Amazon may miss out on some of the holiday shopping action with its newly introduced Fire TV Stick: The streaming dongle will go on sale on Amazon.com at the beginning of next week, but consumers who order it then won’t get it shipped until January 15.
Even putting in a pre-order now won’t get you a Fire TV Stick until mid-January. An Amazon spokesperson said that the delay is “due to heavy customer demand.” Only customers who pre-ordered the device immediately after it was announced late last month will get it shipped starting next week, she added.
However, there is one more way to get the Amazon dongle if you really need it in time for the holidays, and it ironically involves getting off the internet and going to an actual store. The Fire stick will be available at Best Buy and Staples starting November 19.
Still, with most orders not shipping until mid-January, some consumers may opt to instead buy a competing dongle, like Google’s Chromecast or Roku’s streaming stick. And there may be even more devices to choose from in the coming weeks: Walmart is working on its own streaming stick dubbed Vudu Spark, but the company hasn’t said yet when the device will be available for sale.

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