Amazon axed its Fire smartphone range and suspended development of new devices indefinitely back in August 2015. After taking a $170 million loss on unsold devices and laying off most of the project’s staff, the future of Amazon’s in-house handset business looked to be at an end. The line was wholly unsuccessful and unpopular, failing to become the trailblazing icons that other Amazon devices like the Kindle and Echo have achieved.
According to a new report from NDTV, Amazon is now planning a return to the industry. It has refocused its efforts and created a new plan that should see it avoid a repeat of the Fire Phone disaster. The company is concentrating on the lucrative Indian market, one of the world’s last major nations yet to progress fully into the digital age.
It’s understood that Amazon plans to use the “Ice Phone” to beat the likes of Apple and Google to mass adoption in the region. Although Android phones are popular in India, many of them are underpowered, outdated and not running software versions with support for Google services. This prevents consumers from accessing the Play Store, forcing them to download apps from external, often malware-ridden third-party sites.
Although it failed in Western markets, Amazon obviously believes it has a chance at setting the standard in India. Apple is struggling to gain any meaningful presence in the region. Google’s efforts to develop affordable entry-level Android handsets have so far met with limited success.
With both companies actively spearheading new attempts to conquer the country, time is of the essence for Amazon. It’s targeting a launch later this year of a phone with a display size between 5.2-inches and 5.5-inches. The device will feature a Qualcomm Snapdragon 435 processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage and a fingerprint scanner. It’s all capable hardware that will offer an all-round smartphone experience with a long battery life, a major selling point in India.
Perhaps most importantly though, the Ice Phone will run Android 7.1.1 and include access to the Google Play Store. This is significant not just for India but also to Amazon’s wider “take two” on its smartphone efforts. The Fire Phone ran a heavily customised version of Android that forced users to download apps from Amazon’s own store. The idea didn’t take off and has been widely cited as one of the major contributing factors leading to the hardware’s demise.
It’s clear Amazon won’t be repeating its mistake again. While its own suite of apps are practically certain to be pre-installed and emphasised across the OS, the basic core of Android won’t be substantially altered. Google’s apps will be built-in and Amazon will transition to being a regular Android smartphone OEM.
Amazon will also be avoiding the Fire Phone’s other major stumbling point. At $600 unlocked or $200 on a two-year AT&T contract, the handset cost the same as the then most-expensive iPhone model. The Ice Phone will reportedly retail at Rs. 6,000, or around $93. This could make it highly competitive in the Indian market, offering competent hardware and access to the Play Store for less than $100.
