Amazon is facing a proposed class-action suit that claims the company made early versions of its Fire TV Stick devices obsolete over time.
The plaintiff named in the suit, Bill Merewhuader, filed in the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, said he purchased two second-generation Fire TV Stick devices from Best Buy in 2018, four years after the company debuted its first Fire TV Stick. Merewhuader said that a few years later, he experienced slower streaming speeds, difficulty navigating menus and long load times.
He eventually was unable to use the device. He purchased new Fire TV Sticks in 2024, according to the filing.
Merewhuader says in the complaint that Amazon intentionally made older devices perform poorly to spur hardware upgrades and "bricked" Fire TV devices "before the expiration of their useful life."
A representative for Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Lawyers for the plaintiff said they had no further comment beyond the legal complaint.
Streaming devices are getting older
Popular streaming devices from big tech companies have been around for nearly two decades. Apple debuted AppleTV in 2007, and Roku followed the next year. Google's Chromecast, which evolved streaming devices from set-top boxes to plug-in dongles, launched in 2013. Amazon followed up the next year with its Fire TV box and plug-in stick, released later in 2014.
As earlier generations of devices from these tech companies age, it's common for them to lose functionality, as they can't run newer apps or access certain features. For instance, Apple's first Apple TV box is all but inoperable today and was eventually replaced with Apple TV 4K streaming boxes.
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The filing partly hinges on allegations that Amazon did not inform buyers that Fire TV Stick devices would lose functionality or become inoperable over time, and that the performance of early devices did not match the promises Amazon made in its marketing.
The proposed class action would be open to anyone who resides in the US and who still owns a first- or second-generation Fire TV Stick as of Jan. 1, 2023, or April 1, 2023, respectively.