Amazon has informed Google that it will not be listing any of its newer Nest smart home products, and that current ones would disappear from the site once existing inventory dries up.
The smart home market is on the rise, and Amazon has no intention of helping Google to establish itself through its Nest division. Further proof of that came in a recent conference phone call between Amazon and Nest. During the call, the online retail giant informed Nest that it will not be listing any of its newer smart home products, and that current ones would disappear from the site once existing inventory dries up. Citing „a person familiar with the call,“ Business Insider says Amazon told Nest that the decision came from the very top, presumably Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, though the chief was never specifically named. Not that it really matters where exactly the mandate came from—the point is, Google is losing Amazon as a major retail partner for its smart home products, including its Nest Secure home security system, Nest thermostats, and Cam IQ with Google Assistant integration. This is not the first bit of bad blood to be displayed between Amazon and Google. Back in September, Google yanked its popular YouTube video service from Amazon’s Echo Show smart speaker and Fire TV devices. In that respect, Amazon’s decision to move away from selling Google’s Nest products could be seen as a revenge tactic, though that would be oversimplifying things. The more likely explanation is that Amazon wants to promote its own smart security products. Amazon just recently agreed to purchase Ring, one of Nest’s biggest competitors in the smart home space, for more than $1 billion. Google, meanwhile, re-integrated Nest into its hardware division earlier this month. Google can’t be happy about losing Amazon as a retail partner, but it probably does not have any legal recourse. Chris Sager, a professor of law at Cleveland State University, told Business Insider that Amazon is likely in the clear because it does not have a monopoly in the connected home space. While that may be true, Amazon and Google do compete in the same markets. In addition to the smart home space, both are heavily invested in their own AI digital assistant technologies. It is worth noting that Amazon does not sell several other Google products, including its Google Home Speaker and Pixel smartphones.
