Amazon's Kindle Unlimited Is a Victim of Its Success in Japan (wsj.com)

You really need to understand the market before you start operating there. Take Amazon's case for instance, which has found itself in the middle of a backlash with publishers in Japan. When Amazon launched its "all-you-can-read-subscription" Kindle Unlimited service in Japan, the company didn't know it would become such a big success. And yet it did. So much so that Amazon had to sharply scale back within weeks of its introduction in the country. Before Amazon introduced the feature in Japan, it partnered with Japanese publishers to offer their popular content, committing to pay them a premium through the end of this year when a customer reads at least 10 percent of a book or other content. It worked -- too well, WSJ reports. From an article: Since it's easy for readers to get through the first 10% of a magazine or photo book in just a few minutes, Amazon quickly found itself on the hook for large payments (Editor's note: the link could be paywalled; alternate source), a person at one publisher said. A person at another publisher said Amazon made an overture for talks in September saying it had hit its budget limit for the payments to publishers and wanted revisions to its contract with the publisher."

Comments

isn't this bots or mechanical turk?

[known_coward_69]

someone gamed the system like in the USA to get paid. in the USA it was junk books where people copied crap from wikipedia

Re:isn't this bots or mechanical turk?

[will_die]

Not in this case. It was that Amazon offered the bonus on magazines and books consisting of mainly photos. Easy content for person to quickly go through 10%.
It would be like Amazon getting a deal with Marvel and DC for all comic books. Even if you were just browsing a bunch of series you would like go through 10% of a book before switching to something new.

Re:isn't this bots or mechanical turk?

[thegarbz]

Never underestimate the reading capacity of a country where a large portion of the population has an insanely huge commute to work.

Re:isn't this bots or mechanical turk?

[PrimaryConsult]

Commutes are comparable to Northeast US area commutes (and in many cases shorter!). The big difference is, Japanese commutes almost all involve a train at one point, the perfect environment for reading. Our commutes are driving cars where we (shouldn't) be reading, or as a passenger on buses where reading is nauseating for long periods of time.

Unlimited

[Anonymous Coward]

The word "unlimited" should raise a red flag for anything that fundamentally costs money.

Unlimited first posts however...

A bit like broadband

[Chrisq]

Unlimited as long as you don't use too much

Japan 101

[fullback]

People with even a cursory knowledge of Japan know that Japanese are voracious readers. I don't feel sorry for Amazon. They should have to pay up and chalk it up as a stupidity tax.

Re:Japan 101

[Anonymous Coward]

Huge international corp. introduces new service and sells devices.

They make a boatload of cash selling devices.

They also pay a small portion to authors.

The corporation exceeds their wildest dreams and rake in the cash.

They then try to skunk out of payments to authors, saying their limit had been reached.

Re:Japan 101

[phorm]

Yeah, hopefully Japanese lawyers hang them out to dry on this.
"Oops, we didn't plan this well" isn't a very good excuse for breach of contract.

Re:Japan 101

[Anonymous Coward]

http://www.e-ink-info.com/6-e-ink-pearl-touch-display-kindle-2011-costs-305

Feel free to spell out another analysis that gives different values, but as much as I don't doubt Amazon is making some money on the Kindle, I don't think their margins are nearly as good as you imply.

Re:Japan 101

[ravenshrike]

*blinks* Just out of curiosity, how much do you think authors get paid by their publishers? Cause the answer is, barring a damn few TradPubs, the answer is jack and shit unless you are a superstar. Even then the way they count sales is fucking asinine.

Re:Japan 101

[edittard]

Renegotiating a contract is a normal business activity and doesn't constitute a breach.

Depends slightly on whether both sides agree to it.

Selection very limited in the US

[caseih]

I've had Kindle unlimited for a while and find the selection very limited. Sure they have a lot of in-house books listed there, but the quality is extremely varied. For the amount I read from unlimited, I am spending more on unlimited than I would if I were to simply buy the books I've read and enjoyed. I suspect I'm not alone in this. So for Amazon in the US, the unlimited has been wildly successful I think. It's a check-cashing service for them.

I've encountered a few good indie books on unlimited. But the author didn't make much money if any because of my unlimited reading. Amazon's contract was designed to benefit Amazon first and foremost. Therefore I have little sympathy for Amazon Japan's problems. A contract is a contract. They agreed to it, they need to follow through until the contract is fulfilled.

Re:Selection very limited in the US

[DogDude]

For the amount I read from unlimited, I am spending more on unlimited than I would if I were to simply buy the books I've read and enjoyed

Amazon's contract was designed to benefit Amazon first and foremost

Yet you still give them money? Did I miss something obvious in your post?

Golden rule of business:

[Anonymous Coward]

Often forgotten but essential: the one thing you must never ever be unprepared for is success. Because if you are, where is the point in even starting?

Who cares for their budget?

[bickerdyke]

Why should publishers care for amazons budget? Was it part of the contract? I don't think so.

Ever tried that with a doctor's bill? "Oh sorry, I have reached my monthly budget on your bills"