Amazon has announced that it will stop selling Apple and Google’s video streaming devices because they aren’t easily compatible with Amazon’s own video streaming service.
Roku’s set top devices, Microsoft’s XBox and Sony’s Playstation aren’t affected though and will still be sold through Amazon as they still work with Amazon’s video service.
Apple’s and Google’s video streaming products don’t function well with Amazon’s Prime Video and hence they will be taken off of ‘virutal shelves’ by October 29th. The move is quite surprising since typically Apple and Google have the best selling video streaming devices.
But the move is to push customers to opt for their own video streaming services. This could backfire on Amazon as it will force customers who still want Apple or Google devices to buy them from competitors such as Best Buy. In fact, Apple will also be able to sell it through their own official stores however Google doesn’t have that option.
Amazon had surpassed Apple to grab the 3rd spot in the video streaming services. Roku was number 1 with 34% and Google was number 2 with 23% in 2014. Amazon is looking to further strengthen their hold with this move but only time will tell whether it will work out or not.