Tech titan Amazon has set its sights on getting into the digital signage market with a twist on an existing offering. As reported on by Sixteen:Nine, Amazon's new digital signage solution, dubbed the Amazon Signage Stick, puts a new spin on its existing Fire TV HDMI stick. The product exists both as a fix for existing usage of the Fire TV stick, as well as a targeted offering to the small and medium-sized business market, emphasizing Amazon's commitment to infrastructure design and a low price point.

The Fire TV vs. the Signage Stick

The Fire TV stick was an early entry into the OTT market, providing strong competition to Google's Chromecast. That market has since expanded into enterprise solutions, where businesses have come to use it in a roundabout way to easily display their choice of signage, as well as modifying it with ease. Recent updates have constrained the capabilities of the Fire TV stick used in this capacity, causing headaches for businesses, but proving the real market demand for a device that specifically provides digital signage functionalities. The Signage Stick replaces the broader capabilities of the Fire TV stick with digital signage-specific capabilities, including security updates, content support/navigation, and more.

One key aspect Amazon emphasizes with the Signage Stick is robust cybersecurity services

Content and Managed

Amazon has come prepared with this offering, already working with CMS partners to ensure the Signage Stick is supported ahead of time. To sweeten the deal, some CMS partners, such as PosterBooking, are going so far as to offer introductory deals for Signage Stick buyers, playing to the intuitive strength of the device. As reported in AV Interactive, before the update Amazon pushed to the original Fire TV sticks, they were a highly-regarded solution for their low price and ease of use by businesses and AV professionals.

While I'm certain there will be businesses that will be annoyed with Amazon for rendering existing Fire TVs useless for digital signage applications (not to mention the doubled price tag for each unit), rolling out this new, purpose-built signage stick makes sense. Intuitive design has been a constant key selling point for pro AV manufacturers to hit, and it's hard to beat design that mimics the functionality of consumer-grade devices. There have been plenty of instances of new products being made in tech that struggle to find a market, but in the instance that a new market makes itself apparent, serving it as efficiently as possible is a must.