US$83 Million worth Amazon Fire smartphones being sold for US$199 unlocked - Amazon Downfall from US$199 to US$0.99 on 2-Year Contract in 2 Months

Looking for a smartphone deal this Black Friday and not too picky about the mode of the smartphone? Then I've got a treat for you. But first some helpful advice from CNET's Bridget Carey about Shopping Online this Black Friday as described in my Geezam blog article entitled “How to ship things to Jamaica after you’re purchase them online”

Then head online to Amazon and buy the Amazon Fire smartphone for only US$199 unlocked as reported in the article “Amazon Fire Phone Gets Another Fire Sale: $199 Unlocked”, published November 26^th 2014 by Darrell Etherington, TechCrunch.

What happened to the Amazon Fire smartphone? Short answer: low-end specs in a gimmicky, overpriced smartphone.

Amazon Fire smartphone - From Volksphone to Roasting in a Fire Sale

Apparently since the Amazon Fire smartphone launched back in June 2014 as reported in my blog article entitled “US$199 Amazon Fire smartphone is Amazon Prime member's Nirvana – Shopping by Nodding your Head and Finding Waldo”, much was expected of this smartphone tailor-made for Amazon Prime users.

I even went as far as to call it the Volksphone in my Geezam blog article entitled “Amazon Fire is a Volkswagen for Amazon Prime subscribers that’ll drive shop-on-the-go Online Obsession”.

It's features made impulsive shipping by taking photographs using Firefly and Dynamic Perspective apparently were too gimmicky for the Amazon Prime crowd and it's so-so specs of 4.7″ IPS screen, Quad-core 2.2GHz Processor with Adreno 330 graphics, 2GB of RAM, 13MP rear-facing camera with image stabilization and an f2.0 lens made the mainstream shun the smartphone.

Worse, it was cursed from the start as it was launched on AT&T on a 2 year contract for US$199.

Only on AT&T. Bad move Amazon!

US$83 million worth of unsold Amazon Fire - US$199 to US$0.99 on 2-year Contract in 2 months

Within two (2) months, Amazon had to drop the price for this ordinary smartphone from US$199 to US0.99 on 2-year Contract in 2 months.

“Fire Sale” are the words that best describe this phenomenon. but when it became apparent that Americans weren't feeling the smartphone when during the Amazon Earnings Call on Thursday October 23, 2014, it was revealed that for the Third Quarter of 2014, Amazon had US$83 million dollars worth of unsold Amazon Fire smartphones as noted in the article “Amazon Fire Phone Flops”, published Oct 23, 2014 by Greg Kumparak, TechCrunch.

Amazon’s SVP of Devices David Limp told Fortune Magazine it was a miscalculation in pricing in the article “Amazon exec: We priced the Fire phone wrong”, published OCTOBER 30, 2014, 6:25 PM EST by JP Mangalindan, Fortune.

He claimed that Amazon were committed to the Amazon Fire Smartphone for the long haul as stated in the article “Amazon’s Fire Phone Product Efforts Will Continue Despite Early Stumbles”, published Oct 31, 2014 by Darrell Etherington, TechCrunch.

So as Black Friday approaches, it's clear they cannot sell off US$83 million dollars worth of unsold Amazon Fire on AT&T alone….T-Mobile has to come to their rescue. So expect to see the US$0.99 Amazon Fire smartphone get a software upgrade to Google Android KitKat to capture more Amazon Prime peeps.....in the Year of the Sheep 2015.