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Amazon Talking with Netflix And Blockbuster
Mike from HackingNetflix.com writes "Reuters is reporting that 'Amazon.com has approached online DVD rental service companies, including Blockbuster and Netflix, to explore a partnership rather than launching its own U.S. DVD rental service.'" More from the article: "Despite its online might, shopping giant Amazon faces a potentially expensive battle to crack the competitive U.S. online rental market. The company started its own DVD rental service in Britain in December. Rumors that Amazon would enter the U.S. online DVD rental market sparked a price war late last year between Blockbuster and Netflix, which pioneered online DVD rental and now controls about 75 percent of the market." So there may be a happy ending to this tale for Netflix after all.
they're going to be a dvd rental force to be wreckoned with, oh yes. ;)
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Amazon has been one of the innovative online business for a long time. How about streaming rental service? Strike a deal with Tivo or somebody else. Why don't they still embrace the future?
Yeah, I wouldn't mind a piece of the pie as well. Netflix, let me jump on the back of your obviously well designed and considerably successful business. Will you just send me a check, or should I do anything else?
Apple is dying, Tivo is dying, BSD is dying, netflix is dying etc etc etc... /me is tired of hearing this kind of nonsense.
Reuters is reporting that 'Amazon.com has approached online DVD rental service companies, including Blockbuster and Netflix, to explore a partnership rather than launching its own U.S. DVD rental service.'" More from the article: "Despite its online might, shopping giant Amazon faces a potentially expensive battle to crack the competitive U.S. online rental market.
Ummm... Does anyone else read that as "we plan to take over your market but might have trouble getting started, so just give us a cut and we'll let you live"?
NetFlix already has a healthy base of customers, and anyone interested in such a service already knows about them. What does Amazon have to bring to the table, other than not crushing them like a bug?
and/or they feel that by entering the market they will further commoditize DVD rental prices, & decrease margins. This could make the business less profitable for all involved. By trying to come up with a partnership, prices could potentially remain higher than otherwise.
what is the viability of startubg a DVD mail service right now? Are they trying to build a client base for the inevitble switch to streaming, which granted is still a few years off, or just trying to get in and steal a bit of market share while they can. hmm. it reminds me of back in 2001, when i worked for an internet kiosk company. we all knew that wireless tech was hitting the market and that it basically spelled doom for the company, but the higher ups hoped to make as much as they could and (hopefully) sell the company off to a major player before wireless came to fruition...the company was gone within 2 years.
Amazon.co.uk already provide this service, which I think is backed by Lovefilm.com (email me for a double length free trial, 28 days instead of 14), which is basically the top UK online DVD rental site (run by Online Rentals Ltd). Ive been a Lovefilm member for 16 months now, and I dont have a single word of complaint about them - fast service, good rates and a very easy to use site.
I really don't think the market could hold another major competitor, so partnering with Blockbuster or Netflix would be a smart move... Although I heard rumors that Hollywood Video might also be looking at starting an online movie rental business. That might be an ideal partner for Amazon, as both are fresh in the business.
Also, for a shameless plug, if there are any Netflix users out there, and you think dealing with your queue is a pain, try my new software (Windows), called FlixQueue.
http://www.5hyphen.com/FlixQueue/index.htm
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They could learn a lot from blockbuster UK, in a what not to do sense - I always know what DVD is coming next - it's the one from the bottom of my list!
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within six months. It sort of blows me away that it's not already there. Netflix knows the movies I like much better than Amazon. It knows what I've seen, what I've rented twice. If I wanted to browse some movies to buy I'd go to Netflix and search around, before heading over to Amazon to actually place my order.
I'll bet they'd like a cut of those revenues too.
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There's risk from either direction. The attempt to squash them like a bug could also fail, yes, and at ruinous expense? We don't know what terms are being discussed, but there would be concessions and benefits on either side. Not that Amazon isn't dealing from a position of some strength, especially because it can play Netflix off against the Blockbuster evil empire.
Netflix is already facing Blockbuster's recent conversation to their own business model. If I was Netflix negotiating a deal of this sort, I'd be thinking that any sort of Amazon relationship could give me the presence to withstand that. I'd maybe want some sort of mutual benefits situation with respect to DVD sales off of Amazon.
(And I don't know enough about Netflix's base of customers, except that it includes me, but I'd bet Amazon has a colossally higher visibility for the average consumer. Amazon is on the level of google, with more staying power to boot. Whether Netflix has a lot of customers or not, the question is whether there's a lot of growth left in the market, and whether Amazon's presence would get at it.)
"Fundamentalism" isn't about divine morality. It's about human authority.
I wonder if I'll be able to rent used DVDs for less than new DVDs...
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The article seems to favor blockbustor but I don't think they are ever worth using. They have had way too many lawsuits for bullcrap late fees over the last 10 years! I know its true because its happened to my family and we stopped using them a long time ago. Personally its worth it to pay more whether that be netflix or amazon or the two of them combined.
Amazon should go it alone. I know Amazon UK rents DVD's online but I don't know if it's partnered with anyone. Partnering with Blockbuster would be a bad idea. I currently subscribe to it. I thought I'd give them a try first because if they sucked I could always switch to Netflix. Which is what I'll probably do here soon.
Over half the movies in my queue are short wait. I have about 40 in it. Yes I can only have 3 out at a time, but there are some movies I've been waiting months for. And Netflix does have a better selection. If Amazon partners with Blockbuster then my movies will all go to long wait.
"You'll get nothing, and you'll like it!"
Netflix would fit quite well with the range of products that Amazon has. Amazon has good relations with its customers already, now it could tie them up with a subscription service. If they do it well, the customer gets referrals to movies they might never have thought of and Amazon might use information on viewing habits to suggest books. If Amazon/Netflix are smart, they will also start video on demand.
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..its called Bit Torrent, and is usually quicker than Blockbuster !
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It has become apparent to me that you have mistakenly found your way on to Slashdot.org. I do not blame you for your misplaced comments. You likely felt right at home, with Slashdot's prevalent use of Internet abbreviations and lack of capitalizing proper nouns.
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Low barrier to entry (just buy a library of the new releases from the last three years, which constitute 99% of rentals, throw up a website, set up a wharehouse, voila). Umpteen different companies have the resources to get into this business if they want, which means it will be impossible to make a lot of money at it. At best this will end up being a complementary service to more high-margin businesses elsewhere in a firm's offerings.
I'm a Netflix fan, but think Amazon should go it alone for no other reason than I love a price war. :)
Netflix seem to be a more likely partner than Blockbuster from Amazon's viewpoint. They already have a well established customer base and architecture. On the other hand Blockbuster may have a greater interest in tapping into Amazon's online presence and architecture and be willing to offer more for the opportunity. My guess is that Amazon will still end up in a deal with Netflix because it will avoid the risk of another Toyrus situation.
:) [EOM]
They are already doing that. Story link
My hunch about why they're looking to partner is that online DVD rental may turn out to be a business with a fairly short lifespan. Everyone and their mother is coming out with plans to deliver video content on demand via every possible medium, so physical delivery of those oh-so-easily-copied silver discs could be risky.
The one thing that might keep it alive for a while is the rise of HD DVDs, but by the time those are prevalent, we might all be wondering why physical media are even necessary any more.
If Amazon wants to compete like mad in the dvd mail-order rental, start with pr0n. Get a huge library, make some partnerships with adult title companies(for bulk discounts, exclusive deals, whatever), and add that to the regular movie library. Also, don't charge exorbant prices. Treat it like a regular movie, but maybe add a dollar to the rental cost, just cuz you can.
Well-known retailer + pr0n + no shame of walking out of the adult section with it = 3. profit!
Doesn't like my full name, says it's not valid for a free trial.
Sean D.
"Hmm. I am to metaphor cheese as metaphor cheese is to transitive verb crackers!"
There used to be a link to buy the DVD from buy.com on each Netflix movie page. It disappeared a little while ago.
If someone online, like Amazon, and someone offline, like Blockbuster, got together and provided a truly integrated service it would be much better than the current syystem.
Imagine a system where you pay your 10 euro a month to rent up to 2 DVDs at a time. Initially you happen to sign up online at Amazon and get your first 2 DVDs sent to you in the post.
When you finish one of those DVDs you could decide that instead of sending it back in the post, you just pop down to Blockbuster and return it and immediately pick up another DVD. This DVD, like the ones from online, would have no late fees, and you can return it either to ANY blockbuster, or just mail it back to Amazon.
This gives the customer the benefits of both an online system like Amazon.co.uk's and a local shop like Blockbuster.
So what day does the FBI show up? Did you not find the need to capitalize Thursday.
I say we just grow up, be adults and die.
I could have sworn Netflix was the first to offer this years before Blockbuster entered the arena, and Blockbuster had to throw a ton of cash just to catch up with the added bonus that they can advertise this service locally in every store they own.
Having used both services, its pretty obvious that Blockbuster didnt add anything original to the online rental service. The only difference (aside from the packaging and web site layout) is that Netflix has more distro centers. Both services list a distro center in Seattle, but its a lie. Netflix deliveries go to Tacoma (40 miles south of Seattle) and im not quite sure where the Blockbuster ones go routed to as the envelope just lists a PO Box address. I do know it takes a bit longer to get returns back with Blockbuster.
After all, there's two revenue streams when it comes to DVDs - rental and resale.
Netflix has an excellent rental model, but a nonexistent resale model.
Amazon, OTOH, is positioned in the exact opposite.
This synergy can combine both models' strengths and potentially increase revenue significantly.
You better watch out, there may be dogs about . .
So far, Walmart is OK - mail turn-arounds are not so fast, but about the same as Netflix was when I had it before (Netflix claims to have improved this now). The selection of obscure titles and foreign flicks is not as good, but still respectable.
Companies need to view their interface with their customers like an API - customers are going to be interested in a few parameters like price, quality of service or products, etc. The rest are totally irrelevant - for example, a company's internal profit models and metrics, whether they consider me a new or old (thus, exploitable) customer, etc. In fact, once a company has exposed the internals of its "API", they've already lost me as a customer. I could care less about all of that, and I won't deal with such companies.
Netflix deserves to die. I'm usually for the little guy, but in this case, we're just dealing with shear stupidity and Darwinian dynamics. Walmart is a formidable opponent even for competent competition. Netflix obviously is not. They are going to get slaughtered.
Besides, it is well known that innovators seldomly end up being dominant in the markets they created. They can never compete with the marketing and sales channels of large, established firms.
When Netflix first started, they had a business model where you could rent a single movie, and if you liked it, you could pay the remaining cost of the movie and buy it. It was awesome. I used it all the time.
So why don't they have this anymore? They made a deal with Amazon that Amazon would get the purchase business and Netflix would get the rental business. That way, they wouldn't compete. So Netflix didn't offer that service anymore. Problem was, Amazon didn't offer it either.
Not sure what kind of deal is going to be made, but the sure thing is that it will be bad for the consumer, since it's being done expressly to avoid competition...
I have been a user of the DVD rental for well over a year or so; they have had a fairly good selection, and when I requested a title they didn't have; bang, it showed up.
And, that nonsense of full-screen bias may be in the stores, but not their rental.
Only recently have their "Customer Service" become crap; example: they keep insisting that "20,000 Leagues" is available; Disney, not the silent. It's not now but was there before, and I get canned answers from support saying it is. I see that some Disney things are no longer available, and Brazil is gone!
I'm using Zip.ca, a service identical to Netflix (who dosen't deliver into Canada), and the service is really cool. They've got a huge selection of movies - 30,000 or so, I've been able to satisfy my finical tastes - and there's no late fees, something I was having a problem with before. You build up a queue of 20 or so movies you'd like to see, and they mail you what's available from that list. It's kinda cool because you never know what kind of mix you'll get: I got the comedy "I'm gonna git you sucka", a documentary on deep sea aquatic life and the anime "Grave of the Fireflies"
I highly recommend the service (it's better than the trash on Satellite IMO).
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I recently lived in a huge suburbia outside one of the largest US cities and had my choice of shopping experiences. However, I recently returned to the rural area(s) I grew up in for retirement.
It is exactly how I remember it growing up when, for example, I couldn't afford to buy sports equipment from the local shop owners because they were severely overpriced; the Mom and Pops charging through the nose without applying any effort; they believe that a business is supposed to be their money tree. Just try going to the local hardware and buying something; it will cost you triple because they know you are screwed. It is not because they don't know better, they are fully inventory controlled and point-of-sale enabled.
There is a WalMart coming in May, and a huge regional chain is falling over itself to readjust prices, not just a few cents, but by tens of gouging percent.
Go WalMart; screw the local "Business Owner"
Is the rumor true that Netflix sends movies out faster to new customers and gradually slows down the longer you've been with them?
I'm a Netflix n00b - been with them about 2 months - and I couldn't be more pleased with their turnaround time. I drop a disc in the mail Monday, the next one is at my house Tuesday. I live in DC and they've got a distro center in the DC burbs, so that may be part of the reason, but I'm wondering if this is mainly just a temporary phenomenon because I'm a new customer
I hope Amazon partners with Netflix. I'd love to be able to add to my queue from an Amazon page, but it would be even better to add to my queue from an IMDb page.
Netflix isn't dying...it's in fact the market leader. But it's got some potential competitors who are traditionally "killer competition"
WalMart - kills competitors in markets it enters
Blockbuster - killed off most of the mom & pop rental stores
Amazon - is the dotcom that survived the dot boom/bust
Netflix - is the company that came up with a new business model and grew
However, investor/industry analysts are nervous about it because they don't know if it has staying power. There is strong potential competition (which Netflix has more than held it's own against). And there is the upcoming (for certain eventually just unknown time of arrival) of download on demand.
What Netflix has going for it in the industry.
- established
- market dominance
- market presence
- best interface
So what does Amazon get and offer Netflix. Amazon will save hundreds of millions of dollars. It will also become an "umbrella" of sorts to the investor community who will see an Amazonian partnership as a assurety of long-term livability for Netflix. And guarantee a mutually beneficial symbiotic advertising relationship. Got to Netflix from Amazon, and from Amazon to Netflix.
- The Saj
I've been using Netflix for about a year and a half now. I get anywhere from 10 to 16 movies a week with its 8 movies at a time deal.
Maybe I'm just lucky, but I get a three-day turn around on movies. E.g., if I mail them back on Monday, it'll get them Tuesday and mail back the same day, which means I'll get the new ones on Wednesday.
Contrast that to the god-awful experience I had with Blockbuster. It would take about 9 days to get a movie and the same going back. In fact, TWO MONTHS after quitting, they finally got a movie I sent back two months earlier. TWO FIGGIN' MONTHS TO GET A MOVIE?!
Either Blockbuster is the most incompetent service ever or the company is intentionally trying to make internet/ DVD rental services look bad to the general population, to protect their bread and butter rental brick and mortar stores.
So a message to Amazon, unless you can guarantee a three day turn around like Netflix, don't even friggin' bother!
If someone says he and his monkey have nothing to hide, they almost certainly do.
What else could Amazon have in mind? Amazon has a large distribution system, but's more centralized than Netflix's. What if Amazon wants to stage popular books at Netflix facilities to get quicker shipping? What if Amazon wants to rent books or CDs (ending up in a court battle)?
Unless Netflix puts back the "buy now" button only now it sends you off to amazon's site to handle actual purchasing.
And, while you're browsing DVDs on amazon's site, they could add a "rent now" button that links over to Netflix.
I mean, yeah it probably won't happen, but it could.
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I know this from talking to the shipping manager at Adam & Eve. If you want to see how people ship postal with large volumes, remember $ex $ales.
Blockbuster seem to have issues with many titles out of stock, whilst I am not getting this issue from Netflix. Hard to say who carries more as I find hard to find titles on either site (Netflix recently added The DamBusters and The Cruel Sea, which is very hard to get and not listed on Blockbuster, but there are some titles on Blockbuster that Netflix do not have).
Oh and lastly, I see that Blockbuster can be slow with shipping and receiving these DVD's, maybe they will get better with time?
For what its worth you anyone lurking might want to look at DVD Rentz. They have good service reasonable prices and carry the full range of video rentals.
Now Apple only has to partner with or acquire one company to turn themselves into one hell of a media provider. :)
"I'm a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar."
-Hoban Washburn
Haha, so true! Or its not even a movie you added to your list...