Why did Amazon bar certain Apple and Google devices from its web store?

In its latest move to become the leading retailer for TV services, Amazon has banned the sale of Google’s and Apple’s video streaming services form its web store.

The etailer is banning these in particular because these services are not compatible with its own service – Prime Video.

Although the firm has chosen to ban the likes of Apple TV and Google’s Chromecast from its virtual web store, Microsoft’s Xbox and Sony’s PlayStation are not affected.

This move is a bit of a shock, however it isn’t very surprising. As more and more firms are starting to offer similar services, the competition will of course ramp up, and Amazon will want to make sure it’s focusing on its own Fire TV and other similar products.

Also, Amazon’s Prime Video Service isn’t available on Apple or Google’s video devices, so it’s no wonder the retail giant has decided to ban the two vendor’s services from its own store.

According to The Verge, an Amazon spokesperson said: “Over the last three years, Prime Video has become an important part of Prime.

“It’s important that the streaming media players we sell interact well with Prime Video in order to avoid customer confusion. Roku, Xbox, PlayStation and Fire TV are excellent choices.”

Apple is also set to launch a new version of its Apple TV later this month, and boasts many of the same features Fire TV previously enjoyed including universal voice search, games and an app store.

So it doesn’t seem too unusual that Amazon will try and do whatever it can, to thwart Apple’s attempt at attracting more customers to its new service.

But could this move also put pressure on Apple and Google into incorporating Amazon Prime into their devices? We will have to wait and see if that is the case.

Last month Amazon unveiled a new Fire TV Stick, which features voice commands and 1GB of RAM, while the firm also revamped its Fire TV which now comes with support for 4K Ultra HD. It also unveiled other new devices such as a budget-priced tablet.

This move certainly demonstrates how important the TV service is to Amazon, now that the etailer has launched more devices to compliment its range.

But could the banning of Apple and Google’s products be a step too far? Could this be the last in a series of crazy moves from Amazon, or will we start to see the banning of Dell and HP products, if Amazon went on to create its own PC?

This is a possibility, but only time will tell if this move will make a positive impact on Amazon’s business, or if it will dent the company’s sales. 

Amazon was recently the subject of a damning report on staff welfare.