The annual fee for Amazon's Prime service has increased by almost a third. Users will soon also have to pay significantly more for monthly billing.
With monthly payment, Amazon Prime will in future cost EUR 8.99 instead of the previous EUR 7.99. Annual membership costs 89.90 euros instead of the previous 69 euros. The change applies “at the earliest when the next payment is due, on or after September 15, 2022,” the group said in a statement.
World inflation
Germany is Amazon's second largest market after the United States. In the UK, the third largest market, the fees will be increased by 20 percent. In Spain, Italy and France, Prime members pay between 39 and 43 percent more per year. In February, Amazon announced a price increase from $119 (around €116) to $139 (€136) for annual payments in its home market of the USA.
Amazon cited high inflation and increased operating costs to justify the price increases. In addition, faster delivery and more content to stream result in higher costs. "We will continue to work to ensure Prime offers exceptional value for members," the company said.
In its announcement, Amazon pointed out that this was the first increase in Germany since 2017 and that the offer had been expanded in video streaming, among other things. Amazon Prime customers can use the free shipping of their orders from the company and participating retailers on the platform. They can also access video and music streaming from Amazon Music and Amazon Video.
Prime widespread in Germany
Amazon does not publish current data on the number of Prime customers in Germany. According to a study, there were around 17 million households in Germany with a Prime subscription in 2019. This means that almost half of the approximately 41 million households in Germany should now have a Prime subscription, assuming the usual growth rates at Amazon. Amazon boss Jeff Bezos said last year that the company had over 200 million Prime customers worldwide. This corresponds to a doubling within three years.
Amazon isn't the only streaming service raising its subscription fees. The video provider Netflix had already significantly increased the fees for its customers in the USA and Canada in the spring. Usually, a few months later, the price screw is also turned in Germany.
Netflix needs to fund productions
In particular, complex in-house productions cause increasing costs for Netflix. According to market research firm Ampere Analysis, Netflix will invest more than $230 billion in new content worldwide in 2022 alone. The US company had recently announced a decline in its new customers. Netflix is now planning an advertising-financed subscription to keep itself financially afloat in the face of competition such as Disney + and Amazon Prime.
Sports rights make Sky and DAZN more expensive
Streaming services with a focus on sports broadcasts have also become more expensive recently. Sky had already increased its subscription fees for several packages at the beginning of the year. Entertainment Plus with the Bundesliga now costs 27 euros per month instead of the previous 25 euros. At Sky, investments in transmission technology and more program offerings were blamed for this.
Sky's competitor DAZN even increased the cost of a monthly subscription from 14.99 to 29.99 euros in July. DAZN has also invested heavily and outperformed its competitors in the competition for the media rights to broadcast games of the German Football League (DFL) and the European association UEFA. This has its price for the customers.
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