Amazon started the trend of cheap Android tablets, with the Kindle Fire being the first tablet to actually hit the iPad market share in any significant way. Since then we have seen Google replicate this price area with the Nexus 7 and even the iPad Mini is a push by Apple to make sure the Kindle Fire slows sales.
Now the US e-commerce supergiant is looking at smartphones and may release a free smartphone, with Amazon’s services and apps to make up for the cost of each unit. We still have no idea the price or design of the smartphone, we can only assume Amazon will build the device with cheap parts, similar to the Kindle Fire.
The question of whether hardware should be so expensive is a good one and Amazon has always looked at markets head on. Amazon Web Services has, in three years, pushed IBM, Oracle and Microsoft out of the top-spot and made a huge name for itself, with AWS set to grab $10 billion in revenue a year in 2018.
It is still unclear if Amazon will offer the phone out but with some catch – one catch could be an Amazon Prime account is needed and has to be renewed for two years to grab the phone. That would put Amazon’s revenue to $150 per unit at least, without even taking in profits from apps, digital content and services Amazon offer.
If there is anyone to tilt the balance on price in a market, it is Amazon. The company has a lot of projects in the works at their hardware development division in Cupertino, with rumours of a gaming console, media top-box, 3D smartphone and new Kindle Fire tablets with top-end specs.
