It seems that Amazon is back in the smartphone arena, but not with their own phones this time. The fiasco involving the Amazon Fire Phone is, after all, still fresh in peoples minds. This time, however, Amazon has chosen to make some real money by selling phones from other manufacturers at a bargain price, exclusively for their Prime members.
Budget Phones for Prime Members
Instead of releasing their own handsets, Amazon is integrating their apps and ads into a couple of budget devices and selling them at unbelievable low prices. These unlocked handsets may not be Amazons own hardware. But its a great opportunity for them to at least start earning in the smartphone business, especially after their huge Fire Phone losses.
Whats the offer? Amazon Prime members can now get $50 off from the Motorola Moto Gs original price tag of $200 or the Blu R1 HDs $100 price. For a limited time, Amazon has also offered an additional $25 off to entice even more users.
If you think these phones wont sell through this offer, think again. Amazon actually did something smart this time, considering that these two phones are right on top of their bestsellers chart. They may not be iPhones, but people have always bought these phones. Add a huge discount like this, and more people just might jump into the same ship.
The Catch
Theres just a couple of things that could make people step back and think for a few minutes though. These phones, although cheap, will also come with ads running on the lock screen. But weigh the presence of those ads when your phone is on idle and the huge discounts that youre going to get, and were pretty sure people would find real value in those huge price cuts.
These devices will also be loaded with Amazon apps, so you would also have to brace yourself for Amazon shopping, Kindle, Amazon Underground, IMDB, Audible, Amazon Video, Goodreads, Amazon Music, Alexa the list just goes on and on and on.
Where other people may consider this as bloatware, again, you would just have to focus on the price cut. After all, a cheap price must come with some consequence, and this could be considered exactly that.
This is no biggie however, and should you find that you dont have enough space down the road, it should be good news that both phones have expandable memories. Besides, if you purchase a phone like any of these two, its highly unlikely that youll be wanting more out of it otherwise, you would have bought a more high-end phone. As far as the basics are concerned, everythings right there.
This move definitely shows that Amazon is trying to get back on track after their $170 million losses incurred from the Fire Phone. Experts that sell electronics believe that this is finally their chance to regain some of the money they have lost, and somehow regain their footing in the smartphone industry. Sure, it may not be their own devices but if its earning them some money, then this should be better than their own.