WSJ Confirms Amazon Is Testing A Smartphone That Could Enter Production This Year

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Amazon hopes to expand its mobile reach with a new smartphone.
Amazon hopes to expand its mobile reach with a new smartphone.

Following earlier rumors that claimed Amazon is gearing up to launch a smartphone that will rival Apple’s iPhone, The Wall Street Journal has confirmed with sources that the retail giant is currently testing the device with its suppliers, and that it could enter production as early as the end of this year.

WSJ’s Lorraine Luk writes:

Amazon.com Inc. is working with component suppliers in Asia to test a smartphone, people familiar with the situation said, suggesting that the Internet retail giant, which sells the Kindle Fire tablet computers, is considering broadening its mobile-device offerings.

Officials at some of Amazon’s parts suppliers, who declined to be named, said the Seattle-based company is testing a smartphone and mass production of the new device may start late this year or early next year.

Like the Kindle Fire, Amazon’s smartphone could take on the smartphone market’s biggest and best devices — such as the iPhone and Samsung’s Galaxy devices — by becoming a considerably cheaper alternative. The problem Amazon has, of course, is that the smartphone market is already overcrowded, and there are plenty of budget handsets already available from several manufacturers.

Although the WSJ’s report doesn’t reveal what Amazon’s handset may have in store, it does say that “the screen of Amazon’s smartphone currently being tested measures between four and five inches.”

One advantage the device may have over the iPhone, then, is a larger display. But it’s worth noting that if recent reports are to be believed, Apple’s sixth-generation iPhone — which is expected to arrive this fall — will feature a larger 4-inch display.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

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