Chromecast and Apple TV have been given the boot -- and guess what's taking their place.
Amazon has thrown out Apple TV and Chromecast.
The online retailer is trying to give a leg up to its own Fire TV, and as a result you won’t be able to find its competitors on the digital shelves of Amazon.com, according to an Apple Insider report.
Amazon is trying to increase its Prime Video subscriptions, as well as sales of Fire TV and Fire TV Sticks. It’s not a surprise, as Amazon announced it would be eliminating competing products weeks ago to prevent “customer confusion,” according to the report.
You’ll still be able to buy other products that support Prime Video, such as the Xbox and PlayStation consoles, and the Roku hardware. It’s not clear why there isn’t an Amazon app for Apple TV — it may be due to the fact that Apple takes a healthy 30 percent cut of any sales through its apps.
This move means we probably won’t see an app on the tvOS App Store for Amazon, which could be a problem for the new Apple TV. Reviewers have complained before about the lack of unique content on the interface.
A recent Bloomberg report noted that Amazon had always been planning to yank Apple and Google inventory on Oct. 29. The reasoning is both the “costumer confusion,” but the likely main reason is that its Prime Video service just isn’t easily compatible with Chromecast and Apple TV. Amazon, the largest online retailer on the planet, has the muscle to support its own exclusive products at the expense of some popular competitors, and that appears to be its strategy this time around.
Bloomberg described an email it obtained from the company to its marketplace sellers announcing the decision. This indicates that Amazon is willing to sacrifice some sales in order to stake its claim on a growing market for streaming television.
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