Is the Amazon Fire Phone 2014's biggest Tech flop?

[MWink]

I'd sum up Amazon's problem this way: it (or rather, Jeff Bezos) desperately wants to be Apple with a tightly integrated ecosystem, but it doesn't really understand Apple's approach. Amazon designed the Fire phone for itself, not for actual users -- it's more interested in putting shopping links on your home screen than things you'd actually like. It also forgot that special features aren't special if they're just ooh-ah party tricks, like Dynamic Perspective; they have to be useful.

This is pretty much my feeling as well. The Fire Phone seems to have been designed by Amazon, FOR Amazon, not for the customer. All it's special features seem to be centered around tracking you and selling you stuff (from Amazon). Personally, I find all the extra cameras (supposedly used for dynamic perspective) even more creepy than the already excessive number on most phones.

If Amazon wanted to do a phone right they should have made it cheap and I mean CHEAP, as in free, along with reduced service costs. It's basically one big Amazon commercial in your pocket. I hope they pay attention to the fact that the Fire Phone failed miserably, while the Kindle Fire succeeded. I feel the Kindle Fire was done quite well, except for that god-awful carousel.

 

[Commodus]

This is pretty much my feeling as well. The Fire Phone seems to have been designed by Amazon, FOR Amazon, not for the customer. All it's special features seem to be centered around tracking you and selling you stuff (from Amazon). Personally, I find all the extra cameras (supposedly used for dynamic perspective) even more creepy than the already excessive number on most phones.

If Amazon wanted to do a phone right they should have made it cheap and I mean CHEAP, as in free, along with reduced service costs. It's basically one big Amazon commercial in your pocket. I hope they pay attention to the fact that the Fire Phone failed miserably, while the Kindle Fire succeeded. I feel the Kindle Fire was done quite well, except for that god-awful carousel.

The tricky bit is whether or not Amazon really will understand that. Bezos has a common tech industry curse: he's had enough success to convince himself that he's usually right, and that occasionally includes assuming that users will simply "come around" to his point of view. I suspect any Fire phone sequel will ditch the perspective gimmick, but it's hard to know if Amazon will ever give up its interface -- that'd involve admitting that Amazon isn't the center of the universe. Even Apple will let you shove its apps to the side.

 

[kaerflog]

Get rid of 3D nonsense, drop the price to $350, ship it unlock the bootloader, take the price spot that Google Nexus abandoned.

This phone is inferior to the Nexus 5 which one can get cheaper than $350.
Why would anyone buy this for $350 ??

 

[poofyhairguy]

This phone is inferior to the Nexus 5 which one can get cheaper than $350.
Why would anyone buy this for $350 ??

Agreed. Average price on Swappa for the Fire Phone is $270, even though new ones are on there sub-$260 all the time.

If Amazon really wants to move these things they will leak a bootloader unlock and then have a "Fire" sale.

 

[gorcorps]

Agreed. Average price on Swappa for the Fire Phone is $270, even though new ones are on there sub-$260 all the time.

If Amazon really wants to move these things they will leak a bootloader unlock and then have a "Fire" sale.

That wouldn't help Amazon though. It's the same problem B&N had with their Nook tablets. Some of them sold well because the community was developing ROMs for them, and especially when they got cheap. Those sales meant diddly to B&N though, as they're sold for a loss and they don't even get the benefit of getting people into their ecosystem, because the ROMs just get flashed. Now the Nook tablets are all but dead, and they're just partnering software with Samsung tablets now.

Amazon needs to get the price right, but they also need to give people a reason to stay within their ecosystem. I haven't heard great things about the Fire tablet UI, so they need to get that kind of stuff nailed down so people enjoy using the Amazon OS and ecosystem.

 

[WelshBloke]

Those sales meant diddly to B&N though, as they're sold for a loss and they don't even get the benefit of getting people into their ecosystem, because the ROMs just get flashed.

Selling them at a loss is probably better than dumping them in a landfill though, at least they get something back that way.

 

[Bateluer]

That wouldn't help Amazon though. It's the same problem B&N had with their Nook tablets. Some of them sold well because the community was developing ROMs for them, and especially when they got cheap. Those sales meant diddly to B&N though, as they're sold for a loss and they don't even get the benefit of getting people into their ecosystem, because the ROMs just get flashed. Now the Nook tablets are all but dead, and they're just partnering software with Samsung tablets now.

That needs to stop being spread around. B&N has never sold a nook device at a loss, not a single sku across the entire family. Neither has Google, for that matter. At most, they're sold at cost, meaning they aren't losing money on each unit sold but neither are they making any profit; they break even. B&N's problem was that their ecosystem barely existed; even today, it still more advantageous to the user to have a 'full' Android tablet with full access to everything rather than a severely gimped B&N nook version.

 

[Bateluer]

http://www.geek.com/mobile/amazon-has-83-million-worth-of-fire-phones-it-cant-sell-1607718/

Probably the biggest issue with the Fire Phone is the lack of Google services. While it does run Android, this is a fork of the platform created by Amazon. It has all of Amazon’s services built-in like Cloud Player, Kindle, and the Appstore for Android. The selection of apps is just not as good as all other Android devices, and miles away from the iPhone. Amazon simply failed to give consumers a reason to buy this phone over a Galaxy S5 or LG G3.

 

[poofyhairguy]

That wouldn't help Amazon though.

Not with their primary goals, but those are long dead.

Amazon has two options:

1. Fire sell these phones with an unlocked bootloader so that they get some positive momentum for the NEXT product with the people who recommend tech to others or

2. Sit on them until they are only fit to be put in a New Mexican landfill next to a ton of ET games.

There is simply no way Amazon can make their ecosystem go from what it is to compelling in a single product cycle. That means the current locked Fire phones aren't even worth the hardware inside. Xda could fix that.

 

[Bateluer]

2. Sit on them until they are only fit to be put in a New Mexican landfill next to a ton of ET games.

Given the materials inside a phone, including that lithium ion battery, they couldn't do that without igniting an environmental shitstorm.

 

[WelshBloke]

Given the materials inside a phone, including that lithium ion battery, they couldn't do that without igniting an environmental shitstorm.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figure_of_speech

 

[Brian Stirling]

Apple defined the idea of ecosystem and others want in on it. This era is defined by the absolute intrusiveness that business (and governments) expect and demand to know everything about you. Google exists to feed you ads and to market your profile to others so knowing what your're doing and where you're doing it is the goal.

Amazon want to go one step further by pushing crap they think you might buy into your face. They are also, it seems, even more intrusive in there prying into your activities. The people that bought the Fire are id10ts.


Brian

 

[StarTech15]

Like, Microsoft Kin level flop?
My own opinion, I haven't met anyone anywhere who had any interest in the Fire Phone. Think it can be salvaged? Its already free on contract, but still exclusive to AT&T. Think availability on other carriers would help?

They might be able to remain in the "other" category at the bottom of the mobile device food chain. Right next to Windows and the ole two cans and a string device.

 

[ElFenix]

The worst part about the Fire Phone was those terrible commercials with the kids. They had a cute concept (new technology makes the luddites feel old) and they went too far with it.

i never thought i'd want to punch a kid before.

 

[JACKHAMMER]

Think on the bright-side. Maybe we'll see an outstanding lightning Black Friday deal on the Fire phone. It would have to be sub $100 for me to bite though.

 

[gmaster456]

If they were to "Fire" sale these for say $150 I'd buy one.