To put it lightly, Amazon's Fire Phone didn't perform very well, but now the company is hoping to put that behind them with a new smartphone. Rumors suggest that the online retailer may soon unveil the Ice Phone.
A Look Back At The Fire Phone
The Fire Phone, despite having a few neat ideas, did not perform well for Amazon. Before we look at the Ice, it is important to look at why the Fire failed and what the company can do to ensure the Ice doesn't meet the same fate.
Google Play Store
One of the biggest issues with the Fire was the lack of app support. Amazon used its own version of the Android operating system but did not include the Google Play Store, meaning that thousands of popular apps were unavailable on the device.
Unfortunately, this is one issue that Amazon is unlikely to address. Its popular Fire line of tablets do not support the Google Play Store. There are some workarounds to the lack of Google Play Store support, but many users may not want to go through the hassle when they could simply buy a standard Android phone. Fortunately, it appears that Amazon won't be repeating that mistake. Current rumors indicate that the Ice, unlike the Fire tablets, will support the Google Play Store.
Carrier Exclusivity
When the Fire Phone launched, it was exclusive to AT&T. This, unsurprisingly, turned out to be one of the phone's biggest weaknesses. Perhaps Amazon was trying to imitate the success of the iPhone, which did convince people to switch to AT&T, but the Fire lacked any compelling reason for people to make that switch. We expect that Amazon will launch the Ice on all networks as they simply don't have the market clout to benefit from a single carrier.
Ice Phone
Right now, everything we know about the Ice consists of rumors and speculations so take them with a grain of salt. In terms of price, it is speculated that Amazon will focus on emerging markets so the Ice will be more affordable than premium phones. This makes sense considering its Fire tablets have done very well as budget devices.
The release date has not been announced, but current rumors suggest Amazon hopes to have it ready for launch within this year.
