Amazon and Apple look ready to hug it out as reports suggested that the Amazon Prime Video app could soon be available on Apple TV.
According to Recode, people familiar with the two companies expect the app to show up on Apple TVs by the third quarter of this year. Of course, the supposed feud may not have been that two-sided.
Odd characterization as settling of a two-way feud. Apple TV is open; this was all Amazon’s decision, as was not selling Apple gear… https://t.co/vw69lMDAaF
— Jan Dawson (@jandawson) May 5, 2017
In 2015, Amazon made the decision to not carry Apple’s or Google’s streaming media devices on its website. The company said it wasn’t a competition-based decision; it was merely done because Apple TV and Chromecast were not ideal for streaming Amazon Prime Video programming.
At the time, Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia told FierceOnlineVideo that it was a "pretty dumb move."
"The excuse that Apple TV and Chromecast don't work well with Amazon Prime Video is a pretty weak one. Particularly in the case of Chromecast, which has an open API. It is Amazon that has chosen not to fully support it, not Google. It opens the company up to accusations of monopolistic practices, even if they don't stand the test of the courts," Dixon said.
RELATED: Who’s next? Apple, Amazon, CenturyLink may join streaming pay-TV fray
Now it looks like Amazon’s original reasoning could be rendered null. If Amazon’s video app does come to Apple TVs, it would certainly present a more seamless experience for consumers currently using AirPlay to view Amazon content on their TVs.
For Amazon, it would officially bring its SVOD service to a large chunk of the streaming set-top box market from which it was previously absent. According to Comscore, Apple media devices hold the highest share of U.S. households at 24.1%. The Amazon Prime Video app is already available for iOS devices, so it already addresses a large part of that market segment.
But in figures from last year, Comscore said that Apple TV accounted for 12% of the streaming set-top box market in the U.S. For Amazon, which is competing for customers with other SVOD heavies like Netflix and Hulu, it’s important to be present in as many places as possible.