As the firm appears to execute yet another cost-cutting strategy, you can no longer purchase magazine and newspaper subscriptions from Amazon either in print or on the Kindle Newsstand. The e-commerce behemoth stated on March 9th (via The Verge) that it was ending Newsstand subscriptions and that the change will go into effect immediately. Additionally, your annual subscription will not be renewed.
Up until June 5 at 11:59 PM PST, you can continue modifying your subscriptions through Amazon, including altering your delivery address. After that, though, you would need to contact the publisher with any questions. Finally, up to September 4th, Amazon will only deliver you the most recent issues of your periodicals and newspapers. The good news is that you will still be able to access all previously delivered digital issues, and Amazon will provide you a prorated refund for any issues that have not yet been delivered.
A spokesman for Amazon, Julia Lee, told The Verge in a statement that as part of its yearly operating planning review process, the firm examines each of its companies to determine what changes need to be made. According to Lee, “We have made the difficult decision to discontinue these services after an assessment of our magazine and newspaper subscriptions and single-issue sales. We don’t take these decisions lightly and are winding down these offerings in a phased manner over several months. During that time, we will continue to support customers, sellers, and publishers.”
According to Lee’s remark, the company wasn’t profitable from subscriptions, and they most likely died as a result of its cost-cutting initiatives. After recruiting thousands of new employees to meet the increased demand during the COVID lockdowns of the previous years, Amazon increased its planned job cuts in January to encompass 18,000 roles within the corporation. In the recent months, Amazon has also halted development on its second headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, and closed a number of its cashierless Go locations.
