Just an idle thought. Consider:
- the delayed MP3 store launch in the UK
- the continued lack of an iPhone app for the Amazon store
- no Kindle launch outside of the US, and they’re on the second version already.
I’m probably just impatient…
Is Amazon neglecting the UK and Europe?
In fact, there’s more things to consider:
* The Amazon MP3 Android app that was pre-loaded on T-Mobile G1s in the US isn’t on European G1s
* No Amazon Video-on-Demand (formerly Unbox) service outside of the US, despite launching over two and a half years ago
* It took a year and a half for them to offer Amazon S3 storage outside the US
So, I think you have a good point that Amazon probably aren’t putting enough effort into the UK and the rest of Europe
Now it’s into 2010 and there is no news whatsoever about Amazon Video on Demand coming to U.K. / Europe, not from Amazon, or anyone else.
I guess it will come here, as the Kindle streaming mobile technology is here, along with Kindle purchases from Amazon.com, and the MP3 store arrived eventually.
It would be good to have an idea of when it will come. Over 2 years is not an unreasonable guess, considering there has not even been a leaked news article.
It’s crucial for people lookin at buying a kind of “Future Proof” (or “18 month proof”)Blu-Ray player. As buying a Blu-Ray player now in early 2010 which does not have the facility of streaming Web movies (NetFlix or Amazon VoD) is going to be something most people will regret if there is a streaming Blu-Ray movie service by the end of the year.
While Panasonic offer Blu-Ray players with Amazon VoD through its Viera Cast function, LG and I think Samsung are offering Blu-Ray players with NetFlix.
There is a little flicker of hope that NetFlix could come to the U.K. within the year, they are expanding it seems, but are yet to say where to, and they want to start up “small” in their international expansion:
Link: http://paidcontent.co.uk/article/419-netflix-to-take-its-streaming-business-international-next-year/#disqus_thread
In the meantime, people such as I, wanting to go with a gorgeous, good value Sony Blu-Ray player for example, are possibly right to think they will regret their buy a year from now, by late winter 2011. But now there is the question of which move – the players supporting Amazon VoD or NetFlix?
Yep – amazon is ignoring everywhere but the US
Yes, they are. And I don’t mean stuff like video and MP3 services, which can be related to licensing issues. It’s everything else too: no iOS app for European stores, no Kindle apps… even in the web sites, you only need to select a random item and compare the quality and breadth of the information in Amazon.com vs any other store – not a translation issue, by the way, for example, UK product descriptions are consistently worse than those in the US site.