of competition, the largest e-reader manufacturer that Amazon will face is Sony, but their prices are usually between 20,000 and 30,000 yen ($251 to $377), so it’s possible Amazon could be planning to sell the Kindle much cheaper.
[Via Asiajin]