Electronics distribution chain Redington has tied up with Amazon to sell the fortune 500 company’s ereaders in India, according to a filing at the Bombay Stock Exchange.
“Amazon Kindle devices enable users to shop for download, browse and read ebooks, newspapers, magazines, blogs and other digital media through wireless networking. This distribution tie up will give the company an entry into the ereader segment,” Redington informed the exchanges.
Battleground India
Apple, which rivals Amazon in sale of digital goods through its iTunes store has had a headstart in the country. After the phone maker figured out that its earlier marketing strategy to sell the iPhone and other iDevices through telecom operators and premium Apple resellers wasn’t working, the company tied up with specialist distributors like Ingram Micro and Redington to get aggressive in the Indian market.
Both Ingram Micro and Redington are selling iPhones aggressively in India through creative ways. They have even rolled out an EMI scheme where a buyer can take home an iPhone 5 for a little over Rs 16,000 and pay the rest in installments to make the handset more affordable. These specialised distribution chains have a fair reach in smaller Indian cities and towns besides the metros.
Apple also launched its iTunes store for India two months ago. The company followed up with the launch of Apple TV in India last week.
Amazon vs Apple
Its funny how Apple is stealing the march on Amazon, at least in the first leg in India. Amazon, which entered the Indian market a while ago through the launch of comparison shopping site Junglee seems to be trailing Apple when it comes to selling its ereader Kindle and tablets. While Amazon launched its India store six months ago and announced partnerships with electronic chain Croma to sell their ereaders, it wasn’t a full fledged digital store like that of Apple.
The ecommerce giant is also waiting for approval from the Government to start full fledged retailing in India. Recently, Amazon’s global Vice President Paul Misener met India’s trade minister Anand Sharma and discussed the creation of a favorable policy environment for Amazon to do business in India, which is otherwise not allowed in the country.
