What a coincidence! Amazon has announced they are going to launch their streaming service, Amazon Prime Instant Video, in Japan on September 2nd, 2015. That date may sound familiar to some, because it is the same day Netflix starts there. For a while now, Netflix made it well known they would launch their popular streaming service available on that date. Amazon, on the other hand, was not quite so precise with their timing. Stating they would launch the service “in the fall”, they decided to do it sooner than later.
Interestingly, Amazon’s pricing for their Prime service is quite a bit lower than it is in the US. Their rate is just ¥3900 for an entire year. Compare that to Netflix’s cost of ¥650-¥1450 a month. They are willing to keep their price low for now because they are trying to break in to the market there. As advanced as Japan is in technology, streaming services have not caught fire.
They are not the first streaming companies to attempt to get in to the market, either. The American streaming service Hulu tried a Japanese expansion in 2011. Though not a huge failure, it was not a huge success either. At the end, Hulu sold the rights to the Nippon TV company. It still uses the Hulu name, but it streams mostly the same material members would normally see on TV.
Unlike the US, broadcast television and DVD rentals are still commonplace. That said, perhaps the launches of these two huge competitors will succeed where Hulu failed. A big key here is the content being offered. In time, we may see some big questions answered. Since both services will show similar content, will many people decide to go with the cheaper price? Can Netflix lure people away with their original programming? Is there a chance Netflix will drop their rate to more closely match Amazon? No matter what happens, both companies have their work cut out for them. Strategically though, the move by Amazon to launch their service on the same day as Netflix is a smart one.
