Amazon unveils Fire TV Stick To Compete With Chromecast
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Amazon.com Inc. unveiled a
media-streaming device that plugs into a TV set to let users browse video and
music from Netflix, Hulu, and Pandora as it seeks to extend its reach in
customers' digital lives.
The $39 Fire TV Stick plugs
into a port on a high-definition television, comes with a remote control, and
can mirror media content and applications from a user's phone or tablet,
Seattle-based Amazon said Monday in a statement. The device can be ordered now
and will be released on Nov. 19.
The Fire TV Stick will stream
content from Amazon's Prime service, with connections to other providers such
as Netflix, Spotify, and Showtime. Following Amazon's introduction this year of
the Fire TV box, the plug-in stick steps up competition with home-media
services from Google, whose Chromecast plug-in device retails for $35 and tops
Amazon's electronics best-seller list, as well as offerings from Roku Inc. and
Apple Inc.
"The Fire TV Stick will
be a natural progression of the Fire TV," said RJ Hottovy, an analyst at
Morningstar Inc. who has a buy rating on Amazon stock. "They will have
more success among core Amazon Prime users, but it will be more difficult
switching customers away."
After posting its biggest
quarterly net loss since at least 2003 last week and forecasting sales and
profit for the fourth quarter that missed analysts' projections, Amazon is
turning to home devices to bring in more customers ahead of the holiday season.
The Fire TV Stick, which can
sync directly with the Fire TV box, is aimed at driving more $99 annual
subscriptions to Prime, which offers free fast shipping and access to instant
video streaming. Amazon is offering a free 30-day membership to Prime with the
purchase of a Fire TV Stick, and current Prime members can preorder the stick
for $19 for the first two days
