Amazon Prime Instant Video Will Complete With Netflix in Japan
Starting next month, the industry will learn if Japan prefers Netflix, Amazon Prime Instant Video, or another more local option. While Amazon Prime has been available in Japan for 10 years, Amazon is set to debut Prime Instant Video in that country sometime next month. Amazon Prime currently sells for ¥3900 per year (around $32.48 US), which works out to $2.71 US per month. That's quite a bit less than Netflix's announced ¥650 per month (around $5.41) for its lowest-tier standard definition service.
Japanese Prime service will be available through connected TVs, game consoles, Amazon Fire tablets, and Android and iOS devices using the Amazon Video app. Amazon says that some titles will be available in 4K (unlike Netflix's lowest tier). As in other countries, Prime service includes streaming video as well as expedited shipping and a Kindle book title each month.
This will be the fourth country Amazon Prime Instant Video is offered in, following the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany.
Only days ago, Netflix announced that it will debut in Japan on September 2, and will partner with SoftBank so that that company's mobile phone customers can easily sign up and get one unified bill that includes both phone service and Netflix.
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