Amazon seems to be having a great start to 2017. So great it cannot keep up with the demand.
For several weeks now the Fire TV and Fire Stick have been out of stock not only on Amazon.com but also at many local stores such as Walmart and Best Buy.
Currently if you want a Fire TV box on Amazon you will have to wait until March 11 to get it. If you want a Fire Stick you will have to wait until March 30. (As of March 4th 2017.)
According to BestBuy.com if I wanted a Fire TV from a local store I am out of luck. There are no Fire TV Sticks within a 250-mile radius of my office; however, it seems that they are in stock on the website.
So why are the Fire TV and Fire Stick so hard to get? Theories range from production issues to unexpected demand.
Some UK news sources claim the outage is because of people buying Fire TV and Fire Stick to resell with Kodi.
Other reports stated that Amazon has had issues with production. More specifically issues with the production of the Fire TV remotes. Others have suggested that Amazon is working on a new version of the Fire TV.
The truth is probably a mixture of all of the above. Over time Amazon has worked hard to prevent people from buying Fire TVs in mass. Even Best Buy limits the number you can buy. And there does seem to, at least in the past, have been some issues with the remote production.
It is also very possible that Amazon is working on a new Fire TV box; however, the box is the one expected to replace and it has a more recent return date. So it is more likely that the stock issues right now has more to do with production and demand.
So the truth is probably the fact that Amazon is seeing high demand for the Fire TV.
We have reached out to Amazon for comment.
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