Bezos: Why it won't matter if Fire Phone flops

[tomsem]

Unlocked is good, but I was hoping Amazon would offer its own calling plan that would be more flexible than the available ones, backed up of course with their generally stellar customer service. But that is a tall order for the first iteration, especially when they don't have many customers at this point.

[fjtorres]

Now this is risk-taking:

http://t.today.com/money/amazon-want...lls-1D80333674

There’s no reason productivity should stop at the bathroom door.

In that spirit, Amazon and Proctor & Gamble have partnered up to launch “Stall Malls” inside public toilets.

Once you sit down in one of the stalls, an ad wrapping the back of the door invites you to download the Amazon App and displays the barcodes for coupons for several bathroom-appropriate items. Use the app to scan the barcodes and place your order.

So while you finish using the bathroom, you’ll also be scratching an item off your to-do list.

To encourage users to take the plunge, the coupons are on the high side for what the brands offer.

More at the source.

[Glorfindel]

[doctorow]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Now this is risk-taking:

http://t.today.com/money/amazon-want...lls-1D80333674

More at the source.

If I was an Amazon shareholder, I'd be less than happy about any Amazon product flopping. Unless, of course, I want to keep the shares forever.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Now this is risk-taking:

http://t.today.com/money/amazon-want...lls-1D80333674

More at the source.

If this were approached from a non-commercial POV, the right content could help the stall occupant get to the intended result quicker.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

If this were approached from a non-commercial POV, the right content could help the stall occupant get to the intended result quicker.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

If this were approached from a non-commercial POV, the right content could help the stall occupant get to the intended result quicker.

Or scare them so they won't need the stall or the paper after all.

[FizzyWater]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Now this is risk-taking:

http://t.today.com/money/amazon-want...lls-1D80333674



More at the source.

Is this serious? The lines in women's rooms are long enough - you can't let them shop while they're in there!

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by FizzyWater

Is this serious? The lines in women's rooms are long enough - you can't let them shop while they're in there!

Owww...
I hurt myself.

[wizwor]

Originally Posted by jocampo

I knew from the start that this was going to be a failure. I have no idea why Amazon tried this on a market that is almost saturated of smartphones, with Android and Apple dominating the actual app ecosystem.

Because people are paying twice as much for a phone as for a laptop. Because the OS is free, the hardware is inexpensive to buy and assemble, and because he owns the kind of ecosystem others dream of.

Seriously, this was a valid move and may still work out. If fact, I'm confident it will. I used the phone in a store and it is a fine phone. The only thing wrong with it is that it is not an iPhone or an Android device. Microsoft is having this problem as well. The market has a challenging barrier to entry, but what is on the other side of the wall is very lucrative. Bezos has the cash to keep running at the wall until he gets through.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by wizwor

Because people are paying twice as much for a phone as for a laptop. Because the OS is free, the hardware is inexpensive to buy and assemble, and because he owns the kind of ecosystem others dream of.

Seriously, this was a valid move and may still work out. If fact, I'm confident it will. I used the phone in a store and it is a fine phone. The only thing wrong with it is that it is not an iPhone or an Android device. Microsoft is having this problem as well. The market has a challenging barrier to entry, but what is on the other side of the wall is very lucrative. Bezos has the cash to keep running at the wall until he gets through.

All he needs is a toehold.
The recent sale might have provided it. If not, next year's model will.

It is a network effects visibility issue: people buy android phones because they see lots of people buying them. Seed the market with enough phones that people see them in other hands and sales will inch upwards.

Kinda like grassroots product placement.

[booklover6]

Originally Posted by wizwor

I used the phone in a store and it is a fine phone. The only thing wrong with it is that it is not an iPhone or an Android device. Microsoft is having this problem as well.

It is a great phone! I just switched from a Windows Phone. That thing is the pits! Amazon App store is not the Play store, but it is a million times better than the Windows app store.

The 3D lock screen is cool.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by booklover6

The 3D lock screen is cool.

Which one do you have? I have the Easter Island dudes.

[David Munch]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Then unlock the phone and lower the price. Have you not learned anything from the current $199 sale? High prices and AT&T exclusivity killed the phone.

I guess that AT&T payed some money to get exclusive sales, and Amazon anticipated that their fans would do anything to get the phone.. But I think the biggest problem is that they seem to have produced piles and piles of these phones, without being able to sell them.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by David Munch

. But I think the biggest problem is that they seem to have produced piles and piles of these phones, without being able to sell them.

Well, there's piles and there's piles.
The write down they took suggests they have a 500k to 1 Million surplus. Which suggests they built 1-1.5M.
For a company with 250M customers and 50M Prime subscribers that would be a reasonable bet.

The thing to keep in mind is that Amazon is going to move $100B in merchandise this year. At those scales a $170M write down is a stubbed toe; it'll hurt for a while but is nowhere near life-threatening.

These people play on a totally different scale than us working stiffs.

Its like the politician who said "A billion here and a billion there and pretty soon you're talking real money."
(And then consider WalMart is moving $500B in merchandise.)