First Kindle Tab, now Amazon phone?
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Can Amazon phone set Fire to the industry? |
Internet kings Amazon are set to produce their first Android smartphone, according to reports.
As per the 7″ Kindle Tab released in the US and Europe last year, it will run Android platform.
An Amazon branded mobile could very well give established rivals Apple and Androids like HTC, Samsung a serious run for their money, and have a very attractive price tag a la US$199 Kindle Fire tablet – a best seller in the US.
Third party supplier Foxconn, also a major Apple supplier, is said to be working with Amazon on the device.
Amazon already has oodles of content with its Prime movie service, ebooks and cloud storage and Appstore for Android, so a smartphone would be the logical next step.
Google’s Android apears to be a winning platform, propelling Samsung to dizzy heights in the phone world (now the No. 1 maker), and also proved to be a major competitor to the Apple iPhone.
The Android operating system is used on over 50% of smarties in the US, while Apple’s iOS accounts for almost one third, recent stats from analysts comScore revealed, a trend that is mirrored globally.
This isn’t the first time a software company has delved deeper into the hardware business of late.
Google announced the 7″ Nexus tab just two weeks ago – due to go on sale here this month for $299 – while Microsoft also unveiled a branded tablet, called Surface.
Launched last year, Amazon’s Kindle Tab was one of the best selling products it ever had, while its Kindle e-reader launched in 2007 is also a big hit with consumers.