During Recode’s Code Conference on Tuesday, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos was asked why the online superstore doesn’t offer either the Apple TV or the Google Chromecast to its customers.
Bezos replied:
We sell Roku, we sell Xbox, we sell PlayStation. We’re happy to sell competitive products on Amazon and we do it all day. We sell Nest thermostats. When we sell those devices, we want our Prime Video player to be on the device and we want it to be on the device with acceptable business terms. We can always get the player on the device, the question is whether you can get it on with acceptable business terms. And if you can’t, we don’t want to sell it to our customers because they’re going to be buying it thinking you can watch Prime Video and then they’re going to be disappointed and then they’re going to return it.
When asked if “acceptable business terms” referred to Apple’s 30% cut of in-app purchases and subscriptions from apps on their set top box, Bezos declined to answer, saying only that he wanted to keep private business discussions private.
Amazon dropped both the Apple TV and Google Chromecast form their store listings back in October, saying:
“Over the last three years, Prime Video has become an important part of Prime. It’s important that the streaming media players we sell interact well with Prime Video in order to avoid customer confusion.”
Amazon continued to sell Roku Inc.’s hardware, Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox, and Sony Corp.’s PlayStation, which all work with Amazon’s video service. Other devices offering Amazon Prime Video include: Android, Fire OS, Amazon Fire TV, Wii, Wii U, the web, and select TVs and select Blu-ray players from LG, Panasonic, Samsung, Sony and Vizio.
In November, the company told engineer Dan Bostonweeks that a Prime Video app was in development for the Apple TV, with a hoped for debut of late 2015. That app has yet to launch. (Amazon Video subscribers with an iOS device and an Apple TV can view Prime Video content on their HDTV using the Amazon Prime iOS app and AirPlay. Here’s how.)
(Via MacRumors)
