In a true “gloves off” scenario, Amazon will ban the sales of Apple TV and Google Chromecast devices in their shop, starting October 29th. This marks another chapter in the ever going battle of streaming services and providers. It seems that the online store giant is taking none of it from Google and Apple as it won’t allow Prime Video on neither the Apple TV and Chromecast devices. Likewise, the app is also not available for the Chromecast.
The current generation of Apple TV (not the newly released one) is the 14th best selling device in the entire electronics section of Amazon. Currently is ranks 4th place in the Streaming Media Player store categories. As for Google Chromecast, the device is ranked 6th in electronics section of the store, where it holds a 2nd place in Streaming Media players behind the Amazon Fire Stick player, according to this article. It is no wonder Amazon feels threatened, wanting to disrupt sales, usage and adoption rates for these devices, as they directly compete with their own product overall.
“Over the last three years, Prime Video has become an important part of Prime,” read an email from Amazon to its Marketplace sellers that was obtained by Bloomberg Business. “It’s important that the streaming media players we sell interact well with Prime Video in order to avoid customer confusion.”
The issue is simple; Amazon doesn’t want to cut a piece of the pie for streaming services with Apple and Google. Both devices fail to bring a native Amazon Prime Video app/option for their users. A red stop sign for Amazon it seems, but also a clear showcase of the competition heating up when the whole streaming business is concerned. Unlike Google and Apple, Sony and Microsoft won’t have to worry about their devices being removed from the store. Both Sony PS4 and Microsoft Xbox fully support Amazon Prime Video streaming in their software. How will Apple and Google react, still remains unclear, specially as Amazon is definitely a big marketplace/product marketing tool – for both companies.
