Amazon ‘Set’ to Take on LG, Samsung ‘Head-to-Head’ in TV, Says Futuresource

April’s announcement that Amazon will partner with Best Buy to sell Insignia- and Toshiba-branded Fire TV Edition smart TVs in the U.S. and Canada (see 1804180002) “brought a new dimension to Amazon’s strategy” in the TV space through “an in-store presence,” blogged Futuresource Wednesday. The move was “significantly important given the overwhelming popularity of large screen sets being bought in bricks and mortar stores,” it said. Including the TV set in Amazon’s “hardware roster” performs the “important role” of widening its consumer reach, “increasing the use and accessibility of its services and ultimately helping to drive sales of other Amazon goods,” said Futuresource. Amazon “looks set to position itself within the larger and more competitive TV market going head-to-head with the likes of Samsung and LG” by expanding its Fire TV platform outside the U.S., it said. It should surprise no one that reports suggest Amazon is weighing the U.K. as its “next stage for TV deployment,” it said.