E-commerce giant Amazon is reportedly preparing to launch its own branded TVs and that has shaken up the smart TV market. On the stock market today, rival television firms Roku and Vizio saw their shares fall on the news. But Amazon stock rose. The big-screen TVs are likely to be launched as soon as October. Like Roku, Amazon currently licenses its smart TV operating system to television manufacturers to use with their brands.
According to reports, the TVs will have Alexa and will be in the range of 55-75 inches. The Amazon TVs are likely to be designed and manufactured by third parties such as China-based TCL and perhaps others. The company has been reportedly working on Television for two years. According to a report in Business Insider, the TVs will initially launch in the US. However, in India, the company offers Amazon Basics-branded TVs. It has also joined hands with BestBuy in order to sell Toshiba and Insignia TVs powered by Amazon Fire Television software.
The new TVs will have intuitive features like Adaptive Volume that will enable Alexa to respond louder if it detects a noise background. This mode will ensure that users can hear Alexa even with background noises such as people talking, music playing, or dishwashing. Nevertheless, the adaptive volume does not reduce if there’s no background noise. One will have to reduce the volume themselves.
A Television is just another step for the company to build an Apple-like ecosystem with its offerings of Amazon Prime Video, Alexa, Fire Television Stick, as well as its e-commerce platform. Amazon is yet to officially say anything. With the launch of the Television, Amazon will foray into the television market that will put it in direct competition with Sony, Samsung, LG, and more, which sell their products on Amazon’s platform.
