Tech

Amazon's video streaming service is a threat to retailers — not Netflix

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Amazon is doubling down on its video streaming content this year, which seems like a direct strike against Netflix.

But in fact, Amazon's new service could be a bigger threat to retailers.

According to this chart by Cowen & Co., 66% of Prime households are paying Netflix subscribers, with another 10% having access to the service one way or another.

That means video-streaming may not be a zero-sum game, but rather a market where a mixture of standalone services coexist with each other.

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Cowen & Co.

Instead, the real threat may be in the retail space, as Prime members tend to spend more on Amazon.com and less on other competitors.

"Amazon is just creating an incredible moat, because remember, Prime Video and Prime Music are add-ons, it’s part of the bundle which is also incredible," Cowen & Co. analyst John Blackledge said in a recent conference call.

The data shows Prime members significantly increase their spending on Amazon the longer they stay a member. According to a recent Morgan Stanley noteabout 40% of Amazon Prime members spend over $1,000 a year on Amazon, while only 8% of non-Prime shoppers do so. They also spend about 4.6x more money on Amazon than non-Prime members.

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Morgan Stanley

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Eugene Kim
Eugene is Business Insider’s Chief Tech Correspondent, where he leads coverage of Amazon. His reporting spans the company’s retail and logistics operations to AWS, Alexa, and its internal culture.Previously, he worked at CNBC, Fortune Magazine Korea, and Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun. He holds degrees from NYU and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.In 2022, Eugene reported on internal documents indicating that Amazon allegedly used deceptive tactics to enroll customers in Prime and made cancellation difficult. The Federal Trade Commission sued Amazon the following year, citing his reporting. The case ended in a record $2.5 billion settlement in 2025.His work has received multiple honors, including the SF Press Club’s Bay Area Journalism Award and SPJ NorCal’s Excellence in Journalism Award.Eugene lives in the Bay Area. Contact him via email at ekim@jkmperu.com, or Signal, Telegram, or WhatsApp at 650-942-3061. Use a personal email address, a nonwork WiFi network, and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.