We have made a big investment in sourcing compelling content in India: Tim Leslie, Amazon

After disrupting the e-commerce market in India, Amazon on Wednesday launched its online video service Amazon Price Video with a price point hard to beat and content difficult to replicate. 

The service, offered along with Amazon Prime membership, will cost Rs 499 for a year, or just Rs 41.50 a month and is given for free for the first month. 

Tim Leslie, Vice President, Amazon Instant Video International spoke to Collin Furtado on its subscription model, pricing in India, piracy and investments going forward: 

Excerpts: 

Will Amazon Prime Video go for a pay-per-view model in the future?
What we are announcing today is unlimited on-demand watching of the most recent TV shows at Rs 499, so that is Rs 41.50 per month. It is a very compelling offer to have for all that content. That is what we are announcing today.

The pricing is typical of a latecomer trying to gather market-share. Clearly you will revise prices soon. 

As of today, every Prime member in India has access to Prime Video and it available at no additional cost. What I can tell you is that we are going to continue to provide Prime at a great value. We are going to make it better going ahead.

Do you think pricing of online content also helps in getting rid of piracy? 
I think there will be customers who will think that for Rs 499 a year or Rs 41 per month they can stop downloading content illegally and get incredibly compelling content plus free shipping on millions of items. We are going to give them more and more ways to watch content online.

As of today, every Prime member in India has access to Prime Video and it available at no additional cost. What I can tell you is that we are going to continue to provide Prime at a great value. We are going to make it better going ahead.

Internet speeds and infrastructure in India brings unique issues for online content providers in India. How do you wish to solve them? 
A lot of the issues that we had to solve for India, we will provide to our customers globally. The ability to play at variable bit rate, low data usage, data saver mode, et al are all issues that exist worldwide. Obviously, India is a very compelling market and we are making a bigger investment in compelling content.