Amazon Cuts Fire Phone Price to Ignite Sales

Advertisement
By Agence France-Presse | Updated: 27 November 2014 11:12 IST
Amazon on Wednesday slashed the price of Fire mobile phones that stalled after launch early this year, becoming a drag on the US online retail titan's bottom line.

The price cut, which Amazon said would last until December 1, was the second for Fire and was included in a set of holiday-shopping season deals announced for items including Kindle ereaders.

Fire smartphones free of accompanying contracts with telecom carriers are available for $199 and come with a year-long membership to Amazon Prime subscription service which gives customers free shipping and access to music, videos and other online content.

Advertisement

Amazon Fire phone hit the market mid-year at a price of $649 (roughly Rs. 39,500) each without contracts, or $200 (roughly Rs. 12,200) with multi-year telecom service deals.

Unlocked Fire phones are compatible with GSM networks provided by US carriers such as AT&T, T-Mobile, Metro PCS and Cricket.

Advertisement

Seattle-based Amazon in September tried to ignite Fire sales by dropping the unlocked price to $449 (roughly Rs. 27,400), and offering handsets for just 99 cents if bought along with a two-year service contract with telecom carrier AT&T.

While some Amazon products and services have been popular, its smartphone market share has been "effectively zero," according to the Consumer Intelligence Research Partners consultancy.

Advertisement

Amazon posted widening losses in the recently ended fiscal quarter, raising doubts on whether investors will support chief executive Jeff Bezos' strategy of putting investment ahead of profit.

Amazon took a charge of $170 million (roughly Rs. 1,050 crores) for inventory, mainly for unsold phones.

Advertisement

Some analysts believe that the US holiday season will test Amazon because traditional brick-and-mortar retailers are responding to the competition with offerings such as free shipping.

 
KEY SPECS
Display 4.70-inch
Processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 800
Front Camera 2.1-megapixel
Rear Camera 13-megapixel
RAM 2GB
Storage 32GB
Battery Capacity 2400mAh
OS Fire OS 3.5.0
Resolution 720x1280 pixels
 
NEWS

Get your daily dose of tech news, reviews, and insights, in under 80 characters on Gadgets 360 Turbo. Connect with fellow tech lovers on our Forum. Follow us on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News for instant updates. Catch all the action on our YouTube channel.

Advertisement

Related Stories

Popular Mobile Brands
  1. Redmi Note 17 Series Global Pricing Tipped; Could Start at EUR 250
  2. Oppo Reno 16 Series Limited Edition Phone to Launch in India Soon
  3. Boat Enters Kids' Wearables Segment With Sailor Nav Smartwatch, Headphones
  4. Pixel 11 Series Tipped to Debut With Higher Prices; Battery Capacities Leaked
  5. You Can Now Browse Threads, Use Muse Spark on Meta Ray-Ban Display Glasses
  6. Honor Band 11 Series Opens for Pre-Orders in China With New Pro GPS Model
  7. Vivo T5x 5G Gets New Fusion Red Colour Option in India
  1. Google Pixel 11, Pixel 11 Pro, Pixel 11 Pro XL Price, Battery Capacities Leaked Online
  2. Claude Artifacts Found in Google Search, Raising Fresh Privacy Concerns
  3. Banks in Hong Kong Brace for Quantum Risks During Tokenisation Expansion
  4. WhatsApp Adds Status Caption Editing Feature for Android Beta Testers: Report
  5. Samsung Galaxy A08 4G, Galaxy M08, and Galaxy F08 Surface in New Listings
  6. Resident Evil Requiem Sales Cross 8 Million Copies as Pragmata Surpasses 2.5 Million Units, Capcom Confirms
  7. Meta Ray-Ban Display Glasses Updated With Ability to Browse Threads, Use Meta AI’s Muse Spark and More
  8. Microsoft Introduces Project Perception as a New Agentic Security System to Protect Against AI-Powered Cyberattacks
  9. Huawei Nova 16 SE Leak Reveals Design, Price, and Key Specifications Ahead of Launch
  10. Honor Band 11 Series Opens for Pre-Orders in China With New Pro GPS Model
Download Our Apps
Available in Hindi
© Copyright Red Pixels Ventures Limited 2026. All rights reserved.