Amazon has announced that it will be expanding the Android App Store’s footprint to over 200 different countries this summer. This will give customers in Canada, Brazil, Australia, and many more the ability to download and purchase apps. Developers are encouraged to submit their apps and aim them at those specific countries. This is fantastic for anyone with a Kindle Fire tablet who finds it hard to get localized apps or games within the Amazon ecosystem.
Currently, the Amazon Android App Store only works in the US and five European countries. This prevents the majority of the world from downloading any newspapers, magazines, games, or apps from the store, unless they have a US credit card and billing address. The expansion will finally fuel a massive growth spurt and start giving Google Play a run for its money.
Amazon Kindle Fire tablet sales have tapered off since the new product line was unveiled late last year. When Amazon expands to all of those countries, you can bet that more people will be buying dedicated Kindle Fire devices, because they can actually use them. The one main difference between Amazon and Google is that Amazon runs a curated app store. This gives people a higher quality app experience, because humans manually verify all submissions. Amazon Coins is a new virtual currency program that will also be available this summer for most of the world.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
