Amazon is no longer playing nice with Google and Apple in the war over the living room.The world’s largest online retailer announced to its marketplace sellers Thursday that it will stop selling Google Chromecast and Apple TV.
The two devices, which let people stream video content on their television screens, compete directly with Amazon’s own Fire TV set-top box and Fire TV Stick. They also don’t have native apps for Amazon Prime Instant Video, the retailer’s streaming service. That seems to have been the sticking point that’s now getting them kicked off the world’s largest digital storefront. It’s important that the streaming media players we sell interact well with Prime Video in order to avoid customer confusion. Roku, XBOX, PlayStation and Fire TV are excellent choices.
This isn’t the first time Amazon has used its huge clout to try to compel other companies to play by its rules. The e-tailer got in a very public spat with book publisher Hachette last year and halted sales of some of the publisher’s books for a brief period