This would Move From Amazon.com Get You to Buy a Phone Fire or Kindle Fire? – Motley Fool

 
 
 
 
 
 

The Fire phone was a flop. Source: Amazon.

 

 

Even after the full-on flop of the Fire Phone, Amazon.com ( NASDAQ: AMZN ) CEO Jeff Bezos it remains dedicated his Increasing the company’s relevance in the growing mobile economy. Amazon’s most recently reported plan could convince people Their next tablet Should be a Kindle Fire or even the next Fire That Phone – Should it come along – is at least worth taking a look at. TechCrunch reports That Amazon is working on a program That allows customers to download premium paid apps and buy in-app add-ons for a single fee. The program is being called Unlocked, According To TechCrunch – Which said it got the skinny via a leaked internal presentation – and it operates similarly is Amazon’s Prime Instant Video service … but, you know, for apps.

 

Not just for Amazon devices
Unlocked would not be just for Amazon devices. Amazon’s app store is available for any Google ( NASDAQ: GOOGL ) ( NASDAQ: GOOG ) Android device, but users must disable security settings Certain it install it. When Amazon tried to sneak into its app store its flagship app, Google delisted it, so now users must install the app store from the web.

 

Clearly, Google does not want the competition. Nor Should it. Last year, the company generated $ 10 billion Approximately in gross revenue from its app store, so it’s a big market That it’s cornered.

 

But Unlocked small give users the incentive they need to go out of Their way and install the Amazon app store. And Those would be valuable customers for Google – customers willing to pay for apps, at least in some form.

 

Amazon has attempted to draw customers that its app store before by giving away apps Typically That charge a price, Attracting customers interested in free apps. Unlocked but would attract a different brand of customer. Typically Customers who spend a lot on paid apps or in-app purchases would be drawn to the flat fee of Unlocked. That’s bad news for Google, because Those customers make up the Majority of its app store revenue.

 

Unlocked would reportedly be limited in its selection of apps, and participation would be at the developer’s discretion. An app apr be free one day and a few bucks the next, and an app That had free in-app purchases a small charge for them again in the future. That could lead some frustrated customers that if Amazon does not manage its partner relationships.

 

Kick-starting sales Fire Phone
While Kindle Fire sales are to continue well ACCORDING to the brief glimpses of the Amazon A provides to us, the Fire Phone was undoubtedly a flop. Amazon was forced to write down $ 170 million worth of Fire Phone inventory in its third quarter, Resulting in a huge earnings miss, and a dent that its stock price.

 

With tablets, Amazon Understands That the device is primarily about media consumption. In That sense, coupling a year of Amazon Prime makes perfect sense. And while users are consuming an Increasing amount of video content on Their smartphones, they’re still largely about the apps and games.

 

About one-third of the total time spent on smartphones in the US is with games, and that’s exactly what he Focuses reportedly Unlocked. While it will have some non-game apps, the headlining partners reportedly include Sega of America, and smaller game maker UsTwo. Coupling a free year of Unlocked with a phone would make it instantly more attractive.

 

Only Amazon
Only Amazon could offer the kind of deal Unlocked Potentially disruptive Seems to be. Unlocked will reportedly require users to download Amazon’s flagship app in order to work, and some nice branding pops up every time a user would have otherwise had to buy something from the app store. It Seems Amazon sees potential for the app store to drive incremental sales on its retail website. That’s exactly the strategy behind Prime, as well, Which has worked wonderfully, According To management.

 

Whether Unlocked ever sees the light of day, and Whether it can persuade users to switch it Amazon hardware – or at least install its app store – remains to be seen. But Amazon Appears dead-set on Strengthening its position in mobile, Which is key if it does not want to become just another app.

 
 

   

This $ 19 trillion industry could destroy the Internet
One bleeding-edge technology is about to put the World Wide Web to bed. And if you act right away, it could make you wildly rich. Experts are calling it the single largest business opportunity in the history of capitalism … The Economist is calling it “transformative” … But you’ll probably just call it “how I made my millions. ” Do not be too late to the party – click here for one stock to own When the site goes dark.