Amazon launches online India Kindle Store with more than 1 million books, begins selling Kindles at Croma retail stores across country

Cindy Allen

SEATTLE , August 22, 2012 (press release) – Amazon today launched the India Kindle Store on Amazon.com (www.amazon.com/kindlestoreindia) with the largest selection, including the most bestsellers, and lowest prices of any e-bookstore in India. The India Kindle Store offers over one million books, now available for India customers priced in Indian Rupees (INR), including 70 of 100 Nielsen Bestsellers. In addition, customers can now purchase Kindle – the world’s #1 bestselling e-reader for five years running – at Croma retail stores across India.

The India Kindle Store features a vast selection of titles, New Releases, Bestsellers, and works from a range of Indian authors, including Chetan Bhagat, Ashwin Sanghi, Ravinder Singh and Amish Tripathi. Readers will also find exclusive Kindle books such as “Love, Life and a Beer Can” by Prashant Sharma, and “Reality Bites; a not so innocent Love Story” by Anurag Anand as well as over one million free classics available to download and read on Kindle.

“We are proud to launch this new Kindle store for Indian customers – offering Kindle book purchases in rupees and the ability to buy and read the work of many great Indian authors,” said Russ Grandinetti, vice president of Kindle Content, Amazon.com. “In addition, we are excited to work with Croma to make Kindle available at retail outlets across India.”

“We are excited to be the first retailer in India to offer the latest generation Kindle to our customers. This product will launch exclusively in all Croma stores across India at an introductory price of 6,999 INR,” said Mr. Ajit Joshi, CEO and Managing Director of Croma. “Kindle is the bestselling e-reader in the world and has revolutionized the way people read. Kindle wirelessly downloads books on a high-resolution electronic-ink screen that looks and reads just like real paper, even in bright sunlight.”

Kindle lets you download books in less than 60 seconds, carry up to 1,400 books and read for up to one month on a single battery charge. You can also buy your books once and read them everywhere—on Kindle, iPad, iPod touch, iPhone, Mac, PC, and Android-based devices. Amazon’s Whispersync technology syncs your place across all devices, so you can pick up where you left off. With Kindle Worry-Free Archive, books you purchase from the Kindle Store, and any notes or annotations you create, are automatically backed up online in your Kindle library on Amazon.com where they can be re-downloaded wirelessly for free, anytime.

Amazon also launched Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) for independent authors and publishers in India. KDP is a fast, free and easy way for authors and publishers to make their books available to Kindle customers in India and around the world on both Kindle devices and free Kindle reading apps. New features for authors and publishers in India include the ability to set prices specific for India, as well as receive royalty payments in rupees. For more information on KDP visit https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/help.

Customers can visit the new India Kindle Store now at www.amazon.com/kindlestoreindia.

Customers can discover full details on www.amazon.com/kindle and www.junglee.com or at Croma retail outlets throughout India. Customers can also continue to purchase Kindle, Kindle Touch and Kindle Touch 3G from Amazon.com with shipment to India.

For new high-resolution images of the new generation Kindle, visit www.amazon.com/pr/kindle/images.

About Amazon.com

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle, opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth’s Biggest Selection. Amazon.com, Inc. seeks to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and other sellers offer millions of unique new, refurbished and used items in categories such as Books; Movies, Music & Games; Digital Downloads; Electronics & Computers; Home & Garden; Toys, Kids & Baby; Grocery; Apparel, Shoes & Jewelry; Health & Beauty; Sports & Outdoors; and Tools, Auto & Industrial. Amazon Web Services provides Amazon’s developer customers with access to in-the-cloud infrastructure services based on Amazon’s own back-end technology platform, which developers can use to enable virtually any type of business. The new latest generation Kindle is the lightest, most compact Kindle ever and features the same 6-inch, most advanced electronic ink display that reads like real paper even in bright sunlight. Kindle Touch is a new addition to the Kindle family with an easy-to-use touch screen that makes it easier than ever to turn pages, search, shop, and take notes – still with all the benefits of the most advanced electronic ink display. Kindle Touch 3G is the top of the line e-reader and offers the same new design and features of Kindle Touch, with the unparalleled added convenience of free 3G. Kindle Fire is the Kindle for movies, TV shows, music, books, magazines, apps, games and web browsing with all the content, free storage in the Amazon Cloud, Whispersync, Amazon Silk (Amazon’s new revolutionary cloud-accelerated web browser), vibrant color touch screen, and powerful dual-core processor.

Amazon and its affiliates operate websites, including www.amazon.com, www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de, www.amazon.co.jp, www.amazon.fr, www.amazon.ca, www.amazon.cn, www.amazon.it, and www.amazon.es. As used herein, “Amazon.com,” “we,” “our” and similar terms include Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise.

Forward-Looking Statements

This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ significantly from management's expectations. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, risks related to competition, management of growth, new products, services and technologies, potential fluctuations in operating results, international expansion, outcomes of legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment center optimization, seasonality, commercial agreements, acquisitions and strategic transactions, foreign exchange rates, system interruption, inventory, government regulation and taxation, payments and fraud. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com's financial results is included in Amazon.com's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings.

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