MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Why Kobo didn't focus only on the U.S., home turf of Amazon

ottdmk · 07-07-2017, 02:46 PM

I'm not denying that Amazon had trouble moving into Canada for their primary business (the fulfillment of physical goods). From what I've been reading, that seems obvious.

But I fail to see how this helped Kobo. Kobo started in 2009, long after Amazon had finished jumping through all the hoops to become established here. Amazon was selling ebooks here through amazon.com in 2009... I got that from Nate's blog, for example.

Kobo was helped by their (ongoing) association with the country's largest book retailer, no doubt. But that's not protectionism... at least, not directly anyway.

ETA: Did some further research. The Kindle (and its e-books) became available in Canada November 2009. Kobo's first e-reader did not become available until May 2010. There was a five week delay between Kindle launching internationally and the Canadian launch; I've been unable to discover a reason for the delay but it doesn't look like protectionism. Plus despite the delay Amazon still beat Kobo to market by six months.

07-07-2017, 02:46 PM	#26
ottdmk Wizard Posts: 1,196 Karma: 3765734 Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Device: Kobo Libra 2, Lenovo Tab M10 FHD Plus, Lenovo Tab M8 HD	I'm not denying that Amazon had trouble moving into Canada for their primary business (the fulfillment of physical goods). From what I've been reading, that seems obvious. But I fail to see how this helped Kobo. Kobo started in 2009, long after Amazon had finished jumping through all the hoops to become established here. Amazon was selling ebooks here through amazon.com in 2009... I got that from Nate's blog, for example. Kobo was helped by their (ongoing) association with the country's largest book retailer, no doubt. But that's not protectionism... at least, not directly anyway. ETA: Did some further research. The Kindle (and its e-books) became available in Canada November 2009. Kobo's first e-reader did not become available until May 2010. There was a five week delay between Kindle launching internationally and the Canadian launch; I've been unable to discover a reason for the delay but it doesn't look like protectionism. Plus despite the delay Amazon still beat Kobo to market by six months. Last edited by ottdmk; 07-07-2017 at 02:55 PM.