Just days after Amazon dipped into music streaming market, it is being reported that the internet retail giant is considering jumping into the smartphone world as well. The product could be announced as soon as Wednesday.
Sources for The Wall Street Journal said that the smartphone will be exclusively carried by AT&T at launch. The deal between the media giants will also include wireless access for Amazon’s Kindle tablets and e-readers.
Like the other markets Amazon has tried to gain a foothold in, the company will have to go head-to-head with giants that dominate the industry. At the moment, 60 percent of the smartphone market is controlled by Apple and Samsung in the U.S. Smaller companies like Nokia and Blackberry have failed to keep up and Amazon will have to distinguish itself from all of these brands.
The WSJ had previously reported that amazon was working on a 3D technology, which would be employed on the smartphone. It would use four front-facing cameras to give images a 3D or hologram effect, without needing glasses.
Amazon has made several moves in recent years to diversify itself, adding original content to Amazon Prime Instant Video and finally adding a music streaming service last week. As a result, Amazon recently raised the Prime annual membership to $99 per year.