Alas, looks like we’ll have to keep relying on Lazada and its ilk over here in Southeast Asia, as according to leading tech news website Techcrunch, Amazon is delaying its entrance into Southeast Asia. Why the delay? No one knows as yet. Singapore is still going to be the first country Amazon will launch in for the region, with the likely date being “later this year”.
Instead of Southeast Asia, however, it looks like Amazon will be launching in Australia first, with a team of over 100 people already set to go in Sydney, though Amazon refuses to officially comment on its Australian plans so far. In the meantime, Alibaba has made aggressive inroads with investments in Indonesia and a stake in Lazada, with its founder Jack Ma now a digital advisor to the Malaysian government.
However, Amazon Prime Video, limited as it is, is still available in Southeast Asia.
This story originally appeared on Stuff Singapore, bringing you what’s next in the world of tech and gadgets, with a twist.
