Amazon stops selling Chromecast and Apple TV products

Google’s new Chromecast

Amazon is to stop selling media streaming devices from Google and Apple, including the latest generation of Chromecast and Apple TV devices.

Bloomberg Business was the first to report the move, which will see the online retail giant refuse to sell the devices – rivals to Amazon’s own Fire TV devices – on the grounds that the do not “interact well” with Amazon Instant Prime Video, the group’s own SVoD service.

Amazon will continue to sell rival devices from Roku, as well as Microsoft and Sony game consoles that provide streaming video services.

Amazon revealed its new strategy in an email sent to marketplace retailers in which it said that it was “important” that streaming media players sold on its retail platform worked well with Amazon Prime Instant Video in order to “avoid customer confusion”.

The move is seen as controversial. Amazon, Apple, Google and Roku account for the bulk of sales of streaming media devices in the US, with Amazon holding the number three position below Google and Roku but above Apple TV.