Rumors of an Amazon smartphone have circulated for well
over a year now, but a new report says that the retail giant will use HTC
to help it make its upcoming devices. Three different smartphones are said
to be in development.
Sources of the Financial Times claim that a
range of phones are in the works, with at least one that is in advanced stages.
The phone is said to be released as early as the end of this year, but launch
plans have changed before and may be pushed back again until 2014.
Earlier rumors pointed to two different Amazon smartphones,
one of which would use a new 3D interface. The other device is rumored to
be at a very low price.
Amazon has traditionally used white label manufacturers for
its Kindle devices, holding all branding to itself. The move to partnering with
HTC for manufacturing is something that HTC is well-accustomed to,
but it's unclear what Amazon has to gain from having the HTC logo on its
devices.
Both Amazon and HTC declined to comment on the rumors to The
Financial Times, but chief of marketing Ben Ho told the paper that "We
have been very focused on building our own brand, but we have also been very
open to co-branding and collaborating with carriers and other technology
brands.”
Presumably the partnership could be mutually beneficial if
Amazon targets the product correctly. Amazon could potentially leverage HTC's
brand recognition and history of dealing with wireless carriers, and an
Amazon-driven phone that sells extremely well would be a boon for HTC's
currently struggling financial situation.
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