Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) has launched its Android Appstore in China, beating Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) into the lucrative market.
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), which opened its Kindle e-book store in China in December, launched its Android app store over the weekend for China users to download both free and paid apps, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) China spokesman Billy Huang said on Monday.
Unlike Google Play, where malware is weeded out rather than being blocked, Amazon’s app store checks each title for safety before it offers them for download. This checking system blocks malware at the onset and stops it from getting through.
There are many other locally-based services that offer paid apps to China. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), however, promises “quality and safety testing” on its paid apps before they get downloaded.
With this launch, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) becomes the first Western technology company to offer a platform for paid Android apps in China and Huang. Additionally, it has paved ways for Amazon to capitalize on the expanding mobile economy in China.
The launch in China forms part of Amazon’s plan to launch its Appstore into nearly 200 countries over the next few months. Currently, the Appstore is available in the United States, the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Japan.
