Throughout the past few days, Amazon has taken to pulling all of their Kindle, music, and Audiobooks services from Google Play Stores. At first, this may seem like somewhat of a shocking development; but upon further inspection, the causes of this incident begin to become crystal clear.
In this article, we will be taking a look at why it is that Amazon decided to stop allowing their books, music, and audiobooks to be sold by Android, as well as also taking a look at what this may mean for the future of both companies.
What’s The Reason Amazon Decided To Stop Offering Their Services Through Android
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Before taking a look at why Amazon is boycotting Android, we first need to take a look at the development that started this whole ordeal in the first place. Within the past few weeks, Google recently came out and stated that they would now require every app on the Google Play Store to give them a cut whenever a sale is made.
This is going to reduce profits drastically for any companies that chose the Google Play Store as their designated market, and there is no doubt that this is going to put a ton of developers in a tough spot.
While Amazon is unlikely to be affected by this recent change in terms of overall revenue, it seems as though they were entirely unhappy with the precedent that this decision sets, and this is exactly why they decided to stop offering their services through the Google Play Store.
Apple’s App Store alongside the Google Play Store are two centralising figures of the mobile ecosystem, where all consumers must go to be able to use their smartphones as they need and wish. Apple’s App Store operates similarly. Its policies – be it the percentage it takes from app revenue or what it enables apps to ‘sell’ – have been accused of being anti-competitive, leading consumers to buy Apple products and services, filtering them through what Apple owns. Amazon’s removal of in-app purchases is an attempt to hold onto profits.
What Are The Alternatives To Amazon’s Audiobooks, Kindle & Music?
So, after hearing about this whole fiasco surrounding Amazon and Android, you may be wondering if Amazon’s services are now gone forever. Are we all just going to have to listen to royalty free music at artlist.io for the rest of our lives instead of the wide library of diverse music that Amazon supplied us thus far? Well, not quite.
Amazon’s products can still be purchased by Android users through the web with no issues at all, and users can still access their library of E-books to read to their heart’s content. This means that all of Amazon’s products are still easily accessible on Android, and if you own an Android and are worried about whether or not this means you are not barred from using Amazon’s services, this is just not the case.
Obviously there are other competitors in the space which offer services similar to Amazon. Apple, notably, covers each of these in their own right. The key difference with audiobooks and Kindle, though, is Apple doesn’t have a subscription option. Instead, consumers must purchase each individually. Apple Music is subscription-based, and is considered a superior option to Amazon.
Rumours are flying around that Spotify – another major competitor in the music-streaming space – is strategizing how they might enter in the audiobook market, after successfully mounting a challenge to Amazon and Apple’s hold on the podcast market. Android users will have options.
What Is The Cost To Amazon?
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A question that naturally comes to mind when looking at this situation is whether or not Amazon is going to lose profit from their decision to stop offering their services through the Google Play Store.
While Amazon may potentially see a slight drop in purchases due to the fact that some people will not be sure where to get access to their services, in the grand scheme of things, this is not likely going to affect Amazon’s bottom line all too much.
This is mainly because Amazon’s services are still easily accessible through Android; the vast majority of people will have no qualms with simply heading to their browser to get access to Amazon services, and this is precisely why Amazon is not likely going to lose out all too much from this recent change.
In fact, the decision to take their services off Android may actually be more profitable than the alternative. Having Android take a cut every time somebody purchases something from Amazon would have been a huge revenue leak; but now, this has been entirely avoided by their decision to cut Android out of the process.
The Lasting Effects This Will Have On Android
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As you would expect, Amazon is not the only company that is not too pleased with Google/Android’s decision. There are a plethora of companies that have decided to follow Amazon with their decision to stop offering their services through the Google Play Store, and this is also likely going to make developers think twice before going to put their apps on Android.
This is also likely going to slow down funding from investors – something that will certainly make Android question whether or not they made the right decision.
Considering just how large both Amazon and Google are, the fact that Amazon has decided to stop offering its Kindle, music, and audiobook services through Android is almost unbelievable. Google’s decision has already received a ton of backlash, and we have no doubt that this criticism is going to haunt them for years to come.
Whether or not this development will lose money for both Amazon and Google in the long run is still mostly uncertain – this is something that is going to take us years to find out.
Either way; this whole ordeal certainly gives us an interesting look into the direction we may see business going in the future, and we can’t wait to find out the lasting effects this is going to have on the industry.
