Looks like Amazon is planning to take a more aggressive approach in pushing its e-reader devices to the Indian market. According to stock exchange
filing, first spotted by
MediaNama, the company has appointed Redington India as a national distributor for its Kindle devices. The filing mentions that the tie-up will give Redington an entry into the e-reader segment.
So this essentially means that Redington will be distributing Amazon's Kindle e-reader in the Indian market. As of now, Amazon sells the basic entry-level variant of Kindle through its website as well as through Junglee.com, the company's e-commerce marketplace, in addition to selling the e-reader at Croma retail stores across the country. It's not known if Amazon is planning to launch other Kindle devices including the popular Kindle Paperwhite, a front-lit e-reader, and the Kindle Fire range of tablets.
Redington also distributes Apple iPhones in the Indian market. We started seeing an aggressive marketing push, including full page newspaper ads, TV spots and monthly instalment schemes after Redington and Ingram Micro took over as distributors. But e-reader devices are a niche segment and it would be interesting to see how Redington markets them. Amazon on the other hand, had
launched its e-books store in the Indian market in August 2012. Amazon's strategy is the exact opposite of Apple's, with the company subsidising the cost of devices and often selling them at less than the cost of manufacturing, but earning through the sale of content including that of apps, music, movies and video on demand subscriptions. But the company would have to bring these services, including its store, to India if it really wants its devices to sell on a similar model.