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Amazon to Cease Selling Apple TV, Google Chromecast Over 'Prime Video' Incompatibility

Thursday October 1, 2015 10:56 am PDT by Juli Clover
Amazon plans to stop selling some streaming video devices that compete with its Fire TV and Fire TV Stick, reports Bloomberg. It will no longer offer Google's Chromecast or Apple's Apple TV for sale in its online store.

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Amazon today sent an email to marketplace sellers notifying them of the upcoming change. The site plans to disallow new listings for the product and remove existing inventory on October 29. As a reason for the removal, Amazon is citing compatibility with its Prime Video streaming service, which is not available on devices from Google and Apple.
"Over the last three years, Prime Video has become an important part of Prime," Amazon said in the e-mail. "It's important that the streaming media players we sell interact well with Prime Video in order to avoid customer confusion."
Other set-top boxes and consoles, including those from Roku, Microsoft, and Playstation, do have apps that allow customers to stream Amazon Prime Video and thus won't be affected by the new ban.

For Apple customers, this means the new fourth-generation Apple TV will not be available for purchase via Amazon.com. It also suggests the device will not be gaining an Amazon video app and will continue to be incompatible with the Amazon Prime Video service.

Related Roundups: Apple TV, tvOS 12
Tags: Amazon, Amazon Prime Video
Buyer's Guide: Apple TV (Neutral)
[ 540 comments ]


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JonneyGee
36 months ago
Better solution: Amazon should release a Prime Video app for the new Apple TV.

This only means Apple users will buy their devices elsewhere and be less likely to subscribe to Amazon Prime.
Rating: 91 Votes
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macsrcool1234
36 months ago
cant blame em...does apple sell androids?
Rating: 37 Votes
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Waxhead138
36 months ago
And begun they have....the TV Wars.
Rating: 35 Votes
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DavidLeblond
36 months ago
They know tvOS is open for development, right? So just get in there and develop an Apple TV app, Amazon. Done!
Rating: 33 Votes
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BornAgainMac
36 months ago
Looks like Taylor Swift needs to write a new letter to resolve this so that Apple TV has the Amazon Prime service.
Rating: 32 Votes
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phantom76
36 months ago
But what stops them from making a Prime instant app for these platforms?
Rating: 32 Votes
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Tonkah
36 months ago
If they were truly concerned about their customers needs, they would spend more time preventing their review system from being faked or gamed, and their resellers from posting inaccurate product images/descriptions.

This decree that they just made is more of a hissy-fit than a solution to a problem.
Rating: 27 Votes
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Lukkee24
36 months ago
I would have bought an Apple TV 4G if it had the Amazon Prime app!
Rating: 26 Votes
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DavidLeblond
36 months ago

I don't think it is a matter of Amazon not wanting to make an App for the AppleTV. It is Apple not allowing them to publish it. Apple sees Amazon as a direct competitor to iTunes... and they are.


They allowed them to publish the iPhone/iPad version. So I don't think that's the case.
Rating: 22 Votes
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mdriftmeyer
36 months ago
I would never buy an Apple product from Amazon.
Rating: 22 Votes

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