Sources say Amazon will buy Indian video streaming giant MX Player

CTOnews.com, February 10 (Xinhua)-- MX Player, one of India's largest streaming services, may become a subsidiary of Amazon. According to TechCrunch, the e-commerce giant is in talks with India's Times Internet, which currently owns a majority stake in MX Player, to explore the possibility of an acquisition.

However, the report added that so-called acquisitions will not happen in the short term. But if a deal is finally reached, it will help Amazon strengthen its control over video streaming. Amazon also has huge market influence through Prime Video and mini TV.

MX Player, which started as a smartphone video player app developed by South Korea's J2 Interactive, has since been acquired by Indian investment agency Times Internet for $140 million (currently about 949 million yuan) in 2018. CTOnews.com learned that after the online streaming craze began, the app turned into an OTT streaming platform in 2019.

In the same year, MX Player also received a large investment from Tencent Holdings. The app has expanded its overseas business and developed original drama series in various Indian languages.

Investing resources in local language content has enabled MX Player to reach about 300 million users worldwide. The source also said that two other buyers have expressed interest in buying MX Player.