Amazon is expanding the availability of its Fire 3D smartphone in Germany and Britain, while dropping nearly $200 of the device's price for U.S. customers.
The Amazon Fire phone stirred a lot of waves before its announcement, mainly due to its capabilities of creating the illusion of a 3D interface. The device made its debut back in June for U.S. customers, launching as the very first smartphone from Amazon.
The company has now announced that the Amazon Fire smartphone is ready to expand its reach and hit Germany and the UK as well, while U.S. customers will be able to get it for virtually nothing.
The smartphone launched with a $199 price tag on contract, but interested customers in the U.S. can now get the Amazon Fire phone for just 99 cents when agreeing to sign a two-year service agreement with AT&T.
"Fire is now 99 cents with a two-year contract, plus customers get one full year of Prime included," Ian Freed, Vice President of Amazon Devices, said in the press release on Monday, Sept. 8. "With access to all of the Prime content, Mayday, 32GB of memory and free unlimited cloud storage for photos, plus the exclusive Dynamic Perspective and Firefly features, Fire is another example of the value Amazon delivers to customers."
Similar pricing options will reportedly be available in Germany, with Deutsche Telekom selling the smartphone for €1, and in the UK for no upfront cost with carrier O2.
Moreover, Amazon has also thought of those who prefer not to commit to any carrier contracts, dropping the price tag of the contract-free Fire phone as well. While the Amazon Fire cost $649 without a contract at launch, the smartphone is now down to $449.
Amazon has not disclosed any sales figures for its Fire phone, but this dramatic drop in price just months after launch suggests that the smartphone may not have performed as well as the company likely hoped for. At the same time, the Fire phone is Amazon's first handset in a fiercely-competitive smartphone market, and this price cut may be connected to the highly-anticipated launch of the iPhone 6.
In the U.S., the Amazon Fire is available exclusively on AT&T, for 99 cents with a two-year contract or $0 down and 24 installments of $18.75 per month with AT&T Next 18. The smartphone is available for purchase from Amazon's website, AT&T's website, or AT&T stores nationwide.
