Amazon acquires Indian streaming service MX Player
Amazon has finalized an agreement to acquire assets of the Indian video streaming service, MX Player, from Times Internet. The deal values MX Player at less than $100 million, a significant drop from its previous valuation of $500 million. An Amazon spokesperson confirmed the acquisition and expressed excitement about continuing to entertain India with local originals and exclusive content across their Prime Video and miniTV services.
Amazon's strategy behind MX Player acquisition
The acquisition comes after nearly two years of negotiations between Amazon and Times Internet. The aim is to leverage MX Player's popularity in smaller Indian cities to enhance the reach of Amazon's e-commerce platform. A source familiar with the strategy told TechCrunch that Amazon will retain the MX Player branding as part of its broader plan to expand video streaming offerings in India beyond metro cities.
MX Player's market position in Indian streaming landscape
According to UBS, the video streaming service market in India is led by Reliance and Disney with a combined market share of 55%. MX Player holds a 15% market share, while Netflix and Prime Video each have between 3-5% market share. Times Internet acquired MX Player in 2018 for $140 million and transformed it into a comprehensive video streaming platform by adding diverse licensed and original content.
MX Player's unique appeal in developing markets
MX Player gained immense popularity in India due to its unique local video playback feature, which supports a wide range of video file formats. This compatibility with affordable Android smartphones made it highly popular in developing markets. After Times Internet's acquisition, MX Player was transformed into a comprehensive video streaming platform by adding a diverse range of licensed and original content.
