Amazon's TV streaming box to ship with Netflix and Hulu Plus apps
Amazon's Roku competitor, which could be unveiled any day now, won't just peddle the company's own video streaming service: The device will also have apps for direct competitors including Netflix and Hulu Plus on board, according to multiple sources.
Context & Ripple Effects
Amazon's box has been a slow reveal: the Wall Street Journal reported back in October 2013 that Amazon was prepping a set-top originally targeted for the holidays, and Re/code followed in February 2014 with sources pointing to an Android-based device aimed at Apple TV and Roku for a March debut. What is new today is the app lineup: per Gigaom's multiple sources, the device will carry Netflix and Hulu Plus alongside Amazon's own video service.
The pickup was broad for an unconfirmed rumor — GeekWire and SlashGear both syndicated the report the same day — which suggests the story landed because it answers the question that has hung over the project since October: whether Amazon's first living-room device would be a walled garden for Prime Instant Video or a genuine open platform.
First-order effects
- Netflix and Hulu Plus gain a distribution slot on a device whose maker is also their direct subscription competitor, giving both services reach into whatever install base Amazon's marketing spend creates.
- Roku and Apple TV lose their main differentiation pitch — 'we carry every service, Amazon's box will not' — before Amazon's hardware even ships.
Second-order effects
- Roku's counter-position shifts from app breadth toward price and its existing installed base, since an open-apps Amazon box removes the exclusivity argument that protected third-party devices.
- Hollywood and network suppliers read the move as confirmation that Amazon values Prime sign-ups over hardware-driven content lock-in, strengthening the case for licensing top titles to Amazon's service as well as to rivals.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, streaming hardware becomes a commodity shell around competing subscription services, with differentiation migrating to voice interfaces, content libraries, and bundling economics rather than app availability.
- An open-apps entry by Amazon pressures the whole category toward platform neutrality norms that regulators and content owners could later treat as table stakes, raising the cost of any future walled-garden retreat.
The trend: TV streaming devices are converging on neutral app platforms where the box maker's own service competes head-to-head with rivals on the same remote control.