One reason for this change can be inferred by who is affected by it, e-book stores (other than Amazon) selling Kindle books. Currently those stores sell a MOBI edition that can be side-loaded, emailed, or used with send-to-kindle. After this change they might still offer MOBI for those who want to side load but will also have to offer EPUB. All of their instructions for Kindle customers will need to be updated and they are likely to experience increased support costs for years to come.
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