As part of its larger plan to increase its reach and brand awareness in smaller cities and towns inside a significant international market, Amazon has disclosed that it acquired a part of the Indian video streaming service MX Player.
An Amazon spokesperson confirmed the strategic acquisition by the e-commerce behemoth on Thursday.
Newsng gathered that since early in 2023, Amazon has been in talks to purchase the ad-supported streaming platform MX Player. Talks resumed in recent months after the corporation called off the contract around July 2023.
In 2018, Times Internet paid $140 million to purchase MX Player. The app’s distinctive local video playback functionality helped it become extremely popular in India despite its South Korean origins.
According to the company, the app can support many video file types and is thus very suitable for low-cost Android handsets that are common in developing countries.
Following the acquisition, key executives from MX Player will join Amazon.
“We are always looking for ways to introduce new products and services that help improve customers’ lives. We’re excited to continue to entertain India with the great local originals and exclusive content available across our Prime Video and miniTV services in India,” the spokesperson stated
Newsng understands the two companies have struck a final agreement on the acquisition.
The source, who requested anonymity because the firms have not yet made a public statement on the purchase, said that the deal values MX Player at less than $100 million, which is significantly less than the $500 million valuation at which the streamer obtained its latest round of funding.
We earlier reported that Amazon is introducing a new AI-powered search function for Fire TV called Alexa.
This feature, as per the announcement will allow Alexa to respond to general inquiries about movies and TV series and provide more specialised recommendations based on the preference of the user.
