【2004 Archives】

It's last call for Google's Nest users to buy their products004 ArchivesAmazon.

Amazon reportedly let Google know in a phone call late last year that it wouldn't be listing any of the company's newer Nest smart home products. In response, Nest will stop selling its products through Amazon.

If Amazon's move sounds like a thinly-veiled plan to give Alexa the smart home edge, it likely is. The online retail giant didn't come here to make friends.

According to Business Insider, Nest was expecting something to this effect, especially since the company was reabsorbed by Google in February. A "person familiar with Nest's thinking" effectively told BI that the Amazon product listings had to be all or nothing; if the company wasn't going to sell the latest products, it wouldn't be allowed to sell any.

There's some suggestion that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is behind the decision on Amazon's side, though it didn't come up during the aforementioned call. Once Amazon's current inventory of Nest products, that'll be it -- unless the two companies can come to an understanding.

Don't hold your breath. In the smart home market, Amazon has Echo (powered by Alexa), but Google Assistant is creeping in there. Nest is known primarily for its smart thermostat and other in-home features like security and smoke detectors, and now Amazon has Ring on the hardware side.

Amazon is also one of the few tech companies vying for excellence in so many markets. It's still working to become a staple of streaming, where Netflix is king and Hulu is bringing heavy hitters to battle. Recent success with programming doesn't undo 2017's executive scandals and shakeups, but like dropping Nest and acquiring Ring, these are small steps toward a massive goal.

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