Citigroup analyst Mark Mahaney says Amazon's oft-rumored smartphone will be released at the end of 2012.
The device is being built by Foxconn and developed by Amazon.
Mahaney notes that the phone will be "mid-level," not running with high-end specs.
The phone will be very price competitive, costing Amazon $150 to build. The phone will then be sold to carriers at $170 who could choose to subsidize it to consumers for free.
In comparison, HTC sells their phones for $243 on average to carriers (good for 30% margin) and Apple sells their latest iPhone for $600 to carriers, ensuring a massive 55 percent margin.
The Amazon smartphone will run the same Android-based OS as the Kindle Fire, and will closely integrate Amazon shopping, music, movies, Kindle ebooks, daily deals and cloud storage.
Mahaney notes that the phone will be "mid-level," not running with high-end specs.
The phone will be very price competitive, costing Amazon $150 to build. The phone will then be sold to carriers at $170 who could choose to subsidize it to consumers for free.
In comparison, HTC sells their phones for $243 on average to carriers (good for 30% margin) and Apple sells their latest iPhone for $600 to carriers, ensuring a massive 55 percent margin.
The Amazon smartphone will run the same Android-based OS as the Kindle Fire, and will closely integrate Amazon shopping, music, movies, Kindle ebooks, daily deals and cloud storage.
