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No way! They don't care about that crowd. They're all in with consumers.

Right, but RIM's intellectual property is damn near worthless without a consumer ecosystem in place. It's possible that Amazon could acquire that IP and make it valuable.
 
"A smartphone would give Amazon a wider range of low-priced hardware devices..."

The Kindle Fire didn't exactly take on the iPad....

Don't think the FireFone or whatever it'll be called will take on the iPhone.

Apple = high-end consumer market
Amazon = lower-end consumer market

Not the same market.
 
"...acquire a portfolio of patents..."

Awesome! More patent legality news! I enjoy reading about arguments about who owns existing IPs instead of new innovations. :rolleyes:
 
Amazon has already generated a considerable amount of interest with its Kindle Fire tablet, a heavily-customized Android device launched late last year.


The Kindle Fire isn't an "Android" device. Amazon does not call it an Android device. In fact, they are legally barred from calling it an "Android" device so I'm not sure why MacRumors is calling it that.

Android is a brand name and Kindle isn't an Android device. It's just as wrong as calling any tissue a Kleenex.
 
e-ink smartphone? Not a bad idea. I'm sure there's a market for it, and it would add more flavor to existing options. Sort of tired of iPhone and iPhone lookalikes to be honest (not that they are bad, just that it would be nice to see something new).
 
While I do think competition is healthy, I don't think this is the correct arena for Amazon. I love Amazon as an online retailer, I don't think they will be replacing my iPhone anytime soon. I'd have to be able to use it for a week or so before I pass final judgement tho.
 
more competition is a beautiful thing.

as an Apple customer, i can expect products to be developed faster, better, and with more innovative features

----------

While I do think competition is healthy, I don't think this is the correct arena for Amazon. I love Amazon as an online retailer, I don't think they will be replacing my iPhone anytime soon. I'd have to be able to use it for a week or so before I pass final judgement tho.

they're not likely to win over any die-hard Apple customers who have owned an iPhone since 2009...but they are likely to win over people fed up with Android phones with horrendous support
 
I am not certain I understand (should this be true) the reasoning behind this.
Amazon does things very well, and the phone business is not remotely one of them. *other than selling phones made by others*

Of course, the same could be true of Apple in 07'; but they are already a hardware and software direct supplier- Amazon sells the tablets to shop in their store.

IDK, I just don't see a justification for Jeff to step foot in these muddied waters; but who knows.
 
...

There is no reason this couldnt work because the android hardware currently out is missing what people want. A thin device that is comfotable to hold and has killer battery life. The ones on the market are either too big to hold easily, have poor battery life or are thick and heavy, or a combination of the three
 
more competition is a beautiful thing.

as an Apple customer, i can expect products to be developed faster, better, and with more innovative features

As an Apple customer of more than a few months you should be aware that competition is NOT what does anything at Apple. They don't do as or when the other boys do. On timetables, features etc.
 

Possibly because of the name association. With the Kindle Fire, Amazon took Google's software, adapted it, and created a product that is associated in the consumer's mind with Amazon, not with Google. And I suppose an Amazon smartphone would do the same. Amazon also doesn't have any interest in letting Google take financial advantage of the fact that a customer would buy an Android phone. I wouldn't think that Google gets too much in advertising money via Kindle Fire buyers.
 
For Apple to create an iPhone was a move forward, they made a great change to the industry and they had a great background succeeding after the iPod.

Amazon... they are experimenting, is not an "evolution" for them, is a "market share and a business". Is almost like like Ford or Adidas selling smartphones too.

I still do not have an iPhone but you bet I won't get one from Amazon.
 
As an Apple customer of more than a few months you should be aware that competition is NOT what does anything at Apple. They don't do as or when the other boys do. On timetables, features etc.

Apple didn't jump on the netbook bandwagon, their notebooks and desktops are priced at non-competing price points to the rest of the market yet they still manage to make it work. Apple competes for your new dollars by developing new products, they don't have knee-jerk reactions to what others are doing. That doesn't make them saintly, just focused.
 
As a matter of fact, I don't think there will be such a thing as a Smartphone Market in a few years. There will be smaller or larger tablets equipped with 4G/LTE internet and Voice over IP numbers.

Phone is going to be just one of several communication apps on the device.

Isn't that what the iphone already is? How many of us just talk on our phones anymore?
 
The Kindle Fire isn't an "Android" device. Amazon does not call it an Android device. In fact, they are legally barred from calling it an "Android" device so I'm not sure why MacRumors is calling it that.

Android is a brand name and Kindle isn't an Android device. It's just as wrong as calling any tissue a Kleenex.

Does it not run a modified android os? Sure you would never call OSX and Ubuntu the same but they are still both Unix spinoffs no?

Is the kindle fire OS not an Android spinoff ?
 
Jeff Bezos…

…is a wily competitor. There were dozens of Android me too tablets before the Fire came out.

Sure, he's losing money on each unit, but he's the only competitor with a popular retail operation attached to it.

He'll do something ballsy with the phone too - it'll be cheap, it'll be "good enough", and it will sell you stuff from his store.

Bezos has no choice - this either works for him, or Apple eats his lunch slowly but surely.
 
"A smartphone would give Amazon a wider range of low-priced hardware devices that bolster its strategy of making money from digital books..."

Doesn't Amazon lose money on digital books?? They monopolize(d) the e-book market by lowballing prices, knowing they'll make it up everyewhere else, including sales of Kindles. This established strategy of using it's market power to undercut competitive pricing (fighting against which Apple, et al, have been rewarded by being indicted by the USDOJ) makes me nervous when they enter any new market.
 
I go to Amazon to order stuff.
I go to Google to search stuff. And get directions.
I go to Apple for the important stuff: computer, phone, tablet, digital media, apps.
 
In other news, Apple plans to take them on with the tried and true approach of litigation. Amazon is clearly ripping them off by releasing a smart phone that can be used to buy stuff from stores.
 
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