Amazon’s war with Google is heating up as the online retailer announced that it will not be carrying any of of Google’s most recent Nest products. The announcement was made during a conference call between Amazon and Google’s Nest team, Business Insider reported. Among the products that customers will not be able to find on Amazon’s storefront are the Nest thermostat and the Nest Secure security system.
During the call, Amazon representatives made it clear that the company’s decision did not have anything to do with the quality of Nest’s products, which have high user reviews on Amazon. The Nest team was told that Amazon’s decision came from high up the corporate ladder, leaving some Nest employees with the impression that the decision had been made by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. The Amazon team did not specifically mention Bezos in regards to the Nest decision, however.
Regardless of who made the decision, Amazon’s reasoning is easy enough to follow. The e-commerce giant’s attempt to enter the smartphone market was met with poor sales and disappointment from critics. The company has seen some success with its line of affordable Fire tablets, but it has a lot riding on Alexa (who recently came down with digital laryngitis), which serves as the digital assistant that powers the Amazon Echo and other devices.
Unfortunately for Nest, Google happens be Amazon’s biggest rival in the realm of smart speakers and digital assistants, and wields its own Google Assistant.
In response to Amazon’s decision to not carry any of Nest’s newer products, the Nest team has decided to stop selling any of its products through Amazon’s website. This means that once Amazon’s current stock of Nest products is gone, consumers will need to look elsewhere to purchase them. The company said that it wanted to be able to offer consumers its entire line of products or nothing at all.
While this news may come as a disappointment to some, it isn’t all that surprising. Both Google and Nest were under the umbrella of Alphabet, but last month Nest was absorbed into Google and Amazon does not carry Google’s other products, such as the company’s line of Pixel smartphones and the Google Home speaker.
Those who really want to buy Nest products from Amazon may have some luck in the form of third parties on Amazon Marketplace, but it is possible the company will bar third parties from selling Nest hardware as well. However, the Pixel 2 is currently available on the Amazon Marketplace, so Nest products might have a safe home there.
