Amazon Fire Phone Only 99 Cents! Where to Buy?
Finally, a phone that costs no more than a dollar has arrived.
It's the Fire Phone--Amazon's smartphone released in July, which was originally priced at $199. This time, the device comes at $0.99 with a two-year contract. 12 months of Prime, Amazon's paid service that grants consumers shopping advantages, is free for a while. Prime costs $99 on a regular basis. The two-year contract is exclusive at AT&T.
The Fire Phone has two versions--a 32GB and a 64GB. The $0.99 goes for the basic 32GB, while the 64GB gets its price cut from $299 to $99.
What made Amazon venture into such drastic measure?
The New York Times reported that the phone was made by thousands of employees in a span of four years. Yet, the Amazon Fire Phone reportedly performed poorly in terms of sales. NY Times also cited several salesmen working at AT&T stores who echo the same about the product's sales. Both Amazon and AT&T remain silent.
According to a Financial Post report, J.P. Morgan analyst Doug Anmuth said that he expected the Fire Phone's sales to range between 2 to 3 million phones in the United States through the end of 2014. The Wall Street Journal compared the Amazon phone sales with that of Apple's which sold about 2.7 million iPhones a week in its most recent quarter. From these figures, the Fire Phone is definitely behind.
CNET reported that Amazon's one-carrier-only selling conditions might have played a part in the Fire Phone's "slow growth," according to a study. The research, conducted by analytics firm Chitika Insights, provided a comparison on web traffic between Fire Phone and LG G3, and Fire Phone and Motorola Droid Ultra in the United States.
Chitika's findings revealed that both Fire Phone and Droid Ultra charted relatively similar growth rates after launch. Both garnered 0.02%, although the Droid Ultra had a steady increase. Meanwhile, the LG G3 takes a 0.06% figure, two times greater than the Fire Phone.
But Amazon is not selling the same Fire Phone, as upgrades are available, even to those who had it beforehand. The company announced through its official site that Fire Phone customers are receiving an over-the-air software update to add features such as longer battery life, better video sharing, improved e-mail functions, Quick switch, Collections, Carousel pinning, and improved lenticulars.
Amazon also cleared that the Prime feature is offered for a limited time only. The company explained that the feature works immediately upon registration of the Fire Phone.
In case of online purchases, registration is set when the device is shipped. Registration in Amazon.com through the device automatically activates Prime membership.
Purchase of the cheaper Fire Phone takes three options: the individual, family, and without-a-service plan. A comparison of the current plans is provided here.
The Amazon Fire Phone is available for purchase here.