By Jay Greene

The Seattle Times

(TNS)

SEATTLE — Amazon plans to stop selling Apple TV and Google Chromecast streaming media players, which compete with Amazon’s Fire TV devices, at the end of October.

The company, which will debut an updated version of its Fire TV on Monday, said it’s making the move to “avoid customer confusion” for shoppers who also use the company’s Prime Video service. The Apple and Google devices don’t support Prime Video, a service that lets customers stream programming from Amazon.

Bloomberg, which broke the news, reports that Amazon notified sellers in its online marketplace via email that it would stop selling the devices on Oct. 29. According to Bloomberg, Amazon will also remove posts of existing inventory for the products.

Neither Apple nor Google immediately replied to a request for comment. But it’s a surprising move for Amazon, which often sells products that compete with its own, such as tablets that battle for business with the Fire tablet.

Amazon executives often talk about customer obsession, and yet the move limits the choice for Amazon customers who might want an Apple or Google device and not care about watching Prime Video content.

In its statement, Amazon points to Roku, Xbox, PlayStation and Fire TV devices, all of which offer Prime Video as an option, as “excellent choices.”