Today in 2014, Amazon launched its Fire Phone.
Farhad Manjoo in the New York Times, September 13, 2014;
Amazon entered the smartphone business just this year, which is a bit like showing up for a New Year’s Eve party after the ball has dropped. The tardiness might have been forgivable if Jeff Bezos, the chief executive, had done what Amazon has always done in new markets: make a very cheap, basic thing, and then compete on price, customer service and ubiquity.
But something odd happened with the Fire Phone. Amazon stuffed it to the gills with bells and whistles that few people seemed to want, including a head-tracking system that allowed for a mostly useless 3-D effect. Its other main feature, Firefly, seemed designed solely to let you buy goods from Amazon before you had a chance to reconsider.
Then there was the price. Amazon sold this novel, unknown phone for $199 with a two-year contract, the same price as that of other high-end rivals. No one was impressed. Analysts say Amazon has sold only a few tens of thousands of the phones; the company seemed to confirm the dismal numbers when it cut the price to 99 cents, with a contract.
The Fire Phone was discontinued on August 27, 2015.