Amazon Planning to Take on Apple in Smartphone Market

[Born Again]

It has to be a viable alternative in order to be considered healthy competition
That remains to be seen

It will be.

The kindle touch has already changed the tablet market. Google is now selling a very competitive tablet at $200 and now Apple is looking to join in the game for the cheaper tablet market.

While i doubt they will sell their 7" tablet at $200 (more like $299) competition is great by providing consumers with alternatives while still being under the apple ecosystem.

So yes Amazon - come join the party!

 

[ablashek]

apple, google, amazon, facebook, next we'll hear that Ebay and LinkedIn are releasing a Phone.

 

[drewyboy]

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




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

Very true. But we do have to remember that Apple has been in a state of transition last 2 OSX & iOS releases. Lion & iOS5 started the cloud transition and w/ Mt. Lion & iOS6 they are completing. Not the length I had hoped for but quick enough. MS has made a huge jump yet has had lots of time and Google, they were the "cloud" so I would have assumed they would be first and quickest to integrate these features, which they have. All in all, it's about the ecosystem. If you're into google, ms, or apple great.. enjoy the magic and wizardry that is modern technology.

 

[Ryth]

Just can't see it. If I was an Amazon shareholder I wouldn't be too happy about this.

There is no reason for them to get into the phone market...considering in probably about 5 years...the line between portable computer and phone will be gone and a 'phone' will no longer exist...in fact I'd say that is already here...most people I know with iPhones barely use their voice plans at all.

The kindle touch has already changed the tablet market. Google is now selling a very competitive tablet at $200 and now Apple is looking to join in the game for the cheaper tablet market.

You mean the Kindle Fire is being sold at a loss and Google is now also selling a tablet at a loss.

Meanwhile Apple will be selling a smaller tablet at a profit.

Which business model here does not work in the long run...

 

[drewyboy]

It will be.

The kindle touch has already changed the tablet market. Google is now selling a very competitive tablet at $200 and now Apple is looking to join in the game for the cheaper tablet market.

1. What's the Kindle Touch???
2. Apple will "join in the game" to finish dominating the market... i.e. iPod style. By no means is it because they are being cannibalized. There market share is shrinking yet sales are increasing due to market is growing.

Edit: Found out what kindle touch was... all I can saw is wow. Looks like a over size Palm Pilot.

 

[dashiel]

What will its major selling points be? That will be the big question.

Amazon’s ecosystem. Google’s efforts in content and social ecosystems are the purview of hardcore Google/Android fans and consumers who simply don’t know/care. The latter, along with search, is why Google is ok with fragmentation.

With iOS and to some extent Google's nexus program, power has finally been wrestled from carriers into the hands of the consumer.

That certainly seemed to be the way things were heading, then the Nexus failed because carriers were still pissed about the amount of control they ceded to Apple. Android was no where near strong enough to demand the same control from the carriers so Google capitulated, got in to bed with the carriers – to the point of going back on their formerly strong stance on Network Neutrality – all in order to grab as much market share as possible (which they need with 95% of their revenue coming from search). I keep hoping Google is working the long con and one day will turn on their own pipes circumventing the need for telcos entirely.

 

[ThunderSkunk]

Oh cool, then I'll have something equally pointless to replace my Facebook phone with.

 

[2bikes]

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

Isn't selling kindle or a kindle phone, selling other people`s OS?

 

[ixodes]

I quote:

"Bloomberg reports that Amazon is currently working with Foxconn on a new smartphone product, one that would compete head-to-head with the iPhone and Android devices."

As compared to the title of this thread:
"Amazon Planning to Take on Apple in Smartphone Market"

Amazon is _NOT_ planning to "Take On Apple".

There's a big difference. The only reason I know that Amazon's intent is not to take on Apple, is due to the people I know within the organization.

Are they building a smartphone? Yes, but not to compete with Apple.

Amazon's intent is to build "another smartphone choice" for the public to choose from.

Furthermore in an obvious move, they are building one to sell their content, just like Apple builds the iPhone to sell content via iTunes.

The Amazon phone is being very carefully designed to _NOT_ look like, nor infringe on anyone's patents, as they have no intention of being fodder for Apple.

This will be very interested because it will be different, if not similar to others. After all it will be in the category of Smartphones, therefore just like above... many assumptions will be made.



https://www.macrumors.com/2012/07/06/amazon-planning-to-take-on-apple-in-smartphone-market/

 

[samcraig]

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

And who says they are looking to dethrone Apple? Again - you can be profitable and successful without being #1.

Coke and Pepsi are both very profitable. Burger King and McDonalds (not to mention all the other burger chains).

Lastly - if some people had their way - there would be no android, nokia, windows and RIM phones. Only iPhone. No thanks. No thanks at all. Not to mention - what WOULD everyone here talk about if those who wished all competitors to die off got their "wish." Boring indeed.

 

[Ubuntu]

[url=http://cdn.macrumors.com/im/macrumorsthreadlogodarkd.png]Image[/url]


Image

Bloomberg reports that Amazon is currently working with Foxconn on a new smartphone product, one that would compete head-to-head with the iPhone and Android devices.Amazon is also said to be looking to acquire a portfolio of wireless technology patents that would help it stand up to competitors in the market.

Amazon has already generated a considerable amount of interest with its Kindle Fire tablet, a heavily-customized Android device launched late last year. By adding a smartphone to the mix, Amazon would have mobile devices in several different form factors to help spur consumption of the company's extensive library of digital content.

Article Link: Amazon Planning to Take on Apple in Smartphone Market

"Take on"? Like they planned to "take on" Apple with their Kindle Fire? Not at all. They simply looked at market areas Apple doesn't really cater for, which was a smart idea. It's more a case of taking on Google.

 

[tasset]

And who says they are looking to dethrone Apple? Again - you can be profitable and successful without being #1.

Coke and Pepsi are both very profitable. Burger King and McDonalds (not to mention all the other burger chains).

Lastly - if some people had their way - there would be no android, nokia, windows and RIM phones. Only iPhone. No thanks. No thanks at all. Not to mention - what WOULD everyone here talk about if those who wished all competitors to die off got their "wish." Boring indeed.

My concern would be that Amazon (or Google or Microsoft) do not care about being profitable on HARDWARE. The whole razors vs razor blades theory. They want to sell the software, services, and media. But where does that leave other OEMs who do not have those profitable revenue streams, only hardware sales? In the grave, or capitulating to carriers' crapware demands if they want to sell any hardware at all.

 

[bushido]

Edit: Found out what kindle touch was... all I can saw is wow. Looks like a over size Palm Pilot.

the Kindle Touch is a eBook Reader and not a full on Tablet, completely different purpose. what he meant was the Kindle Fire i guess

 

[rhett7660]

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.

This, when was the last time you even heard about the Amazon's google tablet?

 

[Geckotek]

Tardy to the party.

I remember saying the same thing about Apple.


What people fail to realize is that you don't have to dominate the market to make money. I recall Jason Callacanis saying that all he (Mahalo) needed was 1% of Google's market share to make $1B. Of course, hardware is a bit different...but they don't have to blow Android or Apple out of the water to make a profitable product.

Edit: I see samcraig beat me to it.

 

[rotax]

Stupid

Has to be one of the stupidest things I have ever heard. There is no way they can compete. They are not a technology company. Annual releases? Engineering? great new compelling features?

I love seeing my friends and associates text messages come up in blue for the first time. After some of them have told me, "oh I will never use an iPhone, I can't stand not having a keyboard" etc .blah blah blah... I reply to their text immediately with the old line from back in the day about Microsoft comedically. "Welcome to the Borg, you have been assimilated"

The kindle is already sold at a loss with the expectation that sales will cover. Amazon is trying to compete for content sales in what has to be very narrow margins with its competitors. I wonder how much of an installed base, that is actually buying their content. will be necessary for them to break even. Bad business idea IMHO.

 

[newagemac]

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 ?

So why do people call it OS X then? Why does MacRumors have an iOS blog? Shouldn't the iOS blog be called the UNIX blog?

If the Kindle Fire can be called an Android device (despite both Google and Amazon insisting it is not), then the Android name is just a meaninglessly generic name that seems to serve almost no purpose other than that it (might) run (some) apps made for Android. But heck even RIM's Playbook OS can run Android apps. Which further illustrates my point.

The Fire not only doesn't run many Android apps, it has an entirely different ecosystem, distribution chain, user interface, etc. It is entirely stripped of anything Google and competes against Google's Android ecosystem.

And again, (and most importantly), Amazon does not call it an Android device and Google themselves do not allow Amazon to call it an Android device even if they wanted to.

So why would MacRumors decide to go completely against the maker of the device and the maker of the OS in question and call it Android anyway? Boggles my mind.

 

[bsolar]

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

Why? Apple didn't stick to desktop computers and that's what made them a much more successful company. Let's see what Amazon is able to do.

 

[rjohnstone]

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.

You couldn't be more wrong.
Android is open source and can be used by anyone without giving anything to Google.
The only restriction is Google's apps and the trademarked Android logo.
Amazon cannot use them without paying a license fee to Google.
The name "Android" simply refers to the OS.

But that doesn't change the fact that it IS an Android device.
The underlying frameworks are still pure Android. Their Android App Store would not work on the Fire if they were not using proper Android frameworks.
Customizing the front end doesn't change what it is... another Android device.

 

[bushido]

Has to be one of the stupidest things I have ever heard. There is no way they can compete. They are not a technology company. Annual releases? Engineering? great new compelling features?

I love seeing my friends and associates text messages come up in blue for the first time. After some of them have told me, "oh I will never use an iPhone, I can't stand not having a keyboard" etc .blah blah blah... I reply to their text immediately with the old line from back in the day about Microsoft comedically. "Welcome to the Borg, you have been assimilated"

The kindle is already sold at a loss with the expectation that sales will cover. Amazon is trying to compete for content sales in what has to be very narrow margins with its competitors. I wonder how much of an installed base, that is actually buying their content. will be necessary for them to break even. Bad business idea IMHO.

they sell it at a loss because the device is basically just a platform to sell their kindle books, cloud services, music services etc. thats where they make their money. sony did the same with their ps3, they make the money with the games

 

[ixodes]

You mean the Kindle Fire is being sold at a loss and Google is now also selling a tablet at a loss.

Meanwhile Apple will be selling a smaller tablet at a profit.

Which business model here does not work in the long run...

Google is not selling their tablet at a loss.

They are selling for a razor thin margin by choice. There's a big difference. It's obvious they do not have the pull that Apple does in the marketplace, therefore they are taking a bit of a gamble to build market share with a tablet of their own.

It may or may not work, but if not, it will not put Google out of business. Conversely if it does work they can always gradually increase it's price down the line. This is a proven, age old strategy.

The same thing can be said for Amazon. If one looks at how long Amazon has been a leader in their internet space, you would know they have profits to play with and hence they've decided to build a phone to sell more of their content. Again it may or may not work, but at least they are not afraid to try.

It's a huge market out there, one with plenty of room and an abundance of buyers for a variety of brands. If not, there would be a rapidly shrinking market for Android. The only other viable product at this very moment.

Competition is the backbone of free enterprise. That's a fact that's proven itself over and over for more than one hundred years. Nothing would be more destructive than to have an Apple monopoly with no other choices.

Make no mistake, I'm _NOT_ advocating for any company. Furthermore this post, is coming from someone that is a huge Apple enthusiast.

Yet one that understands business, and is not afraid of competition.

It's as simple as that

 

[applesith]

I remember saying the same thing about Apple.


What people fail to realize is that you don't have to dominate the market to make money. I recall Jason Callacanis saying that all he (Mahalo) needed was 1% of Google's market share to make $1B. Of course, hardware is a bit different...but they don't have to blow Android or Apple out of the water to make a profitable product.

Edit: I see samcraig beat me to it.

Very true, but apple did change the game for smart phones. Amazon hasn't changed the game with Fire and that leaves little hope they will bring a big change to the smartphone market. It will probably just be another Android device.

 

[newagemac]

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?

No I'm saying when an article about a Kleenex competitor is written by a respected information outlet, that the writers would know not to refer to the competitor itself as Kleenex.

 

[orfeas0]

2007: Iphone is revealed.
People claim it's dumb, it has no 3g *ruble*ruble* stupid phone, expensive.
Same year, android is announced.
*ruble*ruble* android is better than iPhone *ruble*ruble*.
2008-until now:
New iPhone sucks *ruble*ruble* (even though it has the biggest smartphone profit).
New iPhone-Killer android smartphone revealed by _random_manufacturer_.
Nothing kills the iPhone.
Another iPhone-killer spotted in the wild! Is this maybe it? blablabla, no, it's not!

Now Amazon thinks they can go head to head with the iPhone on the first smartphone they ever made...

 

[cmwade77]

I think they could do it, if they do it right. They should offer their own cellular service that is cheaper than the competitors, as they can make up the money by selling content.