Amazon Prime may be launched in India soon

Right from its entry into the Indian ecommerce scenario to its subsequent explosive, yet quiet, growth in popularity Amazon has led the way in making its mark in the country. The brand is now synonymous with not just books and music, but almost every other product category being sold in the online space.

Last week we took a sneak peak into Amazon’s plans for expansion. If the latest is to be believed, the popular Amazon Prime subscription service is soon to be launched in India. However, no formal date has been announced as the internet speed is a determinant of the smooth functioning of the service.

What is Amazon Prime?

The Amazon Prime subscription service in US is priced at USD 99 per year for the membership (about Rs 6,232), which includes:

• Two day standard shipping

• Free access to movies and TV shows

• Access to music and exclusive videos

Apart from the above, the service also includes access to ebooks using a Kindle tab and discounts on mohtly prices of kid-friendly apps, video and books.

How will Amazon Prime work in India?

The key to Amazon Prime is internet speed, which is fickle in India. Although not confirmed, indications suggest that Amazon wants to adopt the live streaming method and not the download method to offer content to users. Live video streaming will be an instant hit with the Indian consumers, but it will remain limited as only high internet-speed users will be able to access these.

Nitesh Kripalani, former executive Vice President of Multi Screen Media, that runs Sony Entertainment Channels, has been approached to handle the digital content part. “We are working towards it… difficult to say by when as Nitesh has just been brought in… but he will soon start talks with content providers,” said a second executive aware of the discussions. “The biggest limitation is the slow Internet speeds. So, we are looking at how we can bridge this. Hopefully, we should have some of these offerings available sometime in the second half of the year.”