Amazon and Best Buy are teaming up to sell TVs
Amazon plans to sell its own smart television with its Fire TV capabilities built in, TechCrunch reported Wednesday, and it has chosen an unlikely partner in the endeavor. Rather than sell its TVs online, Amazon will bring them to Best Buy stores so that customers can see them in person before they purchase.
The exclusive partners will sell 10 models of HD TVs starting this summer, including displays from Toshiba and Best Buy's Insignia brand. The Insignia brand will also drop its Roku compatibility, The Wall Street Journal reported, although Best Buy will still continue to sell Roku products. While Amazon's Fire TV stick can be set up to work with any television, "the direct integration of Alexa" is an added benefit of these new TV sets, TechCrunch explained.
"Amazon and Best Buy have a long history of working together," said Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos in a statement, "and today we take our partnership to a new level." The two brands have been considered rivals in the past, as Amazon's lower prices contributed to Best Buy's "plunging sales and shrinking profit" about six years ago, Reuters reported, prompting Best Buy to match the online retailer's prices in its stores.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"The physical integration between the software and the hardware" is a new feature to their partnership, said Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly. "The two companies are retailers but they're also product companies."
Read more about the partnership at The Wall Street Journal.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Shivani is the editorial assistant at TheWeek.com and has previously written for StreetEasy and Mic.com. A graduate of the physics and journalism departments at NYU, Shivani currently lives in Brooklyn and spends free time cooking, watching TV, and taking too many selfies.
-
'The House under GOP rule has become a hostile workplace'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
The Shohei Ohtani gambling scandal is about more than bad bets
In The Spotlight The firestorm surrounding one of baseball's biggest stars threatens to upend a generational legacy and professional sports at large
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Feds raid Diddy homes in alleged sex trafficking case
Speed Read Homeland Security raided the properties of hip hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Reddit IPO values social media site at $6.4 billion
Speed Read The company makes its public debut on the New York Stock Exchange
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Housing costs: the root of US economic malaise?
speed read Many voters are troubled by the housing affordability crisis
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Feds cap credit card late fees at $8
speed read The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized a rule to save households an estimated $10 billion a year
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Immigration helped the US economy outpace peers
speed read The U.S. economy grew at an annualized rate of 3.2% last quarter
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
4-day workweek gets boost from UK study
Speed Read Following a six-month trial, the majority of participating British companies are still using the truncated schedule
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
US sues to block Kroger-Albertsons merger
Speed Read The Federal Trade Commission sued to block the $24.6 billion merger between the grocery giants
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Nvidia sees historic stock rise on AI chips success
Speed Read U.S. chipmaker Nvidia achieved the biggest one-day increase in value of any company in history
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
New York may seize Trump's assets for $450M penalty
Speed Read The former president likely owes $600 million from two civil judgments in New York
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published