It was a pretty big deal when Amazon finally resumed direct sales of the Apple TV earlier today. The company had stopped selling the set-top box two years ago due to “customer confusion.” Amazon started selling the Apple TV 4K, both 32GB and 64GB models, earlier today. The online retail giant has sold out of the set-top box merely hours after resuming direct sales of the Apple TV.
Amazon stopped selling competing streaming devices like the Apple TV and Chromecast on October 29th, 2015. It said that Amazon Prime Video compatibility was necessary for the company to sell these devices in order to avoid customer confusion.
Amazon didn’t release an app for the Apple TV after that so the set-top box remained off the retailer’s website. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos suggested in 2016 that Prime Video would not arrive on devices like the Apple TV until the companies agreed upon an amicable reimbursement model.
It was then announced by Apple CEO Tim Cook earlier this year at the WWDC 2017 that Amazon’s video streaming app will be released for the Apple TV in 2017. The app was released earlier this month.
Amazon then resumed direct sales of the Apple TV earlier today and it has already sold out of both models of the Apple TV 4K within hours. It may be a while before the set-top box is back in stock.
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