Prime Video, Amazon.com's video-on-demand service, made a global debut on Wednesday in a bid to cement its rivalry against Netflix. However, Amazon skipped the country that is known to be the world's second-largest entertainment market: China.
Prime Video, which popularized shows such as "The Man in the High Castle," "Transparent" and "The Grand Tour," is now available in more than 200 countries and territories, including New Zealand, France, India and Australia.
But like other foreign companies trying to penetrate China's huge entertainment market, Amazon could be facing several regulatory hurdles as the country tries to tighten its grip on imported content.
Earlier, Amazon's closest rival Netflix backtracked from its initial plans of launching in China, citing the country's "challenging" regulatory environment as the major culprit.
This is also the case for other top foreign brands, who have been trying to enter China's huge market.
"China's Communist regime presents formidable challenges to foreign media, and continues to demand that even the largest entertainment conglomerates operate on its terms," wrote Variety.
"Most foreign TV channels are not allowed landing rights in China, and only a few dozen have permission to be distributed to high-end hotels and apartments. That was a sticking point for years in Disney's negotiations to bring its theme park into China, but the regulators have not budged," Variety added.
Aside from Disney, tech giant Apple is also one of the major casualties of China's tough regulations, with iBooks and iTunes Movies being banned in April this year.
The country's newly introduced cyber-security law, which obliges foreign companies to use government-approved equipment and store data in China, can make local operations trickier.
"Until Amazon can figure out how to be a media player without running afoul of regulatory, censorship, and technology rules, it makes sense to leave China off the Prime Video launch list," Variety said.