Amazon expands Appstore to China

Amazon has become the first Western company to offer paid Android apps to consumers in the world’s largest smartphone market.

Amazon has attempted to capitalise on the expanding mobile economy  in China by beating Google, who remains limited to only free Android apps, this means Amazon’s Appstore for Android is now accessible to  200+ international markets.

The move into China is a great move for Amazon and is part of their strategy to dig deeper into the country’s phone market; a market of around £17.6 billion. Amazon controlled just 3% of this market before offering paid apps, so it still has a lot to conquer.

After originally opening to the US consumer market in March 2011, the store has expanded to countries all over the world. This store promises user experience which is rooted within the company’s expertise of e-commerce.  It also highlights a series of automated marketing features which broadens Amazon’s well-known product recommendation engine into mobile software merchandising and a Bestseller’s section. These additions are aimed at improving consumer discovery.

The software screening and merchandising processes of Amazon guarantee China’s consumer market and developers a safe and secure experience.  A huge emphasis is on home grown firms in China including social networking website, Sina Weibo and video-sharing site, Youku Todou.

Over the past six months, Amazon has already begun improving its presence in China by launching the Kindle Store. They have remained silent on their expected launch of the Kindle range in the country but it does let us know that the introduction of its Android Appstore means that they will soon be ready to offer consumers devices that are more than capable to run its applications.  

Amazon’s intentions are quite clear. By investing in the Chinese consumer market and improving on their current 3% that they shave in the market, they are aiming to become closer to key competitors Apple, who already have a major presence in the country. Apple actually has over 17,000 outlets in China selling their products and the country is Apple’s second-largest market. Amazon has quite the distance before they can be on the same playing field, but expanding their paid apps for Android is a good start.