Amazon to shut out rival media streaming hardware from its store

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Apple TV, Google Chromecast and Nexus Player will cease to be available from Amazon.

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Terrible idea, and more to the point, AMAZON control Prime Video streaming, they could make Chromecast/AppleTV apps... There is literally nothing stopping them, unless I have misunderstood something....

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Originally Posted by sedontane

Terrible idea, and more to the point, AMAZON control Prime Video streaming, they could make Chromecast/AppleTV apps... There is literally nothing stopping them, unless I have misunderstood something....

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yep, the real reason behind this is they want to increase sales of their fire stuff, so they think banning such competitors will increase the sales of their own, this is stupid and reckless decision.

It sure would be a shame if something happened to Amazon's apps on the Play and App stores. If I were Google I'd be concerned with their Amazon app trying to self-update.

I'm now strongly considering cancelling Prime. I don't want a clunky Fire TV box just for one video service, that has yet another remote. I like Chromecast, it's hidden away, and apps just tell it where to stream from. My mobile is the best remote.

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Originally Posted by sykobee

I'm now strongly considering cancelling Prime. I don't want a clunky Fire TV box just for one video service, that has yet another remote. I like Chromecast, it's hidden away, and apps just tell it where to stream from. My mobile is the best remote.

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I think you've got it the wrong way around; they're not restricting Amazon Instant Video to Fire TV, they're stopping the sale of rival streaming hardware products (Chromecast / Apple TV / Nexus Player) through the Amazon marketplace.

One less reason to shop on Amazon. Since I cancelled prime when they forced the price increase/video on me I keep finding more and more reasons to shop elsewhere. Dumb if you ask me - just fix your apps amazon (iplayer and netflix work great on chromecast).

The recent changes at Amazon have really turned me off of them....

On top of all the stuff that has hit the press, there is also what they have done to stitch self-publishers up, again to try and leverage more value into Prime.

I am absolutely refusing to ever sign up to Prime.

We all know that the hardware they're not going to sell is able to play amazon prime video's just as easily as Amazon's own hardware..if there is an app that works. The problem apparently stems from the t&c's where sales from apps via iOS/android also fall under the 30% rule.

How true that is another matter but I know one thing the amount of 'promotion' that prime gets is getting to the point where it feels like it's every other page lol, you get asked at least 3 times while just trying to pay for your order lol. Mind you they do seem to be doing everything they can to not make me want to buy from them these days... the site is really bad these days, it's seems that there's more 'adverts' than actual products on some pages.

I do have one question though.... are they going to ban all the smart tv's that don't work seeing as they're using 'It's important that the streaming media players we sell interact well with Prime Video in order to avoid customer confusion.' as the excuse...pretty sure that there's plenty of tv platforms that don't support it.

Seems like a poor reason to prevent rivals profiteering through your site, however it makes business sense for Amazon. Shame as this will likely give them significant negative press, but hey, grocery deliveries next month! (Slow claps).

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Originally Posted by big_hairy_rob

but hey, grocery deliveries next month! (Slow claps).

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Only if you live in Birmingham or London. Neither of which are reasons to clap... :P

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Originally Posted by Jowsey

Only if you live in Birmingham or London. Neither of which are reasons to clap... :P

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Which I don't either! Then again I did receive a begging "Why haven't you used us in a while" email from Amazon earlier....

I think Amazon has literally just hit their peak and it's downhill from here.
I can see why people are confused by this.
And what are they going to do about TV's and set top boxes that also offer streaming, ban them too? I can see this turning off other big name brands in the future even if they aren't banned yet.

It's slightly contradictory that the OS on their Fire TV is Android based, so Google should decline new versions to them for not allowing their chromecast on their site. Apple should not allow any official products to be sold on Amazon in future.
Tony sadly stands to lose the most from this being a much smaller company.

So I buy the kit from elsewhere... Big whoop.
I only use Amazon shops because it's often cheaper there than the shop's own website, for some weird reason.

It's no more restrictive than a lot of Apple's practices and at the end of the day, they won't make the sale or profit on the device but the end user will just buy it somewhere else. Boo hoo.

From personal experience, I'd rate the Fire TV (& stick, I've got both) as more useful than the Chromecast which is about on par with the Apple TV2 we've got.

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Originally Posted by shaithis

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I am absolutely refusing to ever sign up to Prime.

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Hail, soul-brother. :D

Mind you, Amazon won't exactly wet their knickers over my reaction, which amounts to not buying hardware I wasn't about to buy anyway from a company I closed my account with years ago.

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Originally Posted by D-T

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Originally Posted by sykobee

I'm now strongly considering cancelling Prime. I don't want a clunky Fire TV box just for one video service, that has yet another remote. I like Chromecast, it's hidden away, and apps just tell it where to stream from. My mobile is the best remote.

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I think you've got it the wrong way around; they're not restricting Amazon Instant Video to Fire TV, they're stopping the sale of rival streaming hardware products (Chromecast / Apple TV / Nexus Player) through the Amazon marketplace.

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I guest most people are clues as to what Amazon marketplace is which is a third-party sellers

Amazon are going to require new leadership, it's clear the current top boys are running them into a dangerous situation. They've been so used to controlling online retail, they are panicking and trying to lock everyone into their own eco system, but instead are pushing their most loyal customers away, aswell as the majority whom are potential / casual customers.

Isn't that anti-competitive?

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Originally Posted by Nollauno

Isn't that anti-competitive?

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Yes, but not the illegal kind. A company is within it's own rights to stock or not stock certain products in it's own stores for any reason.
So Tesco won't sell ASDA brands, and Apple won't sell Windows.

The illegal kind of anti-competitive practice is forcing someone else's stores to only stock your product.

I think its great they are making these moves in the public space now. For years they have been doing this kind of anti-competitive and nasty treatment to its market place sellers. Knowing full well that they are legally covered, even if it there behaviour is completely out of line.
Poor marketplace sellers have to put up with it as they have choice, and effectively get bullied and pushed around with no recourse. Even raising the concern with them on the forums, gets you a swift kick in the teeth. However 'most buyers don't know or see this, and just see Amazon as a nice, responsible and safe place to buy from without the ugly side of them.
Not even going into the myriad of other nasty offshore business, tax and worker practices they are happily getting away with because they are working the system and staying "legal".