Merry X-mas Tokyo :
Amazon opens Japan online store with 1.7 mln books
TOKYO, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc <AMZN.O>, the
ambitious number one Internet retailer, unveiled on Wednesday its
Amazon.co.jp site in an aggressive push to crack open Japan's
cozy book retailing market.
In its first retailing venture in Asia, Amazon will offer a
selection of 1.7 million titles in Japanese and English, and also
sell foreign titles through its web site, constructed in
Japanese.
Its fourth site outside the United States will try to tap
into Japan's estimated 350 billion yen ($3.22 billion) market for
e-commerce. In a recent survey of Japan's Internet users, nearly
half said they want to buy books or magazines online.
Japan is already Amazon's largest market outside the United
States, with 193,000 customers, the company said.
The announcement comes as Amazon braces for the key U.S.
holiday shopping season when the e-retailer expects to pull in
about $1.0 billion in sales.
Amazon's shares have rallied more than $17, or nearly 90
percent since hitting a low for the year on October 18, a rebound
that was bolstered by a strong quarterly earnings report.
But doubts have resurfaced recently over the health of the
online retailer, as analysts reamin at odds over the amount of
free cash that Amazon has at its disposal to fund operations.
Amazon.com sells books, videos, CDs, electronic goods,
kitchenware, health products, gardening tools, software, toys,
cars, and holds auctions with Sotheby's Holdings, Inc.
((Reed Stevenson, Tokyo Equities Desk +813-3432-9052
reed.stevenson@reuters.com))
($1=108.79 Yen)
REUTERS
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