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Walmart Abandons Amazon's Kindle Lineup

Posted by Soulskill on from the clash-of-the-titans dept.

New submitter kiriath writes "Walmart has followed Target in ceasing to sell the Amazon Kindle product line. This is not terribly surprising, since Amazon and Walmart are major competitors. From the article: 'The world's largest retailer, which has been trying to catch up to Amazon in online sales, said the decision was consistent with its overall merchandising strategy. ... Now, with two large chains no longer selling Kindle, speculation has grown that the dominant online retailer could open its stores where shoppers could try out and buy Kindles. Amazon "is a little bit of a Trojan horse" when the Kindle is sold in other stores, said Sucharita Mulpuru, retail analyst at Forrester Research. "They should have made this decision to not carry the Kindle a long time ago."'"

4 of 104 comments (clear)

  1. No Surprise by oakgrove · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Huge multi-national discount chain doesn't want to sell a product the sole purpose of which is to get people to spend money somewhere else. News at 11.

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  2. Who's affected? by camperdave · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Who would even buy a Kindle from WalMart or Target in the first place? That's a purchase for an electronic appliance store like a Future shop or perhaps one of the many bookstores that carry them. Walmart is for your cheap, disposable type items like beach towels, laundry baskets, desk organizers, flashlight batteries and the like; things that you don't care where you got them because you're going to replace them when they break.

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    1. Re:Who's affected? by tlhIngan · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Who would even buy a Kindle from WalMart or Target in the first place?

      People who shop at Target and Walmart? People who broke theirs and need a replacement immediately? People who wants theirs immediately? (It's the same price, after all)

      Thing is, there are a LARGE number of people who don't shop online. They'll purchase stuff from curated stores (Amazon, Apple, etc), but they won't go open a browser and type www.amazon.com, click through and check out. They will however find a book, see "buy it", tap it and boom, book is on their device.

      Thing is, a lot of other countries don't often have strong online shopping cultures (mostly due to lack of a decent Amazon, and competitors that charge shipping and taxes), so being able to buy it in a retail store for the same price is often quite appealing.

  3. Re:Amazon is the biggest 'illusionist' around! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    you confuse revenue with investment, and still have the nerve to call others retards?