Amazon Fire : Up in Smoke
In July 2014, Amazon launched its new Fire smartphone to compete with iPhone and the Samsung Galaxy. But just one month after the launch, the price of a two-year contract plunged from $199 to $0.99. By the end of October, Amazon found itself stuck with $83 million dollars worth of unsold phones and dwindling sales prospects.
The Failure :
Stakes at the time of the launch were high. Fire hit the market after eight generations of iPhones and Androids ─ you had to make consumers want to change brands. And Fire was only sold on Amazon.com, at Best Buy, AT&T and a few other retailers, making it hard to get.
L’autopromotion trop évidente d’Amazon posait aussi problème. Avec ce téléphone, le président d’Amazon Jeff Bezos espérait pousser les ventes chez Amazon. Pour cette raison, un bouton « achat » avait été placé sur le côté du téléphone. Un manque de subtilité pas très apprécié par les consommateurs…
The Moral :
Latecomers to the market have to offer something really innovative and attractive, which wasn’t the case with the Amazon Fire. Amazon is a great company but it’s not a cool brand, and smartphones have become an object of desire that we use to position ourselves with our peers.
Image Source : USA Today
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