Should Bezos Apologize For 99 Cent Fire Phone?

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What do you think? Should Jeff Bezos apologize? Maybe he should hand out some Amazon gift cards to early adopters to smooth things over?

Amazon's move to drop the price of its Fire Phone to 99 cents with a two year contract tells you all you need to know about how the device is selling, the company's business model and how it'll screw early adopters. But Amazon's Fire Phone may have just set a new benchmark for price depreciation. It took 46 days for Amazon to basically make the device free.
 
While caveat emptor applies, if he wants repeat customers out of those early adopters, it would probably make sense to somehow refund most or all of the phones cost to them.
 
It seemed like a mediocre "me too" device that's about 6 years too late, but that's got to be some kind of record for such a massive price drop.
 
Also the commercials with the annoying know it all hipster kids are just the worst. I'd like to kick whoever thought those were a good idea in the nuts.
 
Also the commercials with the annoying know it all hipster kids are just the worst. I'd like to kick whoever thought those were a good idea in the nuts.

Agreed. Hey, we want to make this phone to appeal to smug elitist rich people, but how can we get that across...oh, if kids say it, it'll be adorable!
 
No device on a two year contract is "free". Please don't try to feed us that kool-aid like engadget.
 
No one should apologize, should Samsung apologize when their phones go on discount 6months after release?

The device is fine, the only problem is the asking price. They should of kept the same scheme as their tablets, a cheap product that centers around their website. They have some awesome software on it granted but its not worth the asking price.
 
I think that too many non-early adopters are becoming early adopters ... that was kind of the whole point of being an early adopter ... you paid more for the item but you had access to it before others ... that sometimes meant that you were stuck with a turd, or something that didn't meet later standards, or that pricing could change after you bought it ... if you can't live within those boundaries then you probably shouldn't be an early adopter ... and companies shouldn't have to be penalized if the change in the market requires a change in pricing or direction
 
Also the commercials with the annoying know it all hipster kids are just the worst. I'd like to kick whoever thought those were a good idea in the nuts.

Yes this indeed. That commercial instantly annoys the shit out of me with those hipster fucktards.
 
It seemed like a mediocre "me too" device that's about 6 years too late, but that's got to be some kind of record for such a massive price drop.

do you remember the HP Touchpad, $499 to $99 in what, 2 months after release.
 
CEO 1 week after launch "Our software is terrible"
CEO was looking to justify dumping the lot. the CEO got dumped because if they had given them away at a little above that price but to jumpstart the userbase, they could have had something.
 
Mid-2014: the fall of Amazon

rofl seriously?

so the 2% of the company infrastructure dedicated to the 'leet amazon phone department' isn't pulling in 500%-15,000% net profit?
Damn, I bet the other 98% of the company can carry the weight :rolleyes:
 
It's just a silly pointless device. Not good, not bad. Average in a space where average doesn't sell.

Mid-2014: the fall of Amazon

And yes. This quote is stupid as hell. Amazon is posed to dominate the public cloud with AWS. Prime is great and getting better. Kindle is still the market leader with second place pretty much up for grabs. And oh yeah, they still sell everything under the sun while rolling out same day delivery for less than $10(something I've already used).

This phone, and to a lesser extent their TV product, are just odd underwhelming aberrations.
 
For clarifications sake, when I typed Kindle I meant their eReader. I suspect the Fire is doing very well, but probably not the market leader. It still single handily lead the charge to affordable and capable tablets.
 
From reading the comments on Amazon's Fire Phone page, it appears that people who have complained via email or Mayday are receiving $199 refunds.
 
On the one hand, he doesn't need to apologize because this would only piss off about 35,000 customers.

From reading the comments on Amazon's Fire Phone page, it appears that people who have complained via email or Mayday are receiving $199 refunds.

On the other hand, the maximum cost for refunding those 35,000 customers is $7 million. This is pocket change compared to the write-off they're going to have to take for all the R&D, manufacturing and advertising they wasted on this complete failure.
 
it's amazon, what did anyone expect? of course they're going to make good to their customers.
 
On the one hand, he doesn't need to apologize because this would only piss off about 35,000 customers.



On the other hand, the maximum cost for refunding those 35,000 customers is $7 million. This is pocket change compared to the write-off they're going to have to take for all the R&D, manufacturing and advertising they wasted on this complete failure.
not to mention it's not even a phone as much as it is a portable amazon kiosk that happens to have phone functionality. claims about the "failure" of this device are premature. we won't know until next year when the prime subs expire and whether customers renew (or risk the collective ire of all their children who had been streaming content for the past year, watching all their cartoons and etc.)

I don't agree with the practice, but $100 bucks per year is a damn cheap babysitter
 
I like go the Fire Phone section and entering my zip code. Then click check for service and it spits out error. I do this 20 times and I hope that someone from Amazon has to check those errors. Best troll job for AT&T not having service in my area, and Amazon sticking all of those ads on my page every time that I try to shop there.
 
On the one hand, he doesn't need to apologize because this would only piss off about 35,000 customers.

On the other hand, the maximum cost for refunding those 35,000 customers is $7 million. This is pocket change compared to the write-off they're going to have to take for all the R&D, manufacturing and advertising they wasted on this complete failure.

That's basically my thought as well. $7M is a small dent in the advertising budget for the stupid phone, and it just isn't the 35,000 customers but the wider customer perception. Amazon benefits hugely from its customer satisfaction, this could be a big deal.
 
Maybe this is why Amazon needed to secure that $2 billion credit!!

Cue Jeff Bazos laugh!!

jeff_bezos_profile.jpg
 
I don't agree with the practice, but $100 bucks per year is a damn cheap babysitter
Well, except that it's not $100/year - not for the phone anyway. Customers still have to pay monthly for the phone service.

1. The Fire isn't a great phone. That's not a crime and not every smartphone user has a top-tier phone (they may not even have a phone that was ever top tier - cheap phones still sell). But, barring a compelling, unique feature, it's never going to set the world on...fire.

2. The Kindle Fire tablets are actually great tablets for the money. That makes the Fire phone look even crappier in comparison.

3. Prime is already worth its cost between the shipping savings and the streaming video (Prime does have a lot of stuff that others don't; the HBO deal makes it a lot more attractive). So, the free year of Prime is most likely to simply cause prospective customers to look at Prime, see that they want it, figure out the phone isn't a great value, and get Prime separately (which will cost them a lot less than the 12 months of phone service for a mediocre phone).

4. Even at $0 up front, the Fire remains mediocre at best. Hit the sites of the big mobile providers and you'll find better phones for the same initial investment.

5. Amazon can still get it right with version 2 if they really want to stay in this market. I don't really get why they would care, though, since they can already sell their apps to nearly everybody with Android phones anyway. They'd be better off making deals with mobile providers to get their store preinstalled (with installation allowed by default in those iterations of Android) on the phones made by other manufacturers.
 
Well, except that it's not $100/year - not for the phone anyway. Customers still have to pay monthly for the phone service.

1. The Fire isn't a great phone. That's not a crime and not every smartphone user has a top-tier phone (they may not even have a phone that was ever top tier - cheap phones still sell). But, barring a compelling, unique feature, it's never going to set the world on...fire.

2. The Kindle Fire tablets are actually great tablets for the money. That makes the Fire phone look even crappier in comparison.

3. Prime is already worth its cost between the shipping savings and the streaming video (Prime does have a lot of stuff that others don't; the HBO deal makes it a lot more attractive). So, the free year of Prime is most likely to simply cause prospective customers to look at Prime, see that they want it, figure out the phone isn't a great value, and get Prime separately (which will cost them a lot less than the 12 months of phone service for a mediocre phone).

4. Even at $0 up front, the Fire remains mediocre at best. Hit the sites of the big mobile providers and you'll find better phones for the same initial investment.

5. Amazon can still get it right with version 2 if they really want to stay in this market. I don't really get why they would care, though, since they can already sell their apps to nearly everybody with Android phones anyway. They'd be better off making deals with mobile providers to get their store preinstalled (with installation allowed by default in those iterations of Android) on the phones made by other manufacturers.
$100 bucks per year is referring to prime.

my point wasn't the cost of the phone, or phone service, but rather that it's simply an amazon kiosk in phone form. all the parents who got their kids this phone are going to have to pony up the cash next year or face the ire of their children who have been streaming all year for free.
 
The only way the Amazon phone could be even a little interesting is if streaming from Prime Video didn't count against your cap.
 
No device on a two year contract is "free". Please don't try to feed us that kool-aid like engadget.

If you are already paying for 2 year contracts anyways, then yes, it is free.
 
$100 bucks per year is referring to prime.

my point wasn't the cost of the phone, or phone service, but rather that it's simply an amazon kiosk in phone form. all the parents who got their kids this phone are going to have to pony up the cash next year or face the ire of their children who have been streaming all year for free.
Oh. Hilarious.
 
I think $1000 for an iPhone 6 is a much bigger crime to be honest.
 
In the grander scheme of things, this is the first real market failure of an Amazon device. Their Kindle readers, their Fire Tablets, even the fledgling Fire TV are well liked, sell well and receive 4+ star reviews.

I don't think Bezos/Amazon lost anything except momentum. They certainly don't need to apologize or give refunds- it's not as if the phone OS is constantly crashing or dropping calls. It's just a disappointment.
 
Refund? No way. If that's the case, I want a refund on every thing I've bought that had a price drop. Some people buy a console and a week later the price drops. Buyers remorse, but that's the way things go. You want it NOW, you pay the price of NOW. You want to wait until a lower price? Then wait. You shouldn't have it both ways. I want it NOW, but I want to pay the price it will be in 2015.
 
No I do not think Besos should have to apologize with a refund. I am the earliest of early adopters. With being that kind of guy I fully expect that some of my early adoptions are risky. As far as I am concerned, if you take the risk of adopting early it's on you if people after you get it for cheaper.

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