5 ms·

I don't see how they will differentiate themselves. Kindle Fire was the first $200 android tablet, their new version is super cheap and comes with a $50/year da

I don't see how they will differentiate themselves. Kindle Fire was the first $200 android tablet, their new version is super cheap and comes with a $50/year data plan. But with phones? They can't compete on price (already many free recent-generation Android phones out there), they won't compete on quality (Amazon is all about making things accessible price-wise). Seems to be the only possible thing they could do vis-a-vis a Kindle Phone would be to sell it with an incredible wireless plan -- which I can see them doing. $50/month, 2Gb data, free data for all Amazon media? Watch Amazon Prime Videos without using your data?

hayksaakian 14y ago
That would be despicably ingenious. Would you rather watch that movie on netflix and kill your data cap, or watch as many as you want on amazon? At what point to anti-competitive regulatory bodies have to step in? It's almost as if the carriers handed their customers to amazon on a silver platter at that point.
- klipt 14y ago
  Well there goes Net Neutrality...
smackfu 14y ago
If Apple and Samsung are making $200 off of each phone, that's a lot of space for Amazon to slip into given they don't care about phone profits.
- mmanfrin 14y ago
  They're making $200 off each phone after subsidy from the carriers -- consumers pay $0 on decent/good phones, or great phones on sale. GS3 was $0 recently, as was the Galaxy Nexus. Only price-point they could compete on is unlocked, but that will be tough with the Nexus 4.
  - smackfu 14y ago
    Right, there's no way to take advantage of that $200 if they work with an existing carrier's plans. Their opportunity is by cutting the subsidies as well as the price, so that the monthly price is significantly reduced.
talmand 14y ago
Well, I get a better deal than that now, other than the free Amazon data part. Even that's not a compelling reason as I have little desire to watch movies on my phone. Now if they let me piggyback my tablet over their phone to watch videos then maybe. Even then, probably not.

hayksaakian 14y ago

That would be despicably ingenious. Would you rather watch that movie on netflix and kill your data cap, or watch as many as you want on amazon? At what point to anti-competitive regulatory bodies have to step in? It's almost as if the carriers handed their customers to amazon on a silver platter at that point.

klipt 14y ago
Well there goes Net Neutrality...

smackfu 14y ago

If Apple and Samsung are making $200 off of each phone, that's a lot of space for Amazon to slip into given they don't care about phone profits.

mmanfrin 14y ago
They're making $200 off each phone after subsidy from the carriers -- consumers pay $0 on decent/good phones, or great phones on sale. GS3 was $0 recently, as was the Galaxy Nexus. Only price-point they could compete on is unlocked, but that will be tough with the Nexus 4.
- smackfu 14y ago
  Right, there's no way to take advantage of that $200 if they work with an existing carrier's plans. Their opportunity is by cutting the subsidies as well as the price, so that the monthly price is significantly reduced.

talmand 14y ago

Well, I get a better deal than that now, other than the free Amazon data part. Even that's not a compelling reason as I have little desire to watch movies on my phone. Now if they let me piggyback my tablet over their phone to watch videos then maybe. Even then, probably not.