Amazon launching the Kindle in China

Online retailer Amazon's range of e-readers and tablets could land in China as early as June 7.

Online retailer Amazon's range of e-readers and tablets could land in China as early as June 7.

According to a Sina Tech report, jumped upon by a number of English-language publications, the Kindle Paperwhite backlit e-reader with wi-fi will retail for 849 yuan ($138), while an entry-level Kindle Fire HD 7-inch tablet will cost 1400 yuan ($228), climbing to 1500 yuan ($245) for the larger, 8.9-inch model.

As well as selling the devices directly from its website, Amazon has recruited Chinese electronics retailer Suning Appliance, which will also offer Kindles through some of its physical stores and via its own website.

Amazon has been trying for years to launch its products in China but to do so has had to re-educate consumers who are used to accessing multimedia content for free. But when it finally launched a Chinese version of its app store on May 3 -- and in doing so became the first Western company to offer both free and paid-for Android apps in the country (Chinese Android smartphones don't have access to Google Play, Google's official Android app marketplace) -- it was only a matter of time before Amazon's devices followed.