Yamada and Amazon develop TV, why rivals teamed up
Yamada Holdings (HD) and Amazon Japan (Meguro, Tokyo) announced on February 17 that they have jointly developed a smart TV with a built-in video distribution device "Fire TV". Collaborate on sales. It is unusual for a major consumer electronics retailer and a major EC (electronic commerce) company to team up.
"Hardware alone cannot make a sufficient proposal. By collaborating with Amazon to demonstrate innovation, we would like to anticipate and create value.We would like to use this as an opportunity to make a request."
Jasper Chan, president of Amazon Japan, who announced the sale of smart TVs (left) and Noboru Yamada, chairman and president of Yamada HD (photo: Daisuke Yoshinari, below)Press conference on the 17th. Noboru Yamada, chairman and president of Yamada HD, faced Jasper Chan, president of Amazon Japan, and sent him a love call.
What was announced on this day was the first smart TV in Japan with built-in Amazon's Internet video distribution equipment "Fire TV". Equipped with voice recognition AI (artificial intelligence) "Alexa", it is easy to search for video content by speaking the title name, genre name, or actor name to the remote control, and change the terrestrial channel. 4 sizes from 32 to 55 inches are available, and the price is 54,780 yen to 142,780 yen including tax. In addition to starting reservations on Amazon on the 17th, it will be sold at Yamada stores and the company's website from March 5th.
Online shopping, including Amazon, has a history of stealing the market from electronics mass retailers with its low prices and convenience. Ichiro Michikoshi, an analyst at BCN Research Institute, said, "While many electronics mass retailers consider strengthening e-commerce as an important issue, it was surprising that they would form an alliance with Amazon, the 'biggest rival' that has been standing in the way." .
Mr. Yamada's strong awareness of Amazon can be seen from an interview with Nikkei Business about a year ago (Yamada HD Chairman "Amazon can't win in this industry"). Mr. Yamada emphasized, "Even in the Internet society, the products that we sell and install at home still need the services of a specialty store that has a physical store." was "So no matter how hard you try, Amazon can't win."
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