There is no need at all for a Amazon phone. This is just a reflection of the greedy ego of Jeff Bozo.
I am still waiting for my Dunkin Donuts phone.
Quote:
Originally Posted by capoeira4u
Amazon is a good company, but selling a phone? To me, it would be comparable to a Walmart-branded phone. Who would want that?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Apple ][
Yeah, just what the world is sorely missing, another Android phone.
By the fourth quarter of 2012, there will probably be 617 Android phones VS iPhone, and this Amazon phone will simply make it 618 Android phones VS iPhone. It won't affect Apple or the iPhone much. The people with the most to be concerned about are other Android phone manufacturers, as Amazon will try to claim their tiny piece out of an already crowded, messy and claustrophobic Android pie. It's a race to the bottom for the bottom dwellers.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hankx32
Amazon looking to lower the bar again. Apple products might be the only positive thing coming out of this country right now, thank Amazon for watering that down and taking the one place where we excel away... boo... If your gonna compete, your supposed to make your product better not worse! Raise the bar don't lower it! boo...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Aizmov
Not when competing on price, then it is just a downward spiral. Look at the Windows-PC market no innovation of any kind and this is what Android will do eventually.
Competition is good. Brings out the best. We get to see all the new stuff.
Shouldn't the Amazon phone be challenging Android instead of iOS? I mean everyone knows by now that Android has kicked the iPhone's ass from here to Jericho. Why challenge the loser? Challenge the clear winner. There's something wrong with the title of this article.
Why is everyone so dismissive, here. Amazon has the potential to (a) beat not just Apple but most Android offerings on price, (b) offer a pretty solid and well-known content eco-system, and (c) has good brand recognition and tech reputation due to Kindle. Just like the Kindle Fire (potentially), this may be the "go-to" phone for people who don't care to spend too much on a phone, and are mostly interested in content (not games & advanced apps), and find the Amazon brand familiar and reassuring.
I agree, it's likely a bigger threat to the Android crowd than Apple, but offering a simple content eco-system that rivals iTunes, at a significantly lower price, is likely to take a chunk of Apple's share too.
Maybe if I collect enough stickers from the coffee cups in McDonalds I can get a McPhone.
Amazing idea. From the company that brought you free wifi around the world, the McPhone. If they also set up their own GSM/GPRS/EDGE/WHATEVER network, could be very interesting...
I don't see how this could possibly work with the current status quo. Mainly because this all depends on an initial loss of money for the two big backers (Amazon and Google) with no real guarantee of a return.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DrDoppio
Yeah, but how about software? What good is your phone without an OS?
And there is the real kicker for Google.
I said it when the Kindle Fire was announced, and I will say it again, Google is the one that will most likely lose if these Amazon devices really start to take off. Google gives away their Android OS because it brings in ad revenue. That is how they make money.
The thing about the way that Amazon has modified Android and setup its own store for applications is a threat to that revenue stream for Google. A nice curated store will mean less free/ad supported apps in the Android environment, which means less money for Google. Which means over the long haul less incentive to continue to develop and advance Android.
Then couple that with the fact that to date Amazon isn't offering any of Google's other services, which frees Amazon from having to worry about Google having any leverage over the development of Amazon's version of Android.
So, what happens if Amazon devices become the largest segment of Android devices? Most likely Google isn't going to continue to spend money to develop an OS that is really only benefiting Amazon. Of course, by that time Amazon may be able to develop Android on their own, but now it isn't really the open Android that so many people know and love.
Which brings me to my next point. The Kindle Fire is too easy to hack and install a full up Android OS on. Amazon cannot allow this to happen too much. They are losing money on the hardware and expecting to make that money back through content sales. Which is not unreasonable if pretty much everything on the devices point to Amazon supplied content. However, if too many customers buy Amazon devices and then install the Google music app or the B&N eReader app then that content money is not going to Amazon and they will not be able to justify continuing to make hardware and sell it at a loss.
Which means, they either stop making hardware, stop selling it at a loss, or they start walling off their garden more and more to make sure that those people who buy their devices have to buy their content.
I just don't see how things can play out much different with the current setup.
Oh, and as to competition. Yeah, competition is good, but lets be honest, an Amazon phone is nothing like the Kindle Fire. The Kindle Fire only made a name for itself and is only selling well because of its price. In this regard it was a good product release as that it will put some competitive pressure on Apple to address the lower priced tablet market, which I expect they will do with the upcoming iPad releases. The problem with projecting that to an Amazon phone is that there are already a TON of cheap smartphones available. Including from Apple. So, Amazon entering the smartphone market isn't doing a thing to increase competition in any real sense.
I don't see how this could possibly work with the current status quo. Mainly because this all depends on an initial loss of money for the two big backers (Amazon and Google) with no real guarantee of a return....... Etc
Outstanding analysis.
Amazon will rue the day it got into the hardware business. They're going to discover - much as Google did with its Nexus (and yet refused to learn) - that it's a very different cup of tea. It's going to be a far bigger challenge than producing and selling a unifunctional e-reader. They will backtrack, and in a big way.
Shouldn't the Amazon phone be challenging Android instead of iOS? I mean everyone knows by now that Android has kicked the iPhone's ass from here to Jericho. Why challenge the loser? Challenge the clear winner. There's something wrong with the title of this article.
Compare revenue and profit of all Android devices compared to iPhone. Android, while gaining huge market share, is still VERY far behind in profitability and revenue. Given the trend to race for the bottom, this will probably continue. Amazon is looking at profit margin and is after the iPhone because of that.
I don't see how this could possibly work with the current status quo. Mainly because this all depends on an initial loss of money for the two big backers (Amazon and Google) with no real guarantee of a return.
...
I cannot but agree with most of your thoughts. The major challenges before both Amazon and Google in those scenarios are clearly sustainability. Google's free development of Android cannot continue indefinitely unless they find another revenue source than ads. Amazon cannot survive if they adopt selling at a loss as a MO.
But these are challenges in front of the companies. While they try to figure out how to develop, survive, and make a profit, the consumer wins. So what if Amazon phone flops: we can live without it, because there are many options. What if one "open" OS went under (Nokia's Maemo), we have another one, and if Google abandons Android someone else will take over. As long as there is diversity and competition, the intelligent consumer will always be able to profit. As to companies, I leave their problems to their owners.
You can't just "come up" with a device to challenge the iPhone. It requires a big idea and design and planning. Good luck.
Amazon and Wall Street go hand-in-hand. Both believe that most consumers are morons that can't tell the difference between high-quality and so?so quality when it comes to electronic devices. in their eyes a Kia is just as good as a BMW as they'll both get you to work on time. Wall Street favorites are companies that build "just good enough" products. Extra fit and finish on a product doesn't really count for anything except excess overhead. Build products cheaply and sell them cheap so that all the masses can enjoy them is Wall Street's thinking.
Amazon gets to be praised for selling a $199 tablet to the masses and Apple is now evil for selling a $499 tablet because it is perceived that Apple is cheating the masses by not allowing them $199 iPads. Steve once said that Apple couldn't build a $500 tablet that wasn't crap. Jeff Bezos somehow bent that rule and now Wall Street loves him and his company. I've yet to see a review of the Kindle Fire saying it was crap. Why? because little is expected from a $199 bare-bones tablet. All I read is the tablet is "just good enough" for what it's intended to do. That's what Jeff and Wall Street settle for. That's what turns a $199 Fire as a MAJOR challenger to the $499 iPad.
When Amazon's aPhone is introduced it will be claimed as a challenger to the iPhone and how it will hurt Apple's iPhone sales. I believe anything that Wall Street sees as a device that will grab market share from an Apple device as an Apple device challenger. The aPhone won't even come close to build quality of an iPhone, but will still be called an iPhone challenger, nontheless. Wall Street doesn't seem to care or notice that Amazon's standards don't come close to Apple's standards. Maybe Wall Street wants consumers to be satisfied with low-quality products. I think that's a shame.
Comments
Can't tell if trolling...
Not any more than these posters:
heehee
There is no need at all for a Amazon phone. This is just a reflection of the greedy ego of Jeff Bozo.
I am still waiting for my Dunkin Donuts phone.
Amazon is a good company, but selling a phone? To me, it would be comparable to a Walmart-branded phone. Who would want that?
Yeah, just what the world is sorely missing, another Android phone.
By the fourth quarter of 2012, there will probably be 617 Android phones VS iPhone, and this Amazon phone will simply make it 618 Android phones VS iPhone. It won't affect Apple or the iPhone much. The people with the most to be concerned about are other Android phone manufacturers, as Amazon will try to claim their tiny piece out of an already crowded, messy and claustrophobic Android pie. It's a race to the bottom for the bottom dwellers.
Amazon looking to lower the bar again. Apple products might be the only positive thing coming out of this country right now, thank Amazon for watering that down and taking the one place where we excel away... boo... If your gonna compete, your supposed to make your product better not worse! Raise the bar don't lower it! boo...
Not when competing on price, then it is just a downward spiral. Look at the Windows-PC market no innovation of any kind and this is what Android will do eventually.
Choose a few parts off the shelf, talk to any one of a dozen assemblers in china and wrap a case around it.
Probably only need to buy in 10,000 lots if you don't customize it too much.
The thing about consumer electronics now is that anyone can get a phone built or a whatever...
Yeah, but how about software? What good is your phone without an OS?
Competition is good. Brings out the best. We get to see all the new stuff.
Shouldn't the Amazon phone be challenging Android instead of iOS? I mean everyone knows by now that Android has kicked the iPhone's ass from here to Jericho. Why challenge the loser? Challenge the clear winner. There's something wrong with the title of this article.
Can't tell if trolling...
is... use ignore list for trolls. And please don't quote or reply to them. Then, if at all possible, their birdbrains will shrink even more.
I agree, it's likely a bigger threat to the Android crowd than Apple, but offering a simple content eco-system that rivals iTunes, at a significantly lower price, is likely to take a chunk of Apple's share too.
Why is everyone so dismissive, here.
... is likely to take a chunk of Apple's share too.
Fear.
Yeah, but how about software? What good is your phone without an OS?
Exactly. Though you could just slap android on, which is basically what is going on.
But then what can you do with it... Ye olde ecosystem and that's where they all turn to mush.
Maybe if I collect enough stickers from the coffee cups in McDonalds I can get a McPhone.
Amazing idea. From the company that brought you free wifi around the world, the McPhone. If they also set up their own GSM/GPRS/EDGE/WHATEVER network, could be very interesting...
Mwuhahahahaha! Big bad evil amazon, give me a break.
Fear.
Nah. We've been through many iterations of this before.
More like harakiri. (And I don't mean Apple).
Yeah, but how about software? What good is your phone without an OS?
And there is the real kicker for Google.
I said it when the Kindle Fire was announced, and I will say it again, Google is the one that will most likely lose if these Amazon devices really start to take off. Google gives away their Android OS because it brings in ad revenue. That is how they make money.
The thing about the way that Amazon has modified Android and setup its own store for applications is a threat to that revenue stream for Google. A nice curated store will mean less free/ad supported apps in the Android environment, which means less money for Google. Which means over the long haul less incentive to continue to develop and advance Android.
Then couple that with the fact that to date Amazon isn't offering any of Google's other services, which frees Amazon from having to worry about Google having any leverage over the development of Amazon's version of Android.
So, what happens if Amazon devices become the largest segment of Android devices? Most likely Google isn't going to continue to spend money to develop an OS that is really only benefiting Amazon. Of course, by that time Amazon may be able to develop Android on their own, but now it isn't really the open Android that so many people know and love.
Which brings me to my next point. The Kindle Fire is too easy to hack and install a full up Android OS on. Amazon cannot allow this to happen too much. They are losing money on the hardware and expecting to make that money back through content sales. Which is not unreasonable if pretty much everything on the devices point to Amazon supplied content. However, if too many customers buy Amazon devices and then install the Google music app or the B&N eReader app then that content money is not going to Amazon and they will not be able to justify continuing to make hardware and sell it at a loss.
Which means, they either stop making hardware, stop selling it at a loss, or they start walling off their garden more and more to make sure that those people who buy their devices have to buy their content.
I just don't see how things can play out much different with the current setup.
Oh, and as to competition. Yeah, competition is good, but lets be honest, an Amazon phone is nothing like the Kindle Fire. The Kindle Fire only made a name for itself and is only selling well because of its price. In this regard it was a good product release as that it will put some competitive pressure on Apple to address the lower priced tablet market, which I expect they will do with the upcoming iPad releases. The problem with projecting that to an Amazon phone is that there are already a TON of cheap smartphones available. Including from Apple. So, Amazon entering the smartphone market isn't doing a thing to increase competition in any real sense.
I don't see how this could possibly work with the current status quo. Mainly because this all depends on an initial loss of money for the two big backers (Amazon and Google) with no real guarantee of a return....... Etc
Outstanding analysis.
Amazon will rue the day it got into the hardware business. They're going to discover - much as Google did with its Nexus (and yet refused to learn) - that it's a very different cup of tea. It's going to be a far bigger challenge than producing and selling a unifunctional e-reader. They will backtrack, and in a big way.
Shouldn't the Amazon phone be challenging Android instead of iOS? I mean everyone knows by now that Android has kicked the iPhone's ass from here to Jericho. Why challenge the loser? Challenge the clear winner. There's something wrong with the title of this article.
Compare revenue and profit of all Android devices compared to iPhone. Android, while gaining huge market share, is still VERY far behind in profitability and revenue. Given the trend to race for the bottom, this will probably continue. Amazon is looking at profit margin and is after the iPhone because of that.
I don't see how this could possibly work with the current status quo. Mainly because this all depends on an initial loss of money for the two big backers (Amazon and Google) with no real guarantee of a return.
...
I cannot but agree with most of your thoughts. The major challenges before both Amazon and Google in those scenarios are clearly sustainability. Google's free development of Android cannot continue indefinitely unless they find another revenue source than ads. Amazon cannot survive if they adopt selling at a loss as a MO.
But these are challenges in front of the companies. While they try to figure out how to develop, survive, and make a profit, the consumer wins. So what if Amazon phone flops: we can live without it, because there are many options. What if one "open" OS went under (Nokia's Maemo), we have another one, and if Google abandons Android someone else will take over. As long as there is diversity and competition, the intelligent consumer will always be able to profit. As to companies, I leave their problems to their owners.
You can't just "come up" with a device to challenge the iPhone. It requires a big idea and design and planning. Good luck.
Amazon and Wall Street go hand-in-hand. Both believe that most consumers are morons that can't tell the difference between high-quality and so?so quality when it comes to electronic devices. in their eyes a Kia is just as good as a BMW as they'll both get you to work on time. Wall Street favorites are companies that build "just good enough" products. Extra fit and finish on a product doesn't really count for anything except excess overhead. Build products cheaply and sell them cheap so that all the masses can enjoy them is Wall Street's thinking.
Amazon gets to be praised for selling a $199 tablet to the masses and Apple is now evil for selling a $499 tablet because it is perceived that Apple is cheating the masses by not allowing them $199 iPads. Steve once said that Apple couldn't build a $500 tablet that wasn't crap. Jeff Bezos somehow bent that rule and now Wall Street loves him and his company. I've yet to see a review of the Kindle Fire saying it was crap. Why? because little is expected from a $199 bare-bones tablet. All I read is the tablet is "just good enough" for what it's intended to do. That's what Jeff and Wall Street settle for. That's what turns a $199 Fire as a MAJOR challenger to the $499 iPad.
When Amazon's aPhone is introduced it will be claimed as a challenger to the iPhone and how it will hurt Apple's iPhone sales. I believe anything that Wall Street sees as a device that will grab market share from an Apple device as an Apple device challenger. The aPhone won't even come close to build quality of an iPhone, but will still be called an iPhone challenger, nontheless. Wall Street doesn't seem to care or notice that Amazon's standards don't come close to Apple's standards. Maybe Wall Street wants consumers to be satisfied with low-quality products. I think that's a shame.
Nah. We've been through many iterations of this before.
More like harakiri. (And I don't mean Apple).
Here's what Apple should do...