It looks as though Amazon is not going to be releasing a new version of its “Fire Phone” next year, according to a report by VentureBeat.
The company is believed to be working on an upgraded and better version of its original Fire Phone, which was launched earlier this year, however, there is no actual concrete data on when the product will be launched.
It has been working on the phone for months but given the lackluster performance of its original phone, it has “gone back to the drawing board”, as one source told VentureBeat.
Another reason why Amazon won’t be releasing the new phone next year (despite months of development) is that its first phone did not sell as well as anticipated.
In fact, the company reported a $170 million charge in unsold inventory of the first Fire phone in its Q3 2014 financial results.
In addition, even though there are no official sales figures, one indicator that it performed badly is how quickly the price of the phone was reduced after its initial launch.
Eventually it was even sold for free with a two-year AT&T contract.
According to VentureBeat:
“Amazon is trying to figure out which features to put in the new phone that will make it a success.”
Amazon not giving up on its Fire Phone
Even though the company had a very lackluster debut with its original Fire Phone it hasn’t given up.
Amazon released a significant software update for its original phone, which comes with a number of newer and much needed features and improvements, including:
- A text translation feature in English, French, Italian, Spanish, and German.
- “Best shot” – allows users to take three versions of the photo and letting them choose their favorite.
- “Firefly” update – can now recognize thousands of famous paintings.