Amazon gives Apple TV and Google Chromecast the finger

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Apple TV 4 brings iOS apps to the big screen.
Apple TV 4 brings iOS apps to the big screen.
Photo: Apple

The most popular online retailer in the world, Amazon, is using its e-commerce powers to put the hurt on Apple and Google’s streaming devices in order to prop-up the Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV stick.

In an email sent to marketplace sellers, Amazon told employees it will stop selling Apple TV and Google Chromecast. No new listings for the devices are allowed, and all other existing inventory is scheduled to be removed by October 29th.

“Over the last three years, Prime Video has become an important part of Prime,” Amazon said in the e-mail obtained by Bloomberg. “It’s important that the streaming media players we sell interact well with Prime Video in order to avoid customer confusion.”

Amazon claims the removal of Chromecast and Apple TV is because the two streaming device don’t run Prime Video. Roku, Xbox, and Playstation all work with Amazon’s Prime Video streaming service, so they are still permitted to be sold through the store.

The move comes right before Apple plans to launch its new Apple TV set-top-box that brings new features like video games, an app store, Siri, and a new controller to the living room. Amazon’s ban suggest the company has no plans to bring Prime Video to the Apple TV once it debuts this fall.

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