People who order Amazon’s new Fire TV Stick today won’t receive the devices until well after the holidays — reflecting either limited supply or strong demand for the $39 streaming video device, or perhaps both.
The device, announced on Monday, is scheduled to be released on Nov. 19, but shipping alerts on the product page and during the checkout process now indicate a timeframe of mid-January for new orders.
The delays follow a two-day promotion in which Amazon offered the product to new and existing Amazon Prime members for $19. (That promotion is now over.)
Amazon faces stiff competition in the market from Google Chromecast, Roku Streaming Stick and more.
The WiFi-enabled Fire TV Stick, with a dual-core processor, 8GB of storage and 1GB of RAM, plugs into the HDMI port on a TV and streams content from services including Netflix, ESPN, Hulu, and Amazon’s own Prime Instant Video, among many others. It can also be used to play video games.
The Fire TV Stick works in conjunction with an included remote, a simplified version of the remote that comes with the $99 Fire TV, the main difference being that the Fire TV Stick remote doesn’t offer voice controls. The Fire TV Stick can, however, be controlled by voice with companion apps for Android and iPhone.
