Why Amazon's Chinese marketplace failed

In 2004, Amazon bought online media retailer Joyo.com for $75 million to enter the Chinese market. During its time in the country, it faced stiff competition from local e-commerce giants like Alibaba, TaoBao, and JD.com, all of which are owned by Jack Ma.

After that, Amazon focused a lot on its e-reader and tablet product lines, but the complicated regulatory approval process in China caused years of delays. According to iResearch, Amazon's market share in the country was approximately 15% between 2011 and 2012, but by 2019, it had fallen to less than 1%. In 2019, Amazon officially shut down its China marketplace, but it keeps its Amazon Web Services, Amazon Global Logistics, and Amazon Advertising businesses.