New Delhi: A top Amazon executive has acknowledged that Fire Phone didn't match Amazon's lofty ideas and says the price of the device was "wrong."
Referring to the Fire phone's initial $199 on-contract price tag, Amazon Senior Vice President of Devices David said, “people come to expect a great value, and we sort of mismatched expectations.”
Amazon has since slashed the price to $1 with a two-year contract, and AT&T is even bundling Amazon's Kindle Fire HDX tablet for just $49.
Earlier, the Seattle-based firm released third-quarter financial results which fell far short of expectations. It reported a net loss of $437 million, and Amazon CTO Tom Szkutak disclosed the firm took a $170 million charge "primarily related to Fire phone inventory valuation and supplier commitment costs."
Moreover, customers in their reviews of the smartphone on Amazon's website, have complained of a myriad of problems, including a lack of apps, overheating and poor battery life.
And despite its flop, Amazon is undeterred. Limp said the company will continue supporting the phone through software updates--it has released two major ones already--and pointed out that the Kindle e-reader took several iterations before it became a hit.
