Amazon plans to 'significantly' increase investment in video as it goes to war with Netflix
REUTERS/Rick Wilking
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos
During its earnings call with the press on Thursday, Amazon CFO Brian Olsavsky stressed that it's seeing better engagement and conversions from Prime members who use the video service, and that a lot of the future investments will focus on boosting its video offerings.
"One of the larger investments is our content spend...We like the results because we see better engagements, better free trial conversions from Prime members who use the video service," Olsavsky said. "We're going to significantly increase our content spend, some of it is in Q2 guidance, but we'll be expecting more of it in the backend of the year certainly."And then earlier this month, in a clear sign that Amazon's going after Netflix, the online retail giant made its video service available to non-Prime members, too, launching a standalone video service that can be purchased month-by-month. Until then, Amazon's video content was only available to Amazon Prime members, its $99 annual membership program that gives access to two-day free shipping and a bunch of video and music content, as well as cloud storage space.
Amazon didn't specify the size of the investment or exactly where the money will be spent. But it's likely going to be spent on improving its original content, a space where Amazon is known to lag behind Netflix and HBO. As this chart from Morgan Stanley shows, most people believe Netflix and HBO have better original content than Amazon.Morgan Stanley
Next Story
Old vehicle owners may have to pay up to ₹3,800 per year as ‘Green tax’
-
Here’s how Smytten has been bridging the demand and supply gap for premium products using consumer trials
-
The creative process: The journey from a brief to 'Final_final.jpg'
-
Top stocks to watch on January 27
-
IMF projects 11.5% growth rate for India in 2021, only major economy to record double digit growth
Next