Amazon.com (AMZN : NASDAQ : US$325.62), Net Change: -2.00, % Change: -0.61%, Volume: 2,902,830
AT&T (T : NYSE : US$35.02), Net Change: 0.04, % Change: 0.11%, Volume: 17,308,458
As expected, Amazon (AMZN) introduced its smartphone, called the Fire Phone, revealing the device at an event in Seattle.
The phone has a 4.7 inch screen, aluminum buttons, a high-definition LCD display, among other features.
The company’s stock was essentially flat(AMZN) on the announcement.
The Fire will also feature unlimited photo storage, plus access to Amazon’s streaming music service for Prime members, Bezos said.
“It could have a significant impact on the iPhone…the Amazon phone could be a red herring. Developers would shift towards Amazon.com’s platform,” said Trip Chowdhry, managing director at Global Equities Research.
However, some argue that taking on Samsung (Korea Stock Exchange: 593-KR) and Apple (AAPL) in the smartphone market could turn out to be a big mistake.
“They are entering a very established market and they are trying to be a new player, and even with a name like Amazon, it’s not going to happen,” said Kevin Paul Scott, co-founder of the ADDO Institute, a branding consultancy firm.
“It’s really a branding issue. People do not associate Amazon with phones, so regardless of how good their phone is, it won’t catch on.”
Entering the smartphone jungle. AT&T will be the exclusive carrier for Amazon’s new smartphone, which is expected to be unveiled on today, The Wall Street Journal reported citing people familiar with the plans.
The arrangement extends Amazon’s relationship with AT&T, which also provides wireless service to Kindle tablets and e-readers. Amazon hopes to distinguish its phone in a crowded market with a screen capable of displaying seemingly three-dimensional images without special glasses, according to the sources. The phone would employ retina-tracking technology embedded in four front-facing cameras, or sensors, to make some images appear to be 3-D, similar to a hologram.
. The company aims to begin shipping phones by the end of September, ahead of the holiday shopping season. AT&T had an exclusive arrangement with Apple (AAPL) when the iPhone was launched in 2007
