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Amazon Prime Video is a streaming service offered by Amazon and is part of the Amazon Prime subscription. Launched in 2006 as Amazon Unbox in the US, the service has grown to become one of the leading providers in the digital entertainment industry. Prime Video offers an extensive library of movies, TV series and a growing number of highly acclaimed original productions known as Amazon Originals.
Extensive content offering: Prime Video offers thousands of titles at no additional cost to Amazon Prime members, including movies, series and documentaries from various genres and countries.
Amazon Originals: in-house productions such as "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel", "Jack Ryan" and "The Boys" have received critical acclaim and multiple awards, establishing Prime Video as a serious player in the original content space.
4K Ultra HD and High Dynamic Range (HDR): Many titles are available in 4K and HDR, providing outstanding picture quality.
Offline viewing: Users can download movies and series to their devices and watch them offline.
Ease of use: Prime Video is available on a wide range of devices, including smart TVs, game consoles, smartphones, tablets, and over the internet.
Originally launched as a simple purchase and rental service for digital films, Prime Video quickly evolved into a fully-fledged streaming service. This transformation was completed in 2011 when Amazon integrated the service into Prime and introduced an unlimited streaming option. Since then, Amazon has invested heavily in licensing external content and developing its own original series and films.
Amazon Prime Video competes directly with other streaming services such as Netflix, Disney+, and Apple TV+. Despite the strong competition, Prime Video has positioned itself well through its offering of high-quality original content, integration with the wider Amazon ecosystem and aggressive international expansion.
The future of Prime Video looks promising as Amazon continues to invest in local content worldwide to appeal to a more global audience. In addition, the company is increasing its efforts in interactive streaming and the use of artificial intelligence to personalize and improve the user experience.
Prime Video is integrated into the Amazon Prime subscription, which costs USD 119 per year in the USA, for example, or can be billed monthly. Individual memberships for Prime Video only are also available.