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A Amazon Smartphone could be a rather interesting device, since Amazon is mainly selling content. So they do not care (much) if they make money by selling hardw

by yk 14y ago

A Amazon Smartphone could be a rather interesting device, since Amazon is mainly selling content. So they do not care (much) if they make money by selling hardware. For example a phone which is mostly geared towards ebooks, that is a very good display but no GPS and no strong graphics capabilities, could have a market. (Especially if it is cheap and already unlocked). Additionally Amazon is a trusted brand, which already has the credit card number of most potential customers, they could therefore easily build a strong app store/ mobile shopping site (actually they already have it).

stcredzero 14y ago
...Amazon is a trusted brand, which already has the credit card number of most potential customers, they could therefore easily build a strong app store/ mobile shopping site (actually they already have it). Sounds like a strong position from which to implement mobile payments.
- jaredsohn 14y ago
  For mobile payments, isn't the key having merchant accounts set up for vendors rather than accounts for consumers? I'm not sure how walking into a store and telling them I have an Amazon account (Do I enter my username/password at a kiosk?) makes the payment much easier than giving them my credit card or filling in my credit card information on a kiosk. There are many different ways to do mobile payments (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_payment http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_payment), so there might be a way that it could work, but I'm not seeing it right now.
  - stcredzero 14y ago
    > For mobile payments, isn't the key having merchant accounts set up for vendors rather than accounts for consumers? Yes, but Amazon clearly knows how to handle merchant accounts. All they need to do is to figure out the right market to get the ball rolling.
    - yk 14y ago
      The right market to get the ball rolling is likely the Amazon marketplace. It could be interesting for small shops to get an additional distribution channel and at the same time a reliable payment provider for their brick and mortar store.
freehunter 14y ago
An Amazon feature phone with a 4" screen and free data for Kindle books selling for <$100 on contract would be interesting. Basically the Kindle Phone (not the Kindle Fire Phone). Just a small Kindle with a phone built in, and free data ala the 3G Kindle.

by yk 14y ago

stcredzero 14y ago

...Amazon is a trusted brand, which already has the credit card number of most potential customers, they could therefore easily build a strong app store/ mobile shopping site (actually they already have it). Sounds like a strong position from which to implement mobile payments.

jaredsohn 14y ago
For mobile payments, isn't the key having merchant accounts set up for vendors rather than accounts for consumers? I'm not sure how walking into a store and telling them I have an Amazon account (Do I enter my username/password at a kiosk?) makes the payment much easier than giving them my credit card or filling in my credit card information on a kiosk. There are many different ways to do mobile payments (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_payment http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_payment), so there might be a way that it could work, but I'm not seeing it right now.
- stcredzero 14y ago
  > For mobile payments, isn't the key having merchant accounts set up for vendors rather than accounts for consumers? Yes, but Amazon clearly knows how to handle merchant accounts. All they need to do is to figure out the right market to get the ball rolling.
  - yk 14y ago
    The right market to get the ball rolling is likely the Amazon marketplace. It could be interesting for small shops to get an additional distribution channel and at the same time a reliable payment provider for their brick and mortar store.

freehunter 14y ago

An Amazon feature phone with a 4" screen and free data for Kindle books selling for <$100 on contract would be interesting. Basically the Kindle Phone (not the Kindle Fire Phone). Just a small Kindle with a phone built in, and free data ala the 3G Kindle.