Last week, Apple quietly allowed Amazon Prime Video to start offering in-app purchases in a seeming loosening of App Store restrictions. It’s a fascinating move, one that Ben Thompson provides in-depth analysis of on Stratechery.
Both [Apple and Amazon], given their desire to be a platform for over-the-top services, are on the same side when it comes to a potential Netflix-dominated future: neither want it to happen. Netflix dominating means that shows are sold directly to Netflix; channels are pointless. Apple and Amazon both, though, want channels to exist, if only so that they can sell subscriptions to them.
Check It Out: A Look at Amazon and Apple’s New Relationship