Well, this is a bit awkward.
On Thursday, Amazon distributed an email to marketplace sellers informing them that the company plans to stop selling some streaming video devices that compete with its Fire TV and Fire TV Stick. The company will no longer offer Google’s Chromecast or Apple’s Apple TV for sale in its online store.
The email stated that Amazon plans to disallow new listings for the product and remove existing inventory on October 29. As a reason for the removal, Amazon is citing compatibility with its Prime Video streaming service, which is not available on devices from Google and Apple.
“Over the last three years, Prime Video has become an important part of Prime,” Amazon said in the e-mail. “It’s important that the streaming media players we sell interact well with Prime Video in order to avoid customer confusion.”
Other set-top boxes and consoles, including those from Roku, Microsoft, and Playstation, do have apps that allow customers to stream Amazon Prime Video and thus won’t be affected by the new ban.
As such, after October 29th, you won’t be able to purchase the new fourth-gen Apple TV from Amazon. It’s also been suggested that the Apple TV will not be gaining an Amazon video app and will continue to be incompatible with the Amazon Prime Video service.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.