Forget the Facebook phone, survey finds consumers want an Amazon phone

Rumors surrounding a possible Facebook phone have been swirling for years, and the social networking giant has repeatedly denied reports that it is planning to launch an own-brand handset. While a number of industry watchers thought the company would fare well with a Facebook phone, a recent survey suggests that consumers are largely uninterested in a Facebook-branded smartphone. Baird Equity recently surveyed 875 consumers and found that just 12% said they were “very interested” or at least “interested” in a Facebook phone while 73% said they were “probably not interested” or “not interested.” Meanwhile more than 40% of those polled said they were either “very interested” or “interested” in a smartphone from retail giant Amazon, and 29% weren’t interested. Amazon has been rumored on several occasions to have a smartphone in the works. With consumer interest in an Amazon smartphone at a seemingly healthy level and Kindle Fire adoption having exploded last quarter, 2012 could be a good year for the retailer to enter the smartphone space. A table showing Baird’s findings follows below.