We already knew that Amazon’s Fire Phone was doing very poorly but now it’s reached a grim milestone that’s reminiscent of the HTC First, a.k.a., the Facebook phone. Per Business Insider, Amazon has now slashed the price of the Fire Phone down to just $0.99 with a two-year contract with AT&T. This price cut comes less than three months after its official release, when it came out priced at $199.99 with a two-year contract from AT&T. For perspective, the HTC First got slashed from $99.99 on contract to $0.99 on contract just a month after its unveiling, so at least the Fire Phone hasn’t bombed quite that quickly.
RELATED: A flop for the ages: Fire Phone estimated to have sold 35,000 units at most
There are many likely reasons for the Fire Phone’s failure — the device was released in a crowded market where consumers are already overwhelmed with choices, it didn’t offer any truly compelling features outside of a gimmicky 3D display, it was an exclusive to AT&T and it wasn’t priced competitively for a new market entrant.
While this doesn’t mean Amazon is finished in the smartphone market, it does mean the company will probably make some very different decisions when it releases a next-generation model, especially when it comes to making the device a carrier exclusive.
