Amazon’s Instant Video App Adds AirPlay Support For Streaming To Apple TV

Yes, it finally happened. You can now watch Amazon Instant Videos on your Apple TV through the Amazon Instant Video app on your iPad, iPhone, iPod, etc. Although the article doesn't elaborate much more on this statement, it does bring up the issue of 1st-party vs. 3rd-party offerings, which we'll discuss soon in class.

The Apple TV allows consumers to easily play iTunes content on their TV's, adding another incentive to purchase media from iTunes. Amazon, although not as robust as iTunes currently, still offers an impressive digital library of movies, TV shows, books, music, audio books, media subscription services (through Prime) and most recently, original content. Now that Instant Video is AirPlay compatible with the Apple TV, it is only a matter of time before it becomes an Apple TV app, similar to what happened with HBO Go. But will market dominance change now that Instant Video is AirPlay compatible?

Most likely not. iTunes is still the leader in music sales and TV show and movie downloads. And let's not forget its behemoth app store. By opening up Instant Video to AirPlay, Apple TV is giving consumers even fewer incentives to buy other streaming boxes, like Roku or Tivo, further solidifying Apple TV's surprising market dominance. Apple TV's weakness has arguably been its narrow content access, but opening up the Amazon library and its Prime streaming service to AirPlay silence most of these critics.

Personally, Amazon is my pick for digital content because I'm locked into their networking effect. I'm a Prime member and rely on Amazon for most of my shopping. It's quite convenient to make and track purchases, both digital and physical, in one place. Plus, the digital streaming service included in my membership is a great alternative to Netflix, a service that Apple doesn't proprietarily offer.

With the last Apple device I own being open to Amazon Instant Video, I really have very little incentive to buy anything apart from apps from iTunes. However, most consumers will still purchase content through iTunes because it is what they are used to. Apple is just affirming their place in the emerging "TV layer" of the stack, most likely in preparation for the highly speculated iTV which will no longer be just a hobby.

What do you guys think? Good move or bad move by Apple to allow Amazon Instant Video to AirPlay to Apple TV?

http://techcrunch.com/2013/09/17/amazons-instant-video-app-adds-airplay-support-for-streaming-to-apple-tv/