Amazon is stopping sales of almost all Fire TV Stick models in Germany. The Fire TV Stick 4K Max, Fire TV Stick 4K and the normal Fire TV Stick are affected. Only the cheapest model, Fire TV Stick Lite, is still available, as is the more expensive Fire TV Box.
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Thanks to duty-free shipping within the EU, this isn’t a big problem for Germans: all Fire TV Sticks are still available in neighboring countries. If necessary, you can get one order via Amazon.nl – they are cheaper there than at the many Ebay shops that take advantage of the situation. A VPN is not necessary for ordering.
The reason for the sales stop is a patent lawsuit by Nokia regarding the two video codecs H.264 and H.265. Both compress videos, saving bandwidth when streaming. Nokia has been taking action against device manufacturers and not against chip manufacturers like Mediatek for years. In 2020, Lenovo temporarily took notebooks, desktop PCs and tablets off the market following a Nokia patent lawsuit.
Allegedly unfair licensing conditions
The Munich I Regional Court also ruled in favor of Nokia against Amazon in the first instance. It is considered plaintiff-friendly in patent law. However, due to an appeal, the judgment is not yet final. Amazon’s and Lenovo’s arguments at the time: the licenses were far too expensive compared to the industry.
Amazon has minimally adapted a statement from September with a change in tense:
“We believe the Munich Regional Court’s decision is wrong and are confident that the situation will be resolved soon. The ruling has no impact on existing customers and a wide range of Fire TV devices, including our best-selling Fire TV Stick, is still available on Amazon.de We are always willing to pay a fair price for patent licenses and have worked with a number of companies to license video patents of this type. Nokia charges more than all of these companies combined and has our fair and industry-standard offer rejected. We regret that Nokia is taking these measures to limit choice for customers.”
Nokia has nevertheless decided to allow the judgment to be enforced provisionally. To do this, the company must provide security of an unknown amount. If Amazon is proven right in the second instance, the security deposited will go to the sales platform as compensation. Alternatively, both companies could reach an agreement out of court.
(mma)