Amazon's Fire TV set-top box has been listed out of stock within a week of its launch, suggesting a welcome reception by eager buyers.
Amazon, the biggest online retailer, managed to spur demand for its first set-top box, the Fire TV, but failed to fulfill its online customers' orders. The e-commerce giant has listed its Fire TV to be available starting April 21, after the box sold out a few days after its launch. This is a good sign for the company that just arrived in the set-top box market, but affects its online sales as rival products such as Apple TV and ROKU continue sales on Amazon's own website.
Amazon's out of stock listing for the Fire TV set-top box continues the tradition of Kindle and Amazon-branded products in the past. According to a report from Re/code, Amazon's first Kindle e-readers were sold out in less than 6 hours after launch in 2007, and again in 2008 and 2009. The company went out of stock with its $189 Kindle in 2010 and again in 2012 when it launched Kindle Paperwhite.
The Amazon Fire TV set-top box was announced earlier this month at a media conference in New York. The $99 video streaming device, which directly competes against Apple TV, ROKU and Google Chromecast, received mixed and positive reviews from tech analysts. Overall, the set-top box outperformed its rivals with unique gaming presence. The set-top box offers its users features like voice search, which is praised for its instant response, over 200,000 TV show episodes and movies, millions of songs and over hundred games with titles like Minecraft-Pocket Edition, The Walking Dead, and Monsters University.
The company's PR representative Kinley Pearsall sent an email statement to Re/code, suggesting Amazon is thrilled with the response and not worried about the sold out stock of the Fire TV. "We're thrilled with the customer response to Fire TV so far - we're building more as quickly as we can and we're expecting more inventory next week," Pearsall said.
For those who are eager to pick the box early, can head over to major retail outlets including Staples and Best Buy. Buyers can also place their order with Amazon and the retailer will start dispatching, April 21.
