Amazon, smartphones and the quest for a real No. 3 mobile platform
Summary: Amazon could enter the smartphone market and do well. Buyers are dying for a No. 3 mobile platform and the usual suspects just aren't up to challenging Android and Apple's iOS.
Amazon is reportedly planning to launch a smartphone to compete with the Android army as well as Apple's iPhone. And why not? There has to be a No. 3 mobile platform and Amazon has the moxie to make it happen.
Bloomberg is reporting Amazon is prepping a smartphone and there are many observers receptive to the idea. The reality of the wireless industry is that there's a duopoly---Android phones and Apple's iOS. Together, those two platforms own the wireless device market. Within that duopoly there are two primary hardware players---Samsung and Apple. The rest of the pack arguably road kill over time. Just look at HTC's dismal results as Samsung surges.
Carriers see this wireless structure developing and say: "We need a No. 3 platform." Verizon, AT&T and others are rooting for Microsoft's Windows Phone platform and Research in Motion to eventually deliver on its BlackBerry 10 promises. Wireless buyers would like a No. 3 choice too, but so far seem perfectly content with Android and iOS.
The upshot of all this is that a No. 3 platform won't emerge merely based on charity. In fact, the No. 3 wireless platform is likely to come from a player not even in the market today.
That new entrant could easily be Amazon. Here's what Amazon brings to the table:
- A content, music and video ecosystem.
- A model that could support an e-commerce or ad subsidized device.
- A penchant for disruption.
- Distribution.
- And a boatload of credit card and customer data already on file.
Reports of Amazon building a phone are quite believable. These reports made sense months ago and seem like a lock today. The other obvious mobile platform contender would be Facebook, which has the moving parts to be a wireless player.
Bottom line: The wireless platform race today is going to see the contenders shift. Microsoft and Research in Motion have a short and closing window to cement positions as a No. 3 platform. If these challengers remain mired in single digit market share, Amazon, Facebook or someone else may just step in.
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Talkback
Two players to look for
Amazon, on the other hand, is very good at integrating products. The Kindle Fire is not the most high-powered tablet, but what it does get right is that it makes it easy for the customer to get content to their device (from Amazon of course). The thing that makes me uneasy about the possibility of an Amazon phone is that there are so many things outside the Amazon ecosystem that I don't know if they will support. The Google Play store is the biggest question mark. It's not available on the Fire, and the Amazon app store is just not quite as robust. I don't know if Amazon would go full Android, or if they would design their own UI over the top. I think releasing a limited version (like the Fire has) would be a big mistake.
Microsoft doesn't do "clean".
They have never had the vision to do anything "clean" cross-platform. It's always a hodge-podge compromise-ridden pil of bolted on garbage.
As a media centre user...
They've also
Nope.
All platforms will run with TWO UIs. One of them will be Metro. The other will be traditional Windows desktop. Microsoft can't even keep it clean within Windows 8.
I didn't say
The only thing more convoluted than's MS' strategy ...
Your insane bias is showing
and there is nothing
It's a history of failure
Yeah, right...
Let's see
Windows CE
Pocket PC 2002
Windows Mobile 2003
Windows Mobile 5
Windows Mobile 6
Windows Mobile 6.1
Windows Mobile 6.5
Windows 7 Phone
Windows 7.5 Phone
Yup, all of 'em have been 'rip-roaring successes'.
lol...
Go ask
Ask who?
And look at HTC going down the crapper in the face of Samsung. Did you really want to use them as an example?
"Windows CE? Have you been to walmart, target, Best Buy, Toys r us, sears or any other store with electric price guns or product scanners all use Windows CE."
Well no wonder they got price wrong the other day. They used Windows for keeping inventory!
lol...
And notice all the other examples I listed...
Your damage control spin is FUTILE!
Cell Decision
All valid points, from a technical point of view.
I believe it's most likely to come from a third party, rather than MS or RIM.
WinMobile screwed MS
And I'm sure you saw lots of people trying to make emergency calls
That's a pretty bad point
Really?
The problem is is that it's associated with Servers and Desktops. Apple was smart not to call their phone "MacPhone", as people would have viewed it as a computer, not a phone.
MS needs to differentiate it from computers, even though we all know phones are in essence a mini computer.
associated with...
The issue as I see it is more about perception and applications. Perception is that Apple and Android devices are better, although I've seen more people complain about those devices relative to those that complain about Microsoft's phone.
On the application front, there are simple more apps for Apple and Android. That gives them a huge edge. Additionally, it is easier to find these phones. I visited a local Verizon store that didn't even have a Microsoft phone on display. It is hard to sell a phone that isn't stocked.
This same issue will hinder Amazon, Facebook, and others. The player that takes over the third place spot is the player that gets the carriers to stock the phone in their stores and to help push the phone for them.
Of course, what would be really cool is for Microsoft, Facebook, Amazon, and the other "non-top two" players to get together and build their own cellular network and put the carriers out of business by dropping the cost of operating a phone dramatically. That could change the playing field dramatically.