Kindle Goes To Europe

A lot of analysts have talked about how Amazon needs to go international and global with its Kindle to truly build a true super gadget. Apple has done it with iPhone, and it was just a matter of time before Amazon started doing it as well. Amazon Kindle is expected to ship in Europe later this month in an attempt by Amazon to take market-share away from Sony Reader. But things are not as easy as they seem. While Apple has take iPhone to many markets around the world, Kindle has hit a major wall with German wireless carriers. It seems not every wireless carrier is as generous as Sprint when it comes to providing free wireless service to Amazon Kindle owners.

So Amazon will skip Germany and focus on other large European markets. That still doesn’t mean it will all be a smooth sailing for Amazon. Amazon need to really think about exporting a different pricing structure to Europe. The business model that has worked in the U.S., will probably hit a few other snags along the way. Sprint had no way of knowing how popular Amazon Kindle would become but now companies know the potential and will certainly ask for better deals. Amazon can always ship Kindle without its wireless service to problematic markets, but what’s the point in that?

It’s too early in the game, but we can already see cracks starting to disappear on Amazon’s business model for Kindle in Europe. Maybe Amazon should work on subsidizing the device and letting wireless carriers charge a monthly fee. Amazon could always increase the prices on uploads as well. But it’d be a shame if folks in Germany didn’t get their own Kindle.