Amazon’s first smartphone only started shipping to customers a little over a month ago, but Amazon is already slashing the price by about $200.

Now you can buy a Fire Phone without a contract for $449 or pick one up with a 2-year contract for just $0.99 up front.

When Amazon started taking orders this summer the Fire Phone sold for $199 with a contract and $649 without one.

fire phone_02

Those are the prices for a model with 32GB of storage, a 4.7 inch, 1280 x 720 pixel display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor, 2GB of RAM, a 13MP rear camera, 2.1MP front camera, and a series of sensors designed to show 3D imagery in supported apps.

Amazon is also lowering the price of the 64GB model. It’s now available for $99 with a 2-year AT&T contract or $549 without.

There’ve been reports that sales of the Fire Phone have been underwhelming, which could explain why Amazon is slashing the price so soon after launching the phone. This feels very familiar.

But a Fire Phone teardown suggests that the device only costs about $208 to make, which means Amazon could still turn a small profit even at these lower prices. Amazon’s primary goal is probably to sell more than just hardware, anyway. The Fire Phone could be a loss-leader as long as it helps get people to buy more content from Amazon.

The phone runs FireOS, which is Amazon’s custom version of Google Android and features Amazon’s app, music, video, and eBook stores instead of Google’s. Other features include 802.11ac WiFi, Bluetooth 3.0, 4G LTE, NFC, and a 2400mAh battery.

You can get the new price whether you order the phone from Amazon or AT&T, but the phone still only support AT&T’s network in the United States.

Meanwhile Amazon has announced that the Fire Phone will be available in the UK and Germany this month.

via Amazon

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4 replies on “Amazon slashes Fire Phone price by $200”

  2. You simply can’t START at the $199 price-point when your mobile device is new to consumers. That is iPhone territory. I think Amazon misjudged demand out of the gate with this one, and as soon as they announced it was not going to be focused on the off-contract customer, I knew it was DOA. (something they should have done)

  3. I guess Prime customers are not very attracted to free video on their phone (I thought that was the big benefit with Fire phone). My wife has Prime, but I never watch it… too much of a hassle.

    1. Exactly, the Prime video player/search is abysmil. Netflix has the best interface.

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