E-commerce giant Amazon is set to debut its audiobook and entertainment business Audible in India during the Diwali season, as reported by familiar sources.
The company has already announced a six-book deal with India’s most renowned English author, Chetan Bhagat as a part of which it will publish these books globally in print, eBook and audio formats, with the first title expected to be out in October 2018.
Meanwhile, Amazon is also looking for a reduction in GST on ebooks before it can go ahead with locally produced Audible books narrated by Indians. Interestingly, e-books attract 18% GST compared to none in physical books.
An Amazon spokesperson’s said in an email statement as reported by ET,
We are always looking to continue to develop our offerings on behalf of our global membership base. We don’t talk about new products and services until they are available.
The company has recently put a halt to its Audible‘s beta service in India after introducing it with select customers and employees the last year. Though, as of now, there is no information regarding pricing of the service, it is available at $14.95 per month in the United States.
Additionally, Amazon is also in talks with renowned publishers like Random House, HarperCollins, and Juggernaut, Penguin to onboard audible as reported in February 2017. Amazon is also pushing to roll out more use cases and experiences for its Echo speakers lineup range as it is actively working to expand its position in the rudimentary smart speaker market.