U.S. online retailer Amazon.com Inc. currently has "no plans or timetable" to introduce its Kindle Fire tablet and Kindle e-reader to the Chinese market, The Beijing News reported Friday, citing an unnamed executive with Amazon China.

Amazon on Wednesday unveiled its long-awaited Kindle Fire tablet computer, which costs US$199, less than half the price of Apple Inc.'s iPad.

Although the Kindle Fire wasn't launched in China, it has attracted plenty of attention among the country's tablet fans. But since the biggest selling point of Amazon devices is its cloud service and electronic content, it's meaningless to sell the devices in China where these services are still unavailable, the executive said.

Kindle needs to apply for licenses for device sales, as well as publishing, distribution and circulation, before it can enter the Chinese market, Amazon China's president Wang Hanhua said in July. Amazon has been in talks with Chinese authorities, Wang said.

The Kindle Fire, which runs Google's Android operating system, has a 7-inch screen, free cloud storage service and up to 8 hours of battery life.

Amazon has begun to accept orders for the tablet and promised a Nov. 15 delivery.

China's business press carried the story above on Friday.

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