10 ms·

Amazon in Running to Acquire Landmark Movie Chain

92 points by rchaudhary 8y ago

phnofive 8y ago
Is this contingent on the Paramount decree being overturned, or would it simply require some special approval?
clay_the_ripper 8y ago
Man, it really seems like amazon is just going to be everything at some point. In, say, 20 years will some meaningful percentage of all the money I spend somehow funnel through amazon? Kind of seems that way.
- thedailymail 8y ago
  They are already getting into Too Big to Boycott territory. If you factor in the indirect support we all give by interacting with paying users of AWS, that day may already be here.
- rococode 8y ago
  You wake up in the morning. "Alexa, make me a coffee." As you settle into your Amazon Auto - self-driving, of course - with a warm cup of Prime Espresso, your car's HUD lights up with a reminder. "Don't forget, your monthly electricity bill is due in 3 days! Thank you for being a customer! Echo Energy". Agh, more bills to pay. Luckily, you've been able to refinance your loans through your local BoA (Bank of Amazon) branch so you have more than enough to cover your living costs. To be honest though, I personally wouldn't mind Amazon controlling more aspects of my life for now at least, however threatening to various liberties that might be. My overall experiences with their customer service have been stellar, which is much more than I can say for some of the other monopolistic companies I have to deal with.
  - voltagex_ 8y ago
    You're lucky - Amazon actually give a shit about the US. They launched in Australia (the newspapers were predicting the end of retail). They have what, 30% of products available here? Then they launched Prime - except they obviously haven't hired anyone who has used Australia Post before. You can't expect a Prime 2 day delivery if you use standard Post. All this, and they thought restricting access to the US version was a good idea. Amazon Australia: death by 1000 paper cuts. When eBay looks like a better option, you've really screwed up.
    - ClassyJacket 8y ago
      >You can't expect a Prime 2 day delivery if you use standard Post. You can't even get Express Post items in 2 days about half the time, even tho they "Guarantee next business day delivery"
      - ryanchoi 8y ago
        Not sure if this applies to this scenario, but tricky wording related to 1 day delivery landed amzn in hot water in the UK. In this case, they meant one day after dispatch, not one day from order placement. https://www.bbc.com/news/amp/business-45183887 https://www.bbc.com/news/amp/business-45183887
  - benatkin 8y ago
    Prime Espresso is actually scary, since coffee is one of the three products in 1984...
- manmal 8y ago
  I doubt that the US or EU will allow such a megacorp to exist. It would be a threat to the free market and even democracy.
  - laumars 8y ago
    The EU doesn't have an issue with megacorps per se. It's businesses that abuse their market position. This is the crucial point that many Americans miss when they moan about the EU interfering with American businesses. Source: I work for a monopoly in the EU and while my company is heavily audited and regulated to ensure we operate fairly, we are still free to run as a monopoly.
- virgilp 8y ago
  Isn't that Bezos' declared goal? To have a cut from all economic activity.
- ReverseCold 8y ago
  > In, say, 20 years will some meaningful percentage of all the money I spend somehow funnel through amazon? Amazon already has 5% of the total retail market in the US. I consider that a meaningful percentage. More anecdotally, one of the discord servers I'm in recently had a trend where people shared their total yearly spend on Amazon. Upwards of $10-20k were not uncommon. (The data source is definitely biased though, as it's more of a hobby-related discord == upper middle class segment).
  - deadbunny 8y ago
    How are they getting their yearly spend? I would be interested in my yearly spend (over the years) and to see how it's grown/shrunk.
- swaroop 8y ago
  Yep, they want a cut of as many economic activities as possible, for example, AWS takes a cut of all online businesses! See https://stratechery.com/2016/the-amazon-tax/ https://stratechery.com/2016/the-amazon-tax/
  - deadbunny 8y ago
    You could always null route their ip ranges: https://ip-ranges.amazonaws.com/ip-ranges.json https://ip-ranges.amazonaws.com/ip-ranges.json
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
colechristensen 8y ago
Some of my favorite theaters are landmark and I would be very disappointed if they get bought out by a FAANG type. I think we need a Paramount decree for studios/streaming.
- crazygringo 8y ago
  Why do you prefer Landmark to continue to be owned by Mark Cuban instead of Jeff Bezos? It's not like it's a mom & pop operation... I'm sure MBA types are running it either way, so what's the difference?
  - jacquesc 8y ago
    Landmark has made good choices so far, and play some of the best films you can't find anywhere else. I'm also worried that Amazon will decide that it's more profitable to just have em switch to playing comic book movies nonstop like every other theater.
    - crazygringo 8y ago
      I don't think there's any reason to worry... indie films are Landmark's entire (seemingly successful) business model, their theaters are located exactly where people who want to watch those movies live, and Amazon is producing award-winning independent films like Manchester by the Sea. Turning Landmark into an AMC clone would make about as much sense as converting Whole Foods into Walmart-type stores. Which is to say, basically zero business sense.
  - colechristensen 8y ago
    It seems like Cuban owns it for its own purpose. Amazon acquiring a theater means they want it to fit in with the rest of their media business. I don't want Landmark to be retooled to fit Amazon's purposes.
danjoc 8y ago
The newspaper made some sense in a newsvertising sort of way, the grocery store chain was a stretch, but a movie chain is just hubris. "I'm good at computer stuff, so I'm good at everything!" Things haven't been going so well at the grocery either, have they? https://www.businessinsider.com/whole-foods-employees-reveal-why-stores-are-facing-a-crisis-of-food-shortages-2018-1 https://www.businessinsider.com/whole-foods-employees-reveal... I only expect things to get worse. Oddly enough, this story really is beginning to sound a lot like manna, http://marshallbrain.com/manna1.htm http://marshallbrain.com/manna1.htm
- gumby 8y ago
  The newspaper, like Blue Origin, is a private investment of Bezo's and not part of Amazon.
shanghaiaway 8y ago
This is not going to happen. Film producers are not allowed to own distribution. This goes back to the early decades of Hollywood.
- un_montagnard 8y ago
  Isn't that what Netflix/Amazon Prime Video are doing? Aren't they owning the distribution of their in-house produced shows?
  - shanghaiaway 8y ago
    Yes, they are. But that is because it is a new distribution channel that hasn't yet met controversy. I believe producers will be forced to divest distribution once again within the next 5-10 years, whether theatres or digital.
- jasongill 8y ago
  "Not allowed" by whom? Industry practice? At this point with the modern distracted, over-stimulated consumer, I would assume that these sorts of gentlemen's agreements are headed out the window Also there are multiple examples of production companies owning their distributors which predate Netflix - think Disney and Buena Vista
  - shanghaiaway 8y ago
    Not allowed by the Supreme Court. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Studio_system https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Studio_system
    - nostrebored 8y ago
      This also had the key component of studios holding exclusivity rights and only showing movies in their theaters.
    - adventured 8y ago
      That's an incorrect conclusion you're drawing. That ruling doesn't apply an inherent legal barrier to Amazon's situation with Landmark at all. It does not ban movie production companies from owning distribution. An anti-trust review for a given context would be required to determine whether a combination is in violation of anti-trust laws. The Supreme Court in the Paramount case found that particular scheme was in violation, that is all.
everdev 8y ago
Why is Amazon expanding into brick and mortar with Whole Foods and now Landmark? Have they really saturated and squeezed all they can out of digital? I like Apple's strategy better of sitting on piles of cash until they know what to do with it.
- angersock 8y ago
  The difference in strategy is why Apple sells toys and Amazon has an empire.
  - analogmemory 8y ago
    An empire of garbage knockoffs ‍️
- maym86 8y ago
  They have a supply chain for content/products why not have the option to sell it through any medium including cinemas/stores. Brick and mortar isn't going away and they want their cut too.
- ReverseCold 8y ago
  > Have they really saturated and squeezed all they can out of digital? They have about half of US online retail. Returns on expansion probably get a lot smaller at that point.
  - mtgx 8y ago
    Yes, but you're thinking local. Amazon could go global. It's still pretty tiny in most other countries. Not that I'm looking forward to a global e-commerce company, just saying that would probably be a better strategy for them.
    - kamaal 8y ago
      >>Amazon could go global. Amazon is already global. In India they are now competing with the likes of Walmart and Flipkart. And India is a huge market, not just for their ecommerce buisiness, but also for other offerings like aws and prime.
jsoc815 8y ago
1) This would be a solid purchase. Hell, I've often thought about buying Landmark myself. (But alas, slightly short on funds @ present) 2) This would address a problem that Netflix had/has w/awards (your 'film' isn't because it didn't premiere (exclusively) in theatres and contract negotiations, e.g. 'Crazy Rich Asians'.[1] While I am no longer gung-ho on Amazon due to some personal customer experiences, I can't say that this isn't a smart move; it is. [1] https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/crazy-rich-asians-story-behind-rom-com-1130965 https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/crazy-rich-asians...
benatkin 8y ago
I hope they can collaborate with Netflix on this, much like they're collaborating with Microsoft on a bridge between Siri and Cortana. I'd like to see Black Mirror on the big screen.
- leot 8y ago
  Netflix is an Amazon Prime video competitor.
  - vinay427 8y ago
    I think that was their point, as they mentioned a collaboration between Siri and Cortana, two largely competing products.
    - benatkin 8y ago
      Yep. It's an example of collaboration in the face of fierce competition. BTW I meant Alexa and Cortana. Oops.
  - bonesss 8y ago
    I know that Netflix is making some pretty nice bank, and has a very high valuation, but I find it shocking that they're still independent and that Amazon (or whoever owns HBO these days), hasn't made it their lifes mission to takeover Netflix and its juice global subscriber base. Amazon dollars & infrastructure, Netflix's AWS-based tech, combined with Prime content & subscribers would seem to be a highly profitable arrangement for all concerned...
- mattl 8y ago
  What’s preventing that right now?
  - chrisjc 8y ago
    Probably because everyone has already watched it, or watching individual episodes or entire seasons are not really suitable in a movie theatre.
vm 8y ago
Amazon is buying urban, high end locations. First Whole Foods, now Landmark. Clearly shows which customers they see as high value.
- shostack 8y ago
  Not to mention if they own the real estate that has value both as an asset in addition to being a foothold into meat space.
- sfrfvbtt 8y ago
  Right? Who wants customers with some money to spend on goods and services. Amazon should go target the people-of-Walmart crowd. They are the backbone of MAGA and the lifeblood of the economy!
jimnotgym 8y ago
Presumably not under the Trump administration, but you would have thought that each of these steps that Amazon takes into connected areas is a step closer to an anti-trust investigation?
- bonesss 8y ago
  By definition any kind of merger or aquisition is gonna get you closer to an anti-trust investigation. That said: anti-trust is all about monopoly and abuse of monopoly power. Expanding into connected markets is desirable, abusing monopoly to hamper competition while doing so is illegal. Amazon is not a monopoly [https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-stock-price-not-a-monopoly-2017-8?r=US&IR=T&IR=T https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-stock-price-not-a-mon...], and isn't expanding anywhere they'd become one easily. That said, again: even if there is a marginal monopoly in their sprawling Empire, and they abuse it, and an investigation is carried out, and prosecution is recommended... Amazon has more money than god. Expect a half-decade long trial with multiple appeals and unsatisfying judments that are easily covered out of their cash-on-hand. Remember the DOJ v Microsoft? I can't even see us getting halfway to that kind of action (as lame as that judgment was... MS should have been split in three).
  - jimnotgym 8y ago
    >Amazon is not a monopoly That article just describes Amazon as not a monopoly in retail as a whole in the U.S. The issues here are that Amazon's film business includes them being studio, streamer, retailer and now maybe cinema owner. They also manufacture player hardware which you may need to access their service. I wanted to watch an Amazon series, but their app wasn't available on my streaming box (and I doubt any technical justfication for this), so I had to buy an Amazon Fire stick, but that was OK because I could use it to watch YouTube as well. Except once Amazon had me, they removed the Google devices from Amazon, and Google retaliated by removing YouTube from fire. This starts to feel a lot like anti-competive behaviour. It reminds me of https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_Picture_Patents_Company https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_Picture_Patents_Compa... In certain sectors of retail Amazon certainly do have much higher market share than the cited article suggests, like computer equipment for instance, although I don't have figures to hand. My biggest concern is around the Amazon marketplace. By controlling the marketplace and being a seller into the marketplace Amazon can monitor an independents sales on a per-product basis. And once they see you doing well selling widget x, they can get widget x built in China and sell it directly and for less, thereby squeezing you out of the market. For lots of smaller distributers Amazon is their biggest channel. So when you say Amazon is not a Monopoly, that is an opinion and one I disagree with.
jameslk 8y ago
I wonder how this might affect MoviePass' long term plan of strong arming theaters
- sokoloff 8y ago
  I think MoviePass is already probably more worried about short-term survival than their long-term movie ticket world domination aspirations.
- Kagerjay 8y ago
  Movie pass has never really been able to strongarm theatres they've peaked already now its just a slow decline to oblivion
niceperson 8y ago
In five years, people will be able to watch amazon content on large screens whenever they wish and manybe amazon will air new episodes on a large screen after you verify that you are a prime subscriber or something. I see poeple living in thessse theatres. Brilliant.
sxp62000 8y ago
Ha! If this happens, they'll probably end up doing MoviePass better than MoviePass.

92 points by rchaudhary 8y ago

Is this contingent on the Paramount decree being overturned, or would it simply require some special approval?

Man, it really seems like amazon is just going to be everything at some point. In, say, 20 years will some meaningful percentage of all the money I spend somehow funnel through amazon? Kind of seems that way.

thedailymail 8y ago
They are already getting into Too Big to Boycott territory. If you factor in the indirect support we all give by interacting with paying users of AWS, that day may already be here.
rococode 8y ago
You wake up in the morning. "Alexa, make me a coffee." As you settle into your Amazon Auto - self-driving, of course - with a warm cup of Prime Espresso, your car's HUD lights up with a reminder. "Don't forget, your monthly electricity bill is due in 3 days! Thank you for being a customer! Echo Energy". Agh, more bills to pay. Luckily, you've been able to refinance your loans through your local BoA (Bank of Amazon) branch so you have more than enough to cover your living costs. To be honest though, I personally wouldn't mind Amazon controlling more aspects of my life for now at least, however threatening to various liberties that might be. My overall experiences with their customer service have been stellar, which is much more than I can say for some of the other monopolistic companies I have to deal with.
- voltagex_ 8y ago
  You're lucky - Amazon actually give a shit about the US. They launched in Australia (the newspapers were predicting the end of retail). They have what, 30% of products available here? Then they launched Prime - except they obviously haven't hired anyone who has used Australia Post before. You can't expect a Prime 2 day delivery if you use standard Post. All this, and they thought restricting access to the US version was a good idea. Amazon Australia: death by 1000 paper cuts. When eBay looks like a better option, you've really screwed up.
  - ClassyJacket 8y ago
    >You can't expect a Prime 2 day delivery if you use standard Post. You can't even get Express Post items in 2 days about half the time, even tho they "Guarantee next business day delivery"
    - ryanchoi 8y ago
      Not sure if this applies to this scenario, but tricky wording related to 1 day delivery landed amzn in hot water in the UK. In this case, they meant one day after dispatch, not one day from order placement. https://www.bbc.com/news/amp/business-45183887 https://www.bbc.com/news/amp/business-45183887
- benatkin 8y ago
  Prime Espresso is actually scary, since coffee is one of the three products in 1984...
manmal 8y ago
I doubt that the US or EU will allow such a megacorp to exist. It would be a threat to the free market and even democracy.
- laumars 8y ago
  The EU doesn't have an issue with megacorps per se. It's businesses that abuse their market position. This is the crucial point that many Americans miss when they moan about the EU interfering with American businesses. Source: I work for a monopoly in the EU and while my company is heavily audited and regulated to ensure we operate fairly, we are still free to run as a monopoly.
virgilp 8y ago
Isn't that Bezos' declared goal? To have a cut from all economic activity.
ReverseCold 8y ago
> In, say, 20 years will some meaningful percentage of all the money I spend somehow funnel through amazon? Amazon already has 5% of the total retail market in the US. I consider that a meaningful percentage. More anecdotally, one of the discord servers I'm in recently had a trend where people shared their total yearly spend on Amazon. Upwards of $10-20k were not uncommon. (The data source is definitely biased though, as it's more of a hobby-related discord == upper middle class segment).
- deadbunny 8y ago
  How are they getting their yearly spend? I would be interested in my yearly spend (over the years) and to see how it's grown/shrunk.
swaroop 8y ago
Yep, they want a cut of as many economic activities as possible, for example, AWS takes a cut of all online businesses! See https://stratechery.com/2016/the-amazon-tax/ https://stratechery.com/2016/the-amazon-tax/
- deadbunny 8y ago
  You could always null route their ip ranges: https://ip-ranges.amazonaws.com/ip-ranges.json https://ip-ranges.amazonaws.com/ip-ranges.json
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

colechristensen 8y ago

Some of my favorite theaters are landmark and I would be very disappointed if they get bought out by a FAANG type. I think we need a Paramount decree for studios/streaming.

crazygringo 8y ago
Why do you prefer Landmark to continue to be owned by Mark Cuban instead of Jeff Bezos? It's not like it's a mom & pop operation... I'm sure MBA types are running it either way, so what's the difference?
- jacquesc 8y ago
  Landmark has made good choices so far, and play some of the best films you can't find anywhere else. I'm also worried that Amazon will decide that it's more profitable to just have em switch to playing comic book movies nonstop like every other theater.
  - crazygringo 8y ago
    I don't think there's any reason to worry... indie films are Landmark's entire (seemingly successful) business model, their theaters are located exactly where people who want to watch those movies live, and Amazon is producing award-winning independent films like Manchester by the Sea. Turning Landmark into an AMC clone would make about as much sense as converting Whole Foods into Walmart-type stores. Which is to say, basically zero business sense.
- colechristensen 8y ago
  It seems like Cuban owns it for its own purpose. Amazon acquiring a theater means they want it to fit in with the rest of their media business. I don't want Landmark to be retooled to fit Amazon's purposes.

danjoc 8y ago

The newspaper made some sense in a newsvertising sort of way, the grocery store chain was a stretch, but a movie chain is just hubris. "I'm good at computer stuff, so I'm good at everything!" Things haven't been going so well at the grocery either, have they? https://www.businessinsider.com/whole-foods-employees-reveal-why-stores-are-facing-a-crisis-of-food-shortages-2018-1 https://www.businessinsider.com/whole-foods-employees-reveal... I only expect things to get worse. Oddly enough, this story really is beginning to sound a lot like manna, http://marshallbrain.com/manna1.htm http://marshallbrain.com/manna1.htm

gumby 8y ago
The newspaper, like Blue Origin, is a private investment of Bezo's and not part of Amazon.

shanghaiaway 8y ago

This is not going to happen. Film producers are not allowed to own distribution. This goes back to the early decades of Hollywood.

un_montagnard 8y ago
Isn't that what Netflix/Amazon Prime Video are doing? Aren't they owning the distribution of their in-house produced shows?
- shanghaiaway 8y ago
  Yes, they are. But that is because it is a new distribution channel that hasn't yet met controversy. I believe producers will be forced to divest distribution once again within the next 5-10 years, whether theatres or digital.
jasongill 8y ago
"Not allowed" by whom? Industry practice? At this point with the modern distracted, over-stimulated consumer, I would assume that these sorts of gentlemen's agreements are headed out the window Also there are multiple examples of production companies owning their distributors which predate Netflix - think Disney and Buena Vista
- shanghaiaway 8y ago
  Not allowed by the Supreme Court. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Studio_system https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Studio_system
  - nostrebored 8y ago
    This also had the key component of studios holding exclusivity rights and only showing movies in their theaters.
  - adventured 8y ago
    That's an incorrect conclusion you're drawing. That ruling doesn't apply an inherent legal barrier to Amazon's situation with Landmark at all. It does not ban movie production companies from owning distribution. An anti-trust review for a given context would be required to determine whether a combination is in violation of anti-trust laws. The Supreme Court in the Paramount case found that particular scheme was in violation, that is all.

everdev 8y ago

Why is Amazon expanding into brick and mortar with Whole Foods and now Landmark? Have they really saturated and squeezed all they can out of digital? I like Apple's strategy better of sitting on piles of cash until they know what to do with it.

angersock 8y ago
The difference in strategy is why Apple sells toys and Amazon has an empire.
- analogmemory 8y ago
  An empire of garbage knockoffs ‍️
maym86 8y ago
They have a supply chain for content/products why not have the option to sell it through any medium including cinemas/stores. Brick and mortar isn't going away and they want their cut too.
ReverseCold 8y ago
> Have they really saturated and squeezed all they can out of digital? They have about half of US online retail. Returns on expansion probably get a lot smaller at that point.
- mtgx 8y ago
  Yes, but you're thinking local. Amazon could go global. It's still pretty tiny in most other countries. Not that I'm looking forward to a global e-commerce company, just saying that would probably be a better strategy for them.
  - kamaal 8y ago
    >>Amazon could go global. Amazon is already global. In India they are now competing with the likes of Walmart and Flipkart. And India is a huge market, not just for their ecommerce buisiness, but also for other offerings like aws and prime.

jsoc815 8y ago

1) This would be a solid purchase. Hell, I've often thought about buying Landmark myself. (But alas, slightly short on funds @ present) 2) This would address a problem that Netflix had/has w/awards (your 'film' isn't because it didn't premiere (exclusively) in theatres and contract negotiations, e.g. 'Crazy Rich Asians'.[1] While I am no longer gung-ho on Amazon due to some personal customer experiences, I can't say that this isn't a smart move; it is. [1] https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/crazy-rich-asians-story-behind-rom-com-1130965 https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/crazy-rich-asians...

benatkin 8y ago

I hope they can collaborate with Netflix on this, much like they're collaborating with Microsoft on a bridge between Siri and Cortana. I'd like to see Black Mirror on the big screen.

leot 8y ago
Netflix is an Amazon Prime video competitor.
- vinay427 8y ago
  I think that was their point, as they mentioned a collaboration between Siri and Cortana, two largely competing products.
  - benatkin 8y ago
    Yep. It's an example of collaboration in the face of fierce competition. BTW I meant Alexa and Cortana. Oops.
- bonesss 8y ago
  I know that Netflix is making some pretty nice bank, and has a very high valuation, but I find it shocking that they're still independent and that Amazon (or whoever owns HBO these days), hasn't made it their lifes mission to takeover Netflix and its juice global subscriber base. Amazon dollars & infrastructure, Netflix's AWS-based tech, combined with Prime content & subscribers would seem to be a highly profitable arrangement for all concerned...
mattl 8y ago
What’s preventing that right now?
- chrisjc 8y ago
  Probably because everyone has already watched it, or watching individual episodes or entire seasons are not really suitable in a movie theatre.

vm 8y ago

Amazon is buying urban, high end locations. First Whole Foods, now Landmark. Clearly shows which customers they see as high value.

shostack 8y ago
Not to mention if they own the real estate that has value both as an asset in addition to being a foothold into meat space.
sfrfvbtt 8y ago
Right? Who wants customers with some money to spend on goods and services. Amazon should go target the people-of-Walmart crowd. They are the backbone of MAGA and the lifeblood of the economy!

jimnotgym 8y ago

Presumably not under the Trump administration, but you would have thought that each of these steps that Amazon takes into connected areas is a step closer to an anti-trust investigation?

bonesss 8y ago
By definition any kind of merger or aquisition is gonna get you closer to an anti-trust investigation. That said: anti-trust is all about monopoly and abuse of monopoly power. Expanding into connected markets is desirable, abusing monopoly to hamper competition while doing so is illegal. Amazon is not a monopoly [https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-stock-price-not-a-monopoly-2017-8?r=US&IR=T&IR=T https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-stock-price-not-a-mon...], and isn't expanding anywhere they'd become one easily. That said, again: even if there is a marginal monopoly in their sprawling Empire, and they abuse it, and an investigation is carried out, and prosecution is recommended... Amazon has more money than god. Expect a half-decade long trial with multiple appeals and unsatisfying judments that are easily covered out of their cash-on-hand. Remember the DOJ v Microsoft? I can't even see us getting halfway to that kind of action (as lame as that judgment was... MS should have been split in three).
- jimnotgym 8y ago
  >Amazon is not a monopoly That article just describes Amazon as not a monopoly in retail as a whole in the U.S. The issues here are that Amazon's film business includes them being studio, streamer, retailer and now maybe cinema owner. They also manufacture player hardware which you may need to access their service. I wanted to watch an Amazon series, but their app wasn't available on my streaming box (and I doubt any technical justfication for this), so I had to buy an Amazon Fire stick, but that was OK because I could use it to watch YouTube as well. Except once Amazon had me, they removed the Google devices from Amazon, and Google retaliated by removing YouTube from fire. This starts to feel a lot like anti-competive behaviour. It reminds me of https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_Picture_Patents_Company https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_Picture_Patents_Compa... In certain sectors of retail Amazon certainly do have much higher market share than the cited article suggests, like computer equipment for instance, although I don't have figures to hand. My biggest concern is around the Amazon marketplace. By controlling the marketplace and being a seller into the marketplace Amazon can monitor an independents sales on a per-product basis. And once they see you doing well selling widget x, they can get widget x built in China and sell it directly and for less, thereby squeezing you out of the market. For lots of smaller distributers Amazon is their biggest channel. So when you say Amazon is not a Monopoly, that is an opinion and one I disagree with.

jameslk 8y ago

I wonder how this might affect MoviePass' long term plan of strong arming theaters

sokoloff 8y ago
I think MoviePass is already probably more worried about short-term survival than their long-term movie ticket world domination aspirations.
Kagerjay 8y ago
Movie pass has never really been able to strongarm theatres they've peaked already now its just a slow decline to oblivion

niceperson 8y ago

In five years, people will be able to watch amazon content on large screens whenever they wish and manybe amazon will air new episodes on a large screen after you verify that you are a prime subscriber or something. I see poeple living in thessse theatres. Brilliant.

sxp62000 8y ago

Ha! If this happens, they'll probably end up doing MoviePass better than MoviePass.