Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) has launched its Instant Video App for Apple Inc.’s (AAPL) iPhone and iPod touch. The app allows Amazon Prime members to stream or download Amazon Instant Video movies and TV episodes directly onto their Apple devices.
Previously, this app was available only for iPads. Amazon charges $79.0 per annum from its Prime members and offers free two-day shipping and access to more than 30,000 instantly accessible movies and TV episodes.
In addition to 30,000 titles from Prime Instant Video, the new app will now let customers enjoy more than 140,000 titles from Amazon Instant Video at any time across the world.
According to IDC, 303.6 million units of connected devices, such as tablets and smartphones, were shipped (valued at $140.4 billion) in the same quarter. Apple shipped 45.8 million units in the third quarter of fiscal 2012, a 38.0% jump from the year-ago quarter.
IDC expects the shipment of these smart devices to touch 362 million units, worth $169.2 billion, in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012. The holiday season is expected to drive the shipments. Further, the advantages of cloud-based services are making it possible for the customers to seamlessly buy and use different devices.
As per Researcher In-Stat, 48 billion apps will be downloaded worldwide by 2015, which will generate $29.0 billion. The apps market is gaining strength backed by 425,000 apps from Apple’s App Store and more than 200,000 offerings from Google’s (GOOG) Android Market.
Thus, Amazon’s strategy to offer its content on as many gadgets as possible is a smart one as the smart devices are witnessing strength globally. Amazon would no doubt benefit in the long term.
Amazon’s third quarter revenue was $13.81 billion, up 7.6% sequentially and 26.9% from the year-ago quarter. This was better than management expectations and more or less in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Excluding the unfavorable currency impact, revenues increased 30.0% year over year.
Amazon, Apple and Google all have a Zacks #3 Rank, which implies a ‘Hold’ rating in the near term.
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