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We haven’t even got the Kindle Fire yet in the UK and we’re already looking forward to this: Amazon is prepping a Kindle Fire smart phone, according to a report, and it’ll massively undercut the iPhone.
All Things Digital obtained an investor note from Citigroup analyst Kevin Chang, saying Amazon is working with Foxconn, the company that makes the iPhone. The handset will go on sale at the end of next year, according to the note.
Seeing as the Kindle Fire runs Android, we think it’s a pretty safe bet the handset will run Google’s operating system too. Chang doesn’t know how it’ll look, but thinks a Texas Instrument OMAP 4 processor similar to that found in the Kindle Fire tablet will take care of the legwork.
Apparently the handset will cost Amazon between $150-170 (£95-110) to produce, and — here’s the really good part — the company will follow the same pricing strategy as the Kindle Fire. That means selling at or near cost-price, rather than adding a mark-up, meaning bargains for us. Amazon would make its money back by selling music, films, TV shows and ebooks through the device.
Of course none of this is official yet, and it’s likely Amazon will see how Kindle Fire tablet sales go before employing the same strategy lock, stock and barrel. But a massive company like Amazon undercutting its big-name rivals would certainly shake things up.
But a £100 Amazon Android handset? Colour us interested. The only fly in the ointment
is international availability — it took the company two years to bring
the Kindle here, and that was just for ebooks. With the vast tangled web
of rights holders for every movie, TV show and album to negotiate with,
the Fire and its little phone sibling could take for ever to reach the
UK.
According to one study, the Kindle Fire is already damaging potential iPad sales. One analyst thinks it’s a “stepping stone” to bigger things for the company. And Apple? Bring it on, it says.
Would you buy a Kindle Fire handset? And when do you reckon we’ll get the tablet over here? Fire us a comment below, or on our Facebook or Google+ pages.
Image credit: CNET News
