Amazon is in the final stages of inking a deal with Viacom in the US that will help it launch a movie streaming service to compete with Netflix. But hang on, if Amazon’s getting serious about movie streaming in the US, where does that leave Lovefilm?
Lovefilm is 100 per cent owned by Amazon, and represents the full extent of the company’s movie streaming efforts on these shores. In the US, Amazon Prime customers can currently stream a similar selection of movies, but that’s about it.
What’s the problem with Lovefilm?
The Viacom deal marks a move to allow any Amazon customers in the US use the service. It’s a big move forward. While Lovefilm has a strong brand in the UK, there’s no such love in the US. This leads us to the big question: is Lovefilm about to be swallowed up by Amazon completely?
If, say, Amazon brings movie streaming to the Kindle Fire in the US, it’ll want to do the same when it launches in the UK. If Lovefilm exists that’ll prove to be a conflict of interests: Amazon will end up competing with itself.
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We’ve asked Amazon for comment, but haven’t heard back as yet. It’s an interesting thought: Lovefilm as a brand may not be around in time to see the Kindle Fire’s UK launch – even if the service running underneath is the same. Watch this space.
Source: Reuters
