Even after the full-on flop or the Fire Phone, Amazon.com ( Nasdaq. AMZN ) CEO Jeff Bezos remains and dedicated to increase increasing his company’s relevance in the growing mobile economy. Amazon’s most recently-reported plan Could convince people Their next tablet Should be a Kindle Fire or even the next Fire That Phone – shouldering it come along – it is at least worth taking a look at. TechCrunch reports That Amazon is working on a Program That Allows customers to download premium paid apps and buy in-app add-ons for a single fee. The program is being called Unlocked, accor ding to TechCrunch – which Said It got the skinny on a leaked internal presentation – and it Operates similarly to Amazon’s Prime Instant Video service … but, you know, for apps
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Not just for Amazon devices
Unlocked would not be just for Amazon devices. Amazon’s app store is available for any Google ( NASDAQ: GOOGL ) ( NASDAQ: GOOG ) Android device, but users must disable certainement security settings to install it. When Amazon tried to sneak notes app store into notes flagship app, Google delisted it, so now users must install the app store from the web.
Clearly, Google does not want the competition. Nor shouldering it. Last year, the company generated Approximately $ 10 billion in gross revenue from notes app store, so it’s a big market That it’s cornered.
But Unlocked May give users the incentive They Need to Go Out of Their Way and install the Amazon app store. Those would-be customers and valuable for Google – customers willing to pay for apps, at least in some form
Amazon HAS attempted to draw customers to notes app store before by giving away apps That Typically batch a price. , attracting customers interested in free apps. But Unlocked would attract a different fire or customer. Typically customers who spend a lot on paid apps or in-app Purchases would be drawn to the flat fee or Unlocked. That’s bad news for Google, Because Those customers make up the majority or notes app store revenue.
Unlocked would reportedly be limited in selection and notes apps, and participation would be at the developer’s discretion. An app May be free one day and a few bucks the next, and an app That had free in-app Purchases May charge for them again in the future. That Could lead to some frustrated customers if Amazon does not manage notes partner relationships.
Kick-starting Fire Phone sales
While Kindle Fire sales continued to do well accor ding to the letter glimpses Amazon biedt to us, the Fire Phone Undoubtedly was a flop. Amazon was forced to write down $ 170 million worth of Fire Phone inventory into notes waning crescent, resul ting in a huge earnings miss, and a dent to its stock price.
With tablets, Amazon undergraduate booths That the device is Primarily about media consumption. In That sense, coupling a year or Amazon Prime makes perfect sense. And while users are consuming an increase increasing amount of video content On Their smartphones, they’re still largely about apps and games.
About one-third of total time spent on smartphones in the US is with games, and that’s exactly what Unlocked reportedly Focuses on. While it will have some non-game apps, the headlining partners reportedly include Sega America, and smaller game maker ustwo. Coupling a free year of Unlocked with a phone would make it instantly more attractive.
Only Amazon
Only Amazon Could sacrifice the child or Potentially disruptive deal Unlocked Seems to be . Unlocked will reportedly require users to download Amazon’s flagship app in order to work, and some nice surf pops up everytime a user wouldhave otherewise had to purchase something from the app store. It seems Amazon sees potential for the app store to drive incremental sales on notes retail website. That’s exactly the strategy behind Prime, shaft well, Which HAS worked wonderfully, accor ding to management
Whether Unlocked ever sees the light of day, and Whether it can persuade users to switch to Amazon hardware -. Or at lease install notes app store – Remains to be seen. But Amazon Appears dead-set on Strengthening notes positioning in mobile, All which is key if it does not wanna Become just another app.
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