Amazon plans to support the popular EPUB ebook format via the Send to Kindle feature in late 2022, and drop support for the MOBI and AZW formats
Context & Ripple Effects
Send to Kindle had already expanded beyond dedicated e-readers when Amazon added article sending in its Kindle iOS app. Moving its file intake toward EPUB extends that reading workflow to a widely used ebook format while retiring older Kindle-oriented submission formats.
The change also precedes Amazon's later plan to let KDP authors offer DRM-free EPUB and PDF editions, linking personal-document ingestion with a broader loosening of Kindle's format boundaries.
First-order effects
- Kindle users and document-management tools that rely on Send to Kindle must shift new uploads from MOBI and AZW to EPUB once Amazon ends support for those formats.
- Amazon gains a simpler inbound format path for Send to Kindle, while MOBI- and AZW-based conversion workflows lose their supported destination.
Second-order effects
- Ebook-conversion services and publishers serving Kindle readers have an incentive to prioritize EPUB exports rather than maintain separate MOBI submission paths.
- The shift makes EPUB a more useful common file for readers moving material into Kindle, reducing the need for Kindle-specific copies in personal libraries.
Third-order effects
- Taken alongside KDP's later DRM-free EPUB and PDF option, Kindle is moving toward format interoperability at both reader intake and author distribution, even as Amazon retains the Kindle library as the destination.
- If that pattern continues, digital-library migration will center more on portable source files and less on maintaining legacy device-specific formats.
The trend: Amazon's Kindle ecosystem is gradually replacing legacy proprietary file workflows with EPUB-centered interoperability across reading and publishing tools.