06-18-2014, 06:52 PM
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#151
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monkey on the fringe
Posts: 45,767
Karma: 158733736
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Seattle Metro
Device: Moto E6, Echo Show
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Amazon's Smartphone Is Just Too Expensive
Quote:
Amazon's new smartphone features some cool new technology, but probably the most surprising thing about the device is its high price.
Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s founder and CEO, revealed the price of the Fire Phone at the end of a press conference here on Wednesday, sparking a wave of commentary on Twitter.
The phone, which will be exclusive to AT&T and be available next month, will start at $199 with a two-year contract for the 32-gigabyte model. It will cost $649.99 without a contract. For a limited time, customers can also get a year of Amazon Prime, the company's $99 loyalty program, thrown in.
If those numbers sound familiar, that's because they are. That's the standard two-year contract pricing for the base models of Apple's iPhone 5S and Samsung's Galaxy S5, the flagship phones from the two companies that absolutely dominate smartphone sales in the U.S.
And that's the problem.
Many analysts, pundits and reporters, including myself, thought that Amazon would employ a similar strategy it's used for other hardware: sell the device at cost, or close to cost, and make money when people buy eBooks, video games, movies, TV shows and coffee filters.
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