Online retail giant Amazon.com is reportedly working with Foxconn, an electronics components-maker, to develop smartphones set to run the online retailer’s version of the Android operating system.
The smartphone does not seem a highly unlikely venture for Amazon as the online retailer has never made a handset. It boasts of a number of building blocks it would require to make money off a smartphone, including its own version of the Android operating system and a pool of loyal customers analysts expect it would take advantage of.
Others include established app store and a rich content marketplace.
The online retailer is relatively new to the hardware fame. It’s first entry was the Kindle e-reader released in 2007, followed by the Kindle Fire tablet, its Android-powered big brother.
The smartphone market is however already filled with established competitors. According to research firm IDC, current market leader Samsung shipped an estimated 42.2 million smartphones worldwide in the first quarter of 2012.
Apple tagged close second with 35.1 million smartphones while Nokia and Research In Motion followed at a distant.
Analysts however observe that some challenges unique to smartphones do exist. To develop the device, Amazon will have to acquire the right patents to avoid possible lawsuits.
Amazon has however since responded by hiring Matt Gordon as the general manager for patent acquisitions and investments.
Reports that Amazon would develop its own smartphone started late last year when Citigroup’s research department foretold of the device based on its supply chain checks in Asia.
