Amazon Planning to Take on Apple in Smartphone Market

[samcraig]

I have to laugh at the comment "late to the party" and its variants.

Apple came on the scene quite awhile after there were other phones in the marketplace. And sure - someone (or many) will say that smartphones didn't exists until Apple came along. I'll answer that quickly. That's false.

Second - Several people are excited about an Apple Television set. Apple is certainly very very very late to that party.

Point is - it doesn't matter when you arrive on the scene (unless you are absolutely first) - it matters what you bring with you to the game. And if Amazon offers something that others don't - it could be a success.

It's all conjecture at this point anyway. I sincerely doubt there will be an Amazon phone for at least 10-18 months from now...

 

[lsvtecjohn3]

Amazon and WebOS????

 

[spiderman0616]

Why?

From TechCrunch:

Much of the device’s potential appeal also rests on the operating system it runs on, and Android is a very likely choice considering their track record with the Kindle Fire. The question then becomes what will Amazon do to Android — the heavily tweaked fork seen on the Fire bears very little resemblance to the mobile OS that most of us know, and it’s not impossible to think that Amazon would do something similar for a new smartphone in an attempt to make it stand out among a sea of competitors.

And this is from me:
If this thing were to take off, it will just add to the fragmentation. Google doesn't want that. Hence the existence of the Nexus 7.

 

[qtx43]

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.

Are you saying that if somebody asks you for a highly modified kleenex then you won't know what they're talking about or what it is they want?

 

[KdParker]

Amazon could acquire RIM with spare change.

Why...who would want that mess....

RIM needs a complete make over to survive.

 

[Medic311]

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.

you think the features that Apple includes in iOS and physical device features were originally developed, designed, and implemented by Apple? you're joking right......

look at how behind the game Apple is with their iOS 6 release. iOS 6 is "catch up" for Apple, not leading the way for anyone or anything

Apple is brilliant at polishing whatever they get their hands on. hell i should hire them to do my hardwood floors properly

i want the most competition possible to speed up innovation at Apple so i, as an Apple customer, get better products. the more players the better

 

[KdParker]

Are you saying that if somebody asks you for a highly modified kleenex then you won't know what they're talking about or what it is they want?

modified how....I would be a little concerned rolleyes:

 

[Mad-B-One]

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.

Well, even if they are legally barred from it, we can call it what it is. Just because you paint your house a different color, it won't change its shape or address. For the ease of discussion, the Kindle Fire runs Android software which is highly customized and locked down to some degree. I can call the Crysler Crossfire a cheap version of the Mercedes Benz SLK. Sure, it's not a Mercedes on the outside. But once you open the hood, you see the star all over it: Mercedes engine, base frame, etc. You could even call it a Karmann - because that is the company which built both. It doesn't matter. If it is clear to a lot of people what is meant by calling something a certain name, who cares if the producer can call it that legally? Chrysler is not allowed to call the Crossfire a Mercedes... but I can.

 

[Blakjack]

Amazon in the tablet space is a joke to me. I assume I will feel the same about any phone they may come up with.

 

[iSee]

It's hard to image them doing better than fighting for 4th place unless they have some kind of game-changing plan. E.g., by far the biggest problem with smart phones are the service providers and the service contracts. If they could come up with something 50% better on that front, they'd be in business. Otherwise, this seems like a money pit.

 

[samcraig]

you think the features that Apple includes in iOS and physical device features were originally developed, designed, and implemented by Apple? you're joking right......

look at how behind the game Apple is with their iOS 6 release. iOS 6 is "catch up" for Apple, not leading the way for anyone or anything

Catch up is subjective. Personally - I still find many features either lacking or haven't been touched since the original iOS release that easily could have been and should have been.

iOS 6 is a progression for sure - but I'm not sure I would call it a catch up in regards to what's possible/available elsewhere.

 

[Medic311]

Why...who would want that mess....

RIM needs a complete make over to survive.

anyone who knows anything about RIM knows that their only business unit that is failing is the US consumer market. they still are untouchable in enterprise and government, and they are entrenched overseas in many developing countries (where the growth is...there is no more mobile device growth by definition in the US...the market is already saturated).

however with that said, they should completely pull out of the consumer market all together at this point because investing any resources into that business unit is a waste and just detracts from being spent better on their better segments

 

[qtx43]

MacOS X is a POSIX certified Unix implementation. Ubuntu is Linux, Linux is similar to Unix, but it isn't Unix.

So... you're saying that you agree with him that they're both Unix spinoffs?

 

[samcraig]

It's hard to image them doing better than fighting for 4th place unless they have some kind of game-changing plan. E.g., by far the biggest problem with smart phones are the service providers and the service contracts. If they could come up with something 50% better on that front, they'd be in business. Otherwise, this seems like a money pit.

I see it differently. Amazon is a business. And if they can make money (operative word is IF) - they don't NEED to be #1, 2 or 3. The question is how high is high (and enough).

While it is fantastic if you can be #1 in the industry - you can still be quite profitable being #8, #15, etc.

 

[bushido]

probably running a custom android rom pushing their cloud and kindle service, not such a bad move actually. they have their ecosystem

 

[drewyboy]

I have to laugh at the comment "late to the party" and its variants.

Apple came on the scene quite awhile after there were other phones in the marketplace. And sure - someone (or many) will say that smartphones didn't exists until Apple came along. I'll answer that quickly. That's false.

True, but the smartphones were no where near the capability or function that the iPhone ushered in. The "smartphone" was considered Blackberry's and the like.

 

[Sackvillenb]

To be honest, I don't feel like this will be very successful... That being said, I always think competition is good, for Apple... but I'm not sure if Apple will get much stiff phone related competition from Amazon...

 

[Medic311]

Catch up is subjective

it becomes instantly objective when you compare to features offered by competitors

iOS 6 is a progression for sure - but I'm not sure I would call it a catch up in regards to what's possible/available elsewhere.

it's progressive b/c it used to be called 5 and now it's called 6. it's also progressive because what should have been in 5 wasn't, and now it's being included in 6. if you compared iOS 5 in its present state to what else is out there, it's a bit sad. but heck, it works all of the time which is why i own iOS devices. but i don't have tunnel vision in the industry, i know what features are being offered by the competitors. i chose Apple, but i can also recognize their short comings

 

[iMikeT]

When it comes to dethroning Apple in the mobile market, many have tried but none have succeeded.

 

[drewyboy]

It's one thing to have a diverse set of options for computers or tablets that are not tied to a service provider, but it is an entirely different and scary scenario to have diversity that lack cohesiveness and you need to go to a cell carrier or provider.
With iOS and to some extent Google's nexus program, power has finally been wrestled from carriers into the hands of the consumer. Forking android, other android variants, even a Facebook phone threaten to spread OEMs even thinner and relinquish to more demands of the carriers and crapware. Why else would the carriers be so interested in pushing a 3rd alternative like Windows phone or their own OS built on Mozilla's gecko? Because with confusion in the marketplace they return to a stronger position where consumers turn to them for solutions.
I vote NO on Amazon doing this.

So true on so many levels. Carriers are smiling at this.

 

[KdParker]

So... you're saying that you agree with him that they're both Unix spinoffs?

geek war

 

[qtx43]

modified how....I would be a little concerned rolleyes:

And that's also a problem with Amazon's modified Android, just not in a disease inducing way.

geek war

Nah, I'm just being a grammar nazi. He ignored the word 'spinoff'.

 

[BMNB1tch]

Amazon should buy Nokia

 

[Medic311]

True, but the smartphones were no where near the capability or function that the iPhone ushered in. The "smartphone" was considered Blackberry's and the like.

maybe you forgot but the first iPhone lacked quite a lot of capability and function that the competitors had as standard for years... cut/copy and paste? picture messaging...the list goes on. it took 2 iterations for the iPhone to be on par feature wise (not talking about the amazing touch screen...just strictly software features and function). once that crossing point was hit, the iPhone skyrocketed upwards in innovation where the rest continued at their regular pace and actually started to slow down

 

[tigress666]

Amazon should stick to two things on the consumer side: eBooks and selling other people's stuff.

You know, there were several people (including me to be honest) who said Apple should stick to making computers when they came out with the iphone (or even the iPods)... Don't write off a company just cause it's in a different direction than before.

Anyways, I'd welcome it to see if they come up with some thing decent cause I don't want to get stuck in Google's eco system (I don't like where they are heading in some ways, especially with how they see everything being in the cloud, I don't want to be that dependant on a company that one decision from them could lock me away from all my stuff if I relied on them too heavily) and I don't like the Windows phone. Just in case Apple ends up losing developer interest or something (Hey, just cause a company is big doesn't mean they can't fall).