Analyst Citigroup claims the online marketplace will release a Kindle smartphone in the 2012 holiday season following the success it has seen since entering the e-book and tablet market with the Kindle and Kindle Fire respectively.
Analysts Mark Mahaney and Kevin Chang believe the device will be developed in light of their "supply chain channel checks in Asia."
In May, Mahaney, Citi internet research analyst accurately predicted that Amazon would release a Kindle e-reader under $100 by the end of 2011.
The firm claims a mid-range device will cost between $150 to $170 to produce and thinks Amazon will retail the phone either at cost or under, which is something the marketplace is rumoured to be doing with Kindle Fire.
Mahaney and Chang are under the impression electronics manufacturer Foxconn International Holdings is developing the phone with Amazon, but that the final product is to be manufactured by Hon Hai’s TMS group, which creates Kindle e-readers.
http://www.mobile-ent.biz/news/read/...q4-2012/016198