Some years ago Amazon appointed a local retail chain, Dick Smith Electronics, to distribute Kindles in Australia. There was a small display of some Kindle Models in each of its many stores, but I never noticed any heavy promotion. Kindle does not have the market domination here that it has in the US, and the adoption of ereaders, though not insignificant, lags well behind the US.
Though now old news in Australia, it does not seem to have been mentioned previously here that Dick Smith is to be liquidated. At the moment stores are still operating as they attempt to dispose of their stock at ever increasing discounts. I'm not sure of the closure date for stores but the one in my local mega suburban mall looks like a ghost of its former self. Kindle has not escaped the discounts, with 20% off at the moment. Even Apple items are discounted 10%. They also have an online store with similar discounts
http://search.dicksmith.com.au/search#w=kindle. For example, a Kindle Voyage has been discounted from $A299 to $A239.20, about $US180 or 160 Euros. Though cheaper than the US price by $20, it would still not be worthwhile for a US resident to import, as the costs of postage would almost certainly consume the difference and then some. I also doubt importing to Europe would be worthwhile. Though I will be interested to see if the price comes down any further.
Of more interest to me is what Amazon, presumably now left without an Australian distributor, is planning to do here. What is more likely to happen is that Amazon will do nothing, or appoint another distributor for its hardware. What I would like is for Amazon to take this opportunity to enter the market here. One of the smaller book chains here has stores in good locations which would make wonderful Amazon retail stores. The market here is badly in need of a good shake-up and some healthy competition. Or, in fact, any competition at all. Though unlikely, I for one am an Australian who would love to see Amazon here.