Amazon to Stop Selling Apple TV, Google Chromecast
Amazon.com is trying to gain an edge on competitors in the video-streaming market by ending the sale of Google's Chromecast and Apple's Apple TV streaming devices.
The Web retailer sent an e-mail to its marketplace sellers that it will stop selling the specific devices. No new listings for the products will be allowed and posting of existing inventory will be removed Oct. 29, Amazon said. Amazon's streaming service, called Prime Video, doesn't run easily on its rival's hardware.
"Over the last three years, Prime Video has become an important part of Prime," Amazon said. "It's important that the streaming media players we sell interact well with Prime Video in order to avoid customer confusion."
Roku's hardware, Microsoft's Xbox, and Sony's PlayStation, which work with Amazon's video service, aren't affected, Amazon said.
Amazon's Fire TV stick, which plugs into an HDMI port to connect televisions with streaming services such as Netflix and Prime Video, is the company's best-selling electronic device.
Amazon, Apple, Google and Roku devices accounted for 86 percent of all media-streaming products sold to U.S. households with broadband in 2014, according to an August report by Parks Associates.
"Over the last three years, Prime Video has become an important part of Prime," Amazon said. "It's important that the streaming media players we sell interact well with Prime Video in order to avoid customer confusion."
Roku's hardware, Microsoft's Xbox, and Sony's PlayStation, which work with Amazon's video service, aren't affected, Amazon said.
Amazon's Fire TV stick, which plugs into an HDMI port to connect televisions with streaming services such as Netflix and Prime Video, is the company's best-selling electronic device.
Amazon, Apple, Google and Roku devices accounted for 86 percent of all media-streaming products sold to U.S. households with broadband in 2014, according to an August report by Parks Associates.
