Amazon.com Inc. share price down, launches its new video-streaming device Fire TV to enter the competition of television services

Amazon.com Inc. revealed that it is entering the competition with large technological companies on the arena of television services, which is considered as highly competitive. The company plans to launch a new video streaming device that is expected to become a worthy rival of giants such as Apple Inc., Google Inc. and Roku Inc. and their products.

Due to the efforts of its Chief Executive Officer Mr. Jeff Bezos to win new customers, Amazon.com Inc. presented a set-top box for streaming games and digitally delivered video. The new product of the company is named Fire TV and is sold at a price of 99 dollars. The price puts Amazons new product directly in the competition with Apple Inc., matching the one of its set-top box. The shipping of Fire TV started on Wednesday.

The new device offered by Amazon will provide customers with instant access to the companys film and television programming, giving them the opportunity to watch the companys original content. The users will also be able to get content from Netflix, Huly and YouTube, as well as from some TV channels. The company is also negotiating with HBO.

Amazon.com Inc. is said to be offering its Fire TV service exclusively for its Prime subscribers, who are typically considered some of the companys most active online customers, in an attempt to become more independent when it comes to video and gaming content.

The Vice President of the Kindle unit of the company – Mr. Peter Larsen shared for Bloomberg: “Fire TV is definitely a better experience if you have Prime.”

As reported by Bloomberg, the decision of Amazon to launch its Fire TV set-top box was also commented by one of the analysts, who work for Wedbush Securities Inc. – Mr. Michael Pachter: “This is about selling Prime. It really does open up their ability to deliver a lot of stuff.”

Amazon.com Inc. fell by 0.30% on Wednesday to settle the session at $341.960, valuing the company at $157.05 billion. According to CNN Money, the 38 analysts offering 12-month price forecasts for Amazon.com Inc. have a median target of $437.50, with a high estimate of $500.00 and a low estimate of $330.00. The median estimate represents a +27.94% increase from the last price of $341.96.