I wonder why Amazon dropped the Fire phone price on 9/8

[ricktat]

Hmm.. Now 99 cents with 2 year upgrade and $449 with no contract for 32 GB.

I was very surprised that they didn't do this from the beginning. Instead they got to look like a joke starting at $649.

I like competition but the original pricing was like comparing a HP Touchpad to an Ipad.

 

[12vElectronics]

Reports show that the Fire phone only sold 35,000 units total since launch. Considering Apple sells 10 million iPhones on launch weekend alone, it's obviously a big fail on their part.

 

[TechZeke]

Reports show that the Fire phone only sold 35,000 units total since launch. Considering Apple sells 10 million iPhones on launch weekend alone, it's obviously a big fail on their part.

A company that has little experience with smartphones trying to compete with more established flagships in the same price range was idiotic. The Amazon specific features weren't worth anything. Someone paying that much for a phone might as well go for an iPhone, HTC One, or Samsung Galaxy S5.

 

[nnacrumors]

Reports show that the Fire phone only sold 35,000 units total since launch. Considering Apple sells 10 million iPhones on launch weekend alone, it's obviously a big fail on their part.

And how many iPhones did Apple sell of it's 1st generation phone in the first 2 months of it's launch?

Everyone needs to calm the **** down and let Amazon do their thing over time.

Calling any 1st generation product a "big fail" is obviously missing the point.

 

[ricktat]

And how many iPhones did Apple sell of it's 1st generation phone in the first 2 months of it's launch?

Everyone needs to calm the **** down and let Amazon do their thing over time.

Calling any 1st generation product a "big fail" is obviously missing the point.

The LG G3 might even be as nice as the Galaxy S5, HTC 1, or Iphone but they know the price needs to be lower than the other flagships to be competitive. Amazon should have known this.

 

[0928001]

And how many iPhones did Apple sell of it's 1st generation phone in the first 2 months of it's launch?

Everyone needs to calm the **** down and let Amazon do their thing over time.

Calling any 1st generation product a "big fail" is obviously missing the point.

I think everyone is calm considering we are chatting on a message board. Your comment indicates you take comments from people you don't know on a message board way too seriously.

That phone is nothing but a gimmick that won't sell. It is a huge flop. Comparing it to the original iPhone is an insult to Apple.

 

[12vElectronics]

A company that has little experience with smartphones trying to compete with more established flagships in the same price range was idiotic. The Amazon specific features weren't worth anything. Someone paying that much for a phone might as well go for an iPhone, HTC One, or Samsung Galaxy S5.

I agree. What Amazon offered was something that could have been a premium paid app to be honest.

And how many iPhones did Apple sell of it's 1st generation phone in the first 2 months of it's launch?

Everyone needs to calm the **** down and let Amazon do their thing over time.

Calling any 1st generation product a "big fail" is obviously missing the point.

No one is up in arms about the Fire phone. In fact, I don't think most people know it exists .

It's a huge fail and that's that. I'd be very surprised to see Amazon release V2.0.

 

[rhinosrcool]

Didn't see this coming!

 

[Izauze]

And how many iPhones did Apple sell of it's 1st generation phone in the first 2 months of it's launch?

Not sure about the first two months, but this was written a few days after launch:

After speculation earlier in the week that Apple had sold between 400-500,000 iPhones, the actual new sales figures for the iPhone are even wilder than earlier figures: Apple and AT&T moved 700,000 iPhones to the close of business Sunday. According to MacNN, Apple is said to have sold out of iPhones in 95 of 164 stores and AT&T has nearly depleted its entire stock. The report quotes American Technology Research predicting that the iPhone would likely be AT&T’s fastest ever selling product and that the iPhone could rank among the fastest selling consumer electronics devices of all time.

Based on the cost of manufacturing an iPhone (see post July 2), Apple would have made a profit of between $200million and $266 million in 3 days (not including marketing costs), on sales somewhere between $350million and $420million, significantly more than earlier estimates of Apple having a $300million weekend.

Saying the iPhone has been successful at this point would be matter of stating the blatantly obvious.

So yeah, I think it's pretty easy to call Fire Phone sales in the thousands a pretty significant fail.

 

[jamezr]

Hmm.. Now 99 cents with 2 year upgrade and $449 with no contract for 32 GB.

I was very surprised that they didn't do this from the beginning. Instead they got to look like a joke starting at $649.

I like competition but the original pricing was like comparing a HP Touchpad to an Ipad.

Now 99 cents with 2 year upgrade and $449 with no contract for 32 GB.............. (Cue the cheesy commercial announcer guys voice) but wait there's more! If you are one of the first 100 callers you get the second Fire Phone FREE....just pay separate shipping and processing...... That's right BOGO!

 

[Izauze]

Wall Street Journal:
(http://online.wsj.com/articles/amaz...-for-99-cents-with-2-year-contract-1410191420)

Amazon first began selling the Fire phone in stores in late July. It was expected to sell between 2 million and 3 million phones in the U.S. through the end of this year, according to J.P. Morgan analyst Doug Anmuth. Apple, by comparison, sold an average 2.7 million iPhones a week in its most recent quarter, a global figure.

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

It needs to be between $99 - $150 with NO contract for me to even consider it.

 

[12vElectronics]

It needs to be between $99 - $150 with NO contract for me to even consider it.

Honestly, with how good Apple and Samsung are at making phones and people willing to spend $200-$300 on those phones, even a super low price point won't get people to buy the Fire.

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

Honestly, with how good Apple and Samsung are at making phones and people willing to spend $200-$300 on those phones, even a super low price point won't get people to buy the Fire.

You're probably right. Fire OS on a phone is not really intriguing at all. But at a much lower price, they could have marketed towards the older crowd.

 

[blairh]

Complete failure. No surprise. Lower the price to get potential iPhone 6 buyers to consider it.

 

[GadgetSN]

Like with their tablet I thought to myself that only the americans would lap this poor spec, plastic and expensive for what it is phone.

Didn't understand why their tablet sold ok and do not understand why anyone would even consider this at its current price. No one in the UK will buy this.

 

[Jessica Lares]

Lots of people can't justify a tablet that costs more than $250. That's why the Kindle Fires have done so well. For me, it was the first step in seeing how I would use a tablet once I got one in my hands. On that 1st gen, I carried my textbook for that semester and drew and colored the artwork for my final exam.

I ended up upgrading to the iPad Mini. A lot of people figured out that they weren't really into tablets and just left it. Others upgraded to the HD models, and what I took from that is that the people who were buying books and using Instant Video were in that crowd.

I'd rather the Fire Phone than just a regular stock Android device. I like the UI, and I am a Prime subscriber. What puts me off is that the Amazon Appstore is a total dump and it's been like that since day one.

 

[ame8199]

I had a kindle fire and I really liked it. Even tried a regular sized ipad... Just didn't like the size. Sold my kindle when the mini came out. I think the kindle fire has an audience. People who read a lot and like to play around online...would love the kindle fire.

I'm deep in the apple ecosystem which is the main reason I wanted an iPad mini.

----------

Lots of people can't justify a tablet that costs more than $250. That's why the Kindle Fires have done so well. For me, it was the first step in seeing how I would use a tablet once I got one in my hands. On that 1st gen, I carried my textbook for that semester and drew and colored the artwork for my final exam.



I ended up upgrading to the iPad Mini. A lot of people figured out that they weren't really into tablets and just left it. Others upgraded to the HD models, and what I took from that is that the people who were buying books and using Instant Video were in that crowd.



I'd rather the Fire Phone than just a regular stock Android device. I like the UI, and I am a Prime subscriber. What puts me off is that the Amazon Appstore is a total dump and it's been like that since day one.

I agree the amazon App Store is crap... They need to invest their money in that if they are wanting to keep up with the heavy hitters.

 

[LadyX]

I wonder why Amazon dropped the Fire phone price on 9/8

Complete failure. No surprise.

Yes, it was expected. I don't know what Jeff Bezos was thinking.

 

[Tarzanman]

Jeff Bezos is thinking that he'd better develop his own interface to the Amazon market before someone else makes a deal with Apple or Google and surpasses him on the mobile front.

Everything Bezos sells is through the interface of a web page. It makes total sense to me that he would want to establish a foothold that gives him some access and influence over that sales channel. Mobile purchases are an area of growth.

 

[TheAppleFairy]

And how many iPhones did Apple sell of it's 1st generation phone in the first 2 months of it's launch?

Everyone needs to calm the **** down and let Amazon do their thing over time.

Calling any 1st generation product a "big fail" is obviously missing the point.

According to this Apple sold over 270,000 iPhones within the first 30 hours of sale. According to Wikipedia, 6.1 million 1st gen iPhones were sold in total.

I like Amazon, but they should stick to being the online walmart, it's what they are good at. Let the tech companies make tech.

 

[CEmajr]

I think the exclusive to AT&T thing killed them too. In this day and age where all the flagship devices are available on all the carriers, being exclusive is just shooting yourself in the foot. They made their product out of reach for almost 70% of the market.

 

[JaySoul]

Extremely predictable.

Couldn't pay me to use a Fire Phone.

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

According to this Apple sold over 270,000 iPhones within the first 30 hours of sale. According to Wikipedia, 6.1 million 1st gen iPhones were sold in total.

I like Amazon, but they should stick to being the online walmart, it's what they are good at. Let the tech companies make tech.

Nah, the Kindles, Kindle Fires and even the Fire TV are good products and sold a lot. Amazon just got it wrong with the Fire phone.

 

[mattopotamus]

It will be mid $200s in probably a month contract free. I can only imagine how many of these they have sitting on a shelf. 400,000?