Kindle Unlimited Launches in Australia at a Pricy $14 a Month
Amazon launched its ebook subscription service in Australia on Monday. It offers access to more than one million titles for a monthly subscription fee, but as News.com.au pointed out the cost is higher than most streaming TV and music subscription services.
Kindle Unlimited costs $14 a month in Australia. That’s more than the local price for Netflix and the competing Stan service, which cost $9 and $10, respectively. It’s also higher than either Google Play and Apple Music subscriptions, which cost $12 AUD.
Edit: Here’s a lesson in why one should be careful about trusting online currency conversion sites. The $14 AUD price of Kindle Unlimited is closer to $10.70 USD, not $13 which I got from, well, I would rather not say. Thanks, Darryl!
It is rather curious that Amazon jacked up the price in Australia. In the past they have adjusted the price to suit the market, and then reduced the royalties paid to publishers to the same degree. For example, Kindle Unlimited costs about $10 or 10 euros in most markets but costs far less in Mexico and India.
Apparently Amazon thinks they can soak Australians for a higher monthly fee. That is going to come back to haunt them.
Nevertheless, Amazon is still excited about the launch. “For less than the cost of a best-selling paperback, readers now have unlimited access to over one million titles, allowing them to discover new authors and books, including top sellers and tens of thousands of inspiring stories from local authors,” Kindle David Naggar said in a statement.
Kindle Unlimited is also available in the US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, India, Mexico, and, most recently, Japan. Subscribers can try the service for the first 30 days for free. It is accessible from both Kindle apps and devices.
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