Why a UK Kindle store is a big deal…

983thumb.jpgWhat? you thought there already was a UK Kindle store? Well actually no there wasn’t. Before today UK Kindle owners get routed to the US store when they wanted to buy books. They had to pay in dollars and they didn’t have access to the full selection of titles available, only a smaller number that were importable to Britain.

That changes today as the UK Kindle store goes live.

It will mean pricing in pounds, a greater selection and access to some British books that wouldn’t be on sale in the US store. We can expect Amazon to start opening country-specific stores all over the world.

Add in the Kindle store Android app that lets you import your books to your phone, and it would establish Kindle as the number one platform for book sale internationally. That’s a left hook aimed straight at Apple.

If there’s one thing Amazon know how to do well it’s sell things internationally so this could see them become the dominant world platform for eBook sale.

These are some sample book prices from the UK Kindle store:

Below are Kindle book prices for a selection of Amazon.co.uk’s current Bestsellers:

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest Stieg Larsson £2.70
The Help Kathryn Stockett £2.79
One Day David Nicholls £2.79
The Lost Symbol Dan Brown £3.41
The Legacy Katherine Webb £3.35
Eclipse Stephenie Meyer £3.14
I Shall Wear Midnight Terry Pratchett £8.54
Artemis Fowl and the Atlantis Complex Eoin Colfer £5.84
Eat, Pray, Love Elizabeth Gilbert £3.58
The Third Man Peter Mandelson £11.25

Related: Amazon’s new Kindle: cheaper & better

Anna Leach

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