Amazon.com was looking for big things when it began selling its Fire Phone on July 25th. Speculation is the smartphone has not lived up to those expectations as Amazon cut the two-year contract price with AT&T from $199 at the device's launch to just 99 cents earlier this week.
Industry watchers have pointed out that other smartphone makers have in the past made similar moves, although most not as quickly. One exception was HTC, which cut its contract price from $99 to 99 cents about a month after the launch of HTC First (AKA the Facebook phone).
A major knock from the beginning on the Fire Phone had to do with Amazon's decision to offer exclusivity to AT&T. Many did not believe the benefits of the phone were enough to cause large numbers of consumers to change carriers. The big question is whether 99 cents will be the right price to convince owners of other smartphones to now make the switch to Fire Phone and AT&T.
Technology critics have not been particularly kind to the Fire Phone. The same could be said for many owners of the device based on ratings shown on the Amazon site where the Fire Phone is currently rated at 3.1 out of five stars. This is by far the lowest rating of any phone in Amazon's top-25 list of contract phones. The Samsung Galaxy S5 Black is rated at 4.4 stars, the LG G3 Black - 4.5, and the HTC One M8 - 4.4.
- Amazon Fire Phone Now 99 Cents with Two-Year Contract - Amazon.com
- Amazon's Fire Phone is all about selling stuff on Amazon.com - RetailWire
- Amazon's Fire Phone is officially as big of a flop as the Facebook phone - BGR
- Facebook may have found its ‘First' flop - BGR
- Amazon Sells Fire Phone for $1, but It's Still Not Worth It - CIO
- Amazon Fire Phone: Gimmicks Are Not Resonating With Buyers - CIO