After several years of negotiations with local publishers, Amazon finally entered Japan's e-book market with its Kindle devices and Kindle Store in October 2012, but e-book prices have revealed that the company's pricing strategy is actually controlled by the publishers as they are the same as those of other e-book platforms in Japan, according to Digitimes Research senior analyst Hana Hu.

Since publishers in Japan adopt strict rules over their book prices, Amazon is likely to have been forced to give up its strategy used in the US and Europe where the company makes special deals with publishers to sell content at entry low prices, in exchange for a smooth entrance into the Japan market. The strict price controls are also believed to be the major obstacle stagnating the development of Japan's e-book market.

Although Amazon's entrance was not able to shake publishers' price control, it has started to push other e-book content platforms to take measures to defend their market shares. For example, Japan-based Rakuten will soon implement a new points system to offer discounts to readers. With more content platform providers expected to follow suit in the near future, Digitimes Research believes Japan's publishing industry will likely adjust pricing policies in the future, which would greatly accelerate the development of Japan's e-book industry.