Why is Amazon Fire TV betting on smart TV sales?

Earlier this year, Amazon launched the Fire TV Omni QLED Series and Fire TV Stick 4K Select and expanded its TV partnerships. With customers now looking more for connected TVs to stream content, “We took the OS we had developed for our Fire TV Sticks, and we're building them into the televisions”, said Aidan Marcuss, Amazon VP, Fire TV. While brands like Samsung and LG still lead in smart TV sales globally, Amazon has, over the last couple of years, expanded its partnership with OEMs from Hisense and TCL to Xiaomi and Panasonic. “Our fastest growing segment is new television”, especially the retail sales, he added

In India, the recently concluded Great Indian Festival sale saw Fire TV Stick among the top 5 products bought across Amazon categories and even across TV, according to the company. “The Xiaomi TV, which comes with Fire OS, 3 out of the top 5 TVs sold to customers, is Fire OS TVs from Xiaomi. So that talks about the customer acceptance of our offering as well,” said Dilip RS, Director and Country Manager, Amazon Devices India. The content consumption insights from Indian users, as he adds, indicate nearly 57% of Indian Prime consumers stream music on their Fire TV, watch news and have an equal share of non-Prime customers who are also buying into the Fire TV and Fire OS.

Recently, Amazon launched Xbox on select Fire TV models in India. Even though a substantial base for gaming in the sub-continent is on mobile devices, being the third-largest television market in the world after the USA and China, Amazon believes it can change people's habits. “When we added apps to the TV and streaming, it changed people's viewing habits. I think gaming is in that same moment,” Marcus said. With new offerings on Fire TV, the traditional advertising revenue stream hinges on helping a customer discover new content from any service, regardless of the surface. “This year, we introduced a row called Continue watching at the very top of Fire TV. If you're watching a series and finish one, turn off your TV. When you come back, the next episode will be right up there. We've integrated that with all the major vendors,” he added.

With a presence in 85 countries and nearly 300 million devices, in 2026, Fire is looking to extend Alexa Plus into more countries to help customers discover and search for content for personalisation. The other big focus is also on performance and making the experience faster. “ Our new 4K select stick is the most performant 4K device that we've launched at this entry price point ever, and I think it's just a customer opportunity and customer need - How do we help them get things fast? and we're going to continue to be getting faster and faster,” Marcuss added