Amazon has expanded its Kindle Store into Mexico, the company announced Thursday.
More than two million books will be initially offered in the new Kindle Store, including more than 1,500 free e-books and best-selling Spanish-language books.
There should be more books popping into the Mexico Kindle Store because Amazon also announced Kindle Direct Publishing for Mexican authors and publishers. This will give indie authors a bigger reach into a Mexican audience.
“The vast majority of Mexicans do not have access to a bookstore in their town, so we’re happy to launch the Mexico Kindle Store today and bring a huge bookstore with over 2 million titles to anyone with an Internet connection,” said Pedro Huerta, Amazon’s Latin America director of Kindle content, in a release.
But, of course, along with e-books come dedicated e-readers. The hardware came along with the deal as well.
“We are also excited to bring Kindle and Kindle Paperwhite to Mexico at Gandhi stores,” Huerta added. “Kindle Paperwhite offers an unparalleled reading experience, with a display that reads like real paper, an innovative built-in front light, a small and light-weight design and eight weeks of battery life so customers can easily dive into their favorite books.”
Amazon is offering exclusive titles in its new Kindle Store to get readers excited. Authors such as José Emilio Pacheco, Elena Poniatowska, Sergio Pitol and Carlos Monsivais, as well as comic books from Mafalda and Familia Burrón will be available for immediate download.
This news seemed to please investors as the stock gained more than two points today.
Amazon has been expanding its e-book and publishing business globally. It brought its Kindle Paperwhite e-reader to more than 175 countries earlier this year. Previously, it was only sold in U.S., Japan and several European countries.
The Kindle and Kindle Paperwhite will have suggested retail prices of 1,399 pesos ($105) and 2,399 pesos ($180), respectively.
One interesting note by CNET on the news:
“An element that Huerta overlooked is the fact that the majority of Mexicans also do not have access to the Internet. According to the Mexican Internet Association, 45.1 percent of Mexicans have Internet access. However, it is among the most Internet-connected countries in Latin America, alongside Brazil.”
