It’s been more than two years since Amazon blocked sales of the Apple TV streaming box, due to supposed fears of “customer confusion.” Now, the Apple TV 4K has made a comeback, and is once more available from the online seller.
Two listings for the Apple 4K are currently available, and are listed as “Sold by Amazon.” Both listings are for the full retail price, and are listed as temporarily out of stock.
Amazon withdrew both the Apple TV and Google Chromecast on October 29.2015. The online retailer claimed the lack of Amazon Prime Video offerings on those device could cause customer confusion, due to the lack of the streaming app.
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.
Earlier this year, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced at WWDC 2017 that Amazon’s streaming video service would finally be available on the Apple TV in the fall of 2017. The app hit the Apple TV third and fourth generation devices, as well as the Apple TV 4K on December 6.
