Amazon’s HD devices to sell in India from 27 June

Amazon's 7-inch and 8.9-inch full HD devices are set to join the standard Kindle e-reader which is already selling in India reports AFP.

From 27 June Amazon's new Indian site would start selling the 16GB wi-fi only Kindle Fire HD for Rs15,999 as also its bigger brother, the Kindle Fire HD 8.9, for Rs21,999 according to the news agency.

In addition to its full-colour multimedia tablets, the company would also be extending the range of e-readers it offered in India to include the Kindle Paperwhite (with or without 3G), which would retail for Rs10,999. The company would also be offering a free email alert service to let prospective owners know when the devices were in stock.

At the moment, though it is not yet clear how Amazon would process sales of the devices, as Indian law restricted how much foreign companies could directly invest in the country or how they established a physical presence in India. For instance, with no Apple Stores in the country; the company's products are sold through Indian partners and franchises.

Further, though Amazon had already launched its basic Kindle reader in the country, up until now it had been sold via Croma, a local Indian partner.

However, consumers also desirous of buying apps for their Kindle tablets would need to have an internationally enabled credit card as the purchases would be completed via Amazon.com, the company's US business.

Meanwhile, the company has expanded the range of its e-readers, making it available both on Amazon.in and various retail chains.

''The Kindle Fire range and the Kindle Paperwhite are now coming to Amazon.in.

The Kindle Fire HD (7-inch and 8.9-inch variants) are available, starting June 27, for Rs. 15,999 and Rs. 21,999, respectively,'' the company said in a statement.

While Amazon had initially tied up with Croma retail, a Tata group company, it had now expanded its retail partnerships to include Reliance Digital, E-Zone and Vijay Sales. The Kindle Fire range would sell through over a 100 of these retail outlets.

Further, Kindle Paperwhite, which was among of the fifth generation, would soon be available on the website, and would start at Rs10,999, the company said.