It's been less than a week since Amazon released the Kindle Fire tablet, but is the company's next big thing a smartphone?
Citigroup analyst Mark Mahaney said Amazon will launch a smartphone sometime in 2012, according to All Things D.
"Based on our supply chain channel checks in Asia led by Kevin Chang, Citi's Taipei-based hardware research analyst, we believe an Amazon Smartphone will be launched in 4Q12," Mahaney said in a note to investors. "Based on our supply chain check, we believe FIH [Foxconn International Holdings] is now jointly developing the phone with Amazon."
Mahaney also said he believes the phone will include an OMAP 4 processor from Texas Instruments and is "very likely to adopt [Qualcomm's] dual mode 6-series standalone baseband given [Qualcomm] has been a long-time baseband supplier for Amazon's e-reader."
Amazon's rumored smartphone will be priced competitively, taking a cue from the $199 Kindle Fire, ATD said. Mahaney speculated that the phone would cost between $150 and $170 to build and retail for something in that neighborhood.
Although the Kindle Fire is an Android-based device, the note didn't explicitly indicate that the smartphone would use Android. As ATD pointed out, Amazon might have to pay Microsoft an "OS royalty." In February 2010, Microsoft and Amazon signed a cross-license agreement under which both companies will have access to each other's patent portfolio. Microsoft is also making a bundle from royalty payments on Android phones and pursuing others it believes are in violation of its Android-related patent holdings.
Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Amazon on Monday began shipping the Kindle Fire, one day ahead of schedule for those who had placed pre-orders. For more on the tablet, check out the unboxing and PCMag's full review as well as the slideshow below.