Netflix is down: AWS outage takes down service on some devices
Updated: Netflix is inaccessible for users on some devices on Christmas Eve, thanks to an outage of Amazon's 9s AMZN) AWS cloud infrastructure. There is no word from Amazon when the issue will be fixed.
Context & Ripple Effects
Netflix's disruption follows a June AWS outage that also affected Netflix and other web services, making the incident a repeat test of how an infrastructure failure reaches consumer-facing platforms. It matters beyond uptime because Amazon and Netflix are already competing for online-video dominance, while Amazon is extending Instant Video to additional devices.
First-order effects
- Netflix users on affected devices lose access while Amazon works to restore the AWS infrastructure involved.
- The outage puts AWS's reliability directly in front of a high-profile customer and its audience during a peak viewing period.
Second-order effects
- Netflix's dependence on AWS becomes part of its competitive exposure to Amazon, a company it also faces in online video.
- Amazon's push to bring Instant Video to more devices raises the value of keeping its infrastructure reputation separate from disruptions affecting third-party services.
Third-order effects
- Repeated AWS incidents affecting consumer platforms point to cloud availability becoming a product-level concern for services that outsource core delivery infrastructure.
- If large streaming services continue to rely on shared cloud systems, infrastructure resilience will shape competition alongside video catalogs and device distribution.
The trend: Streaming competition is increasingly tied to the resilience of the cloud infrastructure that delivers the service, not only to content and device reach.