Amazon Out: American E-Commerce Platform to Leave China

By Matthew Bossons

E-commerce giant Amazon is reportedly planning to shutter its China-based marketplace operations in the next 90 days, according to anonymous sources cited in a Reuters reportpublished early this morning.

While the Seattle-based company has yet to release a formal statement on the matter, there is speculation online that an official announcement may come before the end of the week.

According to Reuters, Amazon will focus its efforts on “more lucrative businesses selling overseas goods and cloud services” in China. Kindle e-readers and online content will remain available for purchase in the country.

The report also states that Chinese consumers will be able to buy products from Denmark, Japan, the United States and United Kingdom through the company’s global online marketplace. 

Amazon broke into the Chinese market back in 2004 with the purchase of online book retailer Joyo.com, but the company failed to establish the dominant market position that it enjoys in other nations. Homegrown rivals JD.com and Tmall share an overwhelming 81.9 percent of the Chinese market, according to iResearch Global findings cited by Reuters. Last year, Amazon enjoyed only 0.6 percent of the same pie. 

Back in 2017, Jack Ma’s Alibaba topped Amazon to become the biggest e-commerce company in the world. The Hangzhou-based Chinese company reached a market valuation of USD470 billion and officially surpassed its American competitor to become the world’s largest e-commerce platform. Alibaba first filed for an IPO in the US market in 2014.

READ MORE: Rekindle Your Passion for Reading with These Amazon E-Readers

With files from Bridget O'Donnell.

[Cover image via Unsplash]

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