Now, it is an outright one.
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Customers can now pay $8.99 a month to watch Amazon’s Prime video streaming service.
Amazon Prime Video, which is the first service to be separated from the Prime service, will cost $8.99 per month, according to the company’s website.
Amazon has always been a rival to Netflix, but that rivalry was clouded by the fact that subscribers to Amazon video are really subscribers to Amazon Prime, the retailer’s free shipping service.
In a note published on Monday, Schachter wrote that the majority of Prime users so far have come from the upper-income United States household market – $55,000 or more – who were willing to pay the $99 upfront annual fee for access to free two-day delivery and a bunch of video and music content. Their pricing model depends on video quality and how many screens can simultaneously stream. Amazon has announced a new high-end e-reader, the Kindle Oasis, and is adding monthly payment options for its Amazon Prime service.
Both Amazon and Netflix have been investing more in video content as the competition between the two grows. Management firm Piper Jaffray recently estimated that Prime’s numbers are even higher, between 57 million 61 million subscribers.
But Amazon is steadily chipping away at this skepticism and doubt about Prime Video by acquiring content Netflix does not have the rights to.
Netflix has “Orange is the New Black, ‘ “House of Cards” and a couple of series based on Marvel comic characters”. But in recent years, Amazon has been hot on its trail with Golden Globe-winning programming such as Transparent and Mozart In The Jungle.
Now, by broadening the monthly options for Prime to anyone and introducing a video-only service, the company is making it easier for people to compare the price of Prime to that of Netflix, the dominant subscription streaming provider, with more than 75million subscribers globally. Amazon, as indicated in the chart above, includes 4k streaming in either of their three options.
Amazon said users who opt to pay $10.99 monthly, instead of the $99 annual fee, can cancel at any time.
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Netflix shares closed down almost 2.8 percent, or $3.11, to $108.40 on Nasdaq. Not really. Amazon Prime may seem like a tough sell, with its $99 yearly charge. Well, Amazon is trying to up their game considerably and has delivered the first major blow against Netflix.
