Time and again we have seen big names in the tech industry locking horns in plain sight. After Microsoft’s cold war with Google and Samsung and Apple getting into a tech-tiff, it is now Google (GOOG) and Amazon (AMZN) locking horns in broad daylight. This had been brewing the two giants for years on end which finally blew up this week.
Recently, as retaliation to Amazon’s double standards, Google changed its rules which forced Amazon to remove its Android app from the Google Play store. Earlier this year, Amazon had quietly integrated its Amazon Appstore to its Android shopping app. That feature made it possible for Android users to download apps to their devices directly from Amazon while cutting Google Play out of the process, disrupting Google's abilities to track Android app downloads and regulate what apps it allows on its mobile operating system.
People have been divided on their views on this act of Amazon’s, one faction saying that it was only an advertising strategy on the company’s part while the other terming this act as illicit. Let us look into the core businesses of the two companies. While Google engages in search and advertising, Amazon is involved in e-commerce. A few business aspects of both the companies overlap though. Both companies offer cloud storage, sell digital content like music, e-books, movies and TV shows, and each sells smartphones, tablets and digital media players. That’s made the two companies rivals, particularly in the mobile and consumers spaces, and it has led to both being very protective about their services by keeping them off each other's devices as much as possible. This is going to have an adverse effect on the overall Amazon device sales. For the user of Amazon’s devices, this has come as a disappointment. This means that the users of Amazon would not to be not be availed to any of the features and apps listed Google Play. The only service that Google has allowed on the platform is the YouTube app credited to "youtube.com," but otherwise, Amazon device owners are deprived of many of Google’s popular services. This has made Amazon less attractive than an average Android device.
Amazon does not want to be a mere spectator in this act by Google. They have also extended their rivalry towards Google. For years, Amazon has kept its popular Instant Video service from working with Google devices. That service is Amazon’s equivalent of Netflix and comes included with Amazon Prime, the $99-per-year membership that includes benefits like free two-day shipping. Amazon Instant Video does not work with Google’s popular Chromecast steaming stick, which allows users to watch Internet video on their TVs. Amazon has also kept Instant Video off of Google Play and did not give Android users access to it until earlier this year when it made it available through the Amazon Appstore feature on its now-removed app. By keeping Amazon Instant Video off Google’s gadgets, the tens of millions of global Amazon Prime members are more compelled to buy the Amazon Fire Phone and the Amazon Fire TV. This, the analysts suggest, has been a move on the part of both the companies from preventing their users to migrate to their rival.
An important thing to note here is that none of the two companies have shown any form of “strategic” rivalry to arch rival Apple. They seemingly don’t have any hesitance about catering to the iPhone and iPad users. Every Google service of importance has its own Apple iOS app as does every Amazon service, including Amazon Instant Video, which also works with the Apple TV. Google and Amazon have understood that they shouldn’t be catering to each other’s customers but showing such rivalry if extended to Apple might not be in the best interests of both the companies.
Both the companies are stalwarts in their own space. Google might be impacted, if at all, to a very small extent. This move or rather the “tech cold war” between the two giants might prove to be quite fatal for Amazon in the long run. This can be concluded from the fact Android has a much larger customer base than iOS. Google’s withdrawal from Amazon’s platform might make the devices from the latter less attractive than the Android devices. This, however, is my personal opinion. Things might turn out to be pretty different in the real life scenario. Let’s just wait and watch the scenes unfold on the market.
