14 DAY TRIAL // Amazon has had some success in the hardware world thanks to its affordable bunch of Fire tablets and Kindle eReaders. But at some point last year, Amazon unveiled its first smartphone, called the Fire Phone, which promised to do some amazing things.
Amazon thought it could offer customers a worthy device that came with a special 3D user interface the producing company called Dynamic Perspective. This meant that the handset was able to track users’ eye movements so that visual elements moved as their heads would.
While this might have sounded exciting, customers weren’t exactly pleased when Amazon officially unveiled the smartphone complete with a huge price tag ($649 / €575 without a contract), which put a damper on sales right from the get-go.
Seeing the low demand on its smartphone, Amazon tried to get rid of the remaining inventory by slashing its price radically. A few months ago, the Fire Phone sold for as little as $130 / €115 from the company’s official website.
You can't pick up the Fire Phone from Amazon anymore
And now, a year later, it seems that Amazon has finally managed to sell all the inventory of the Fire Phone and has virtually declared the device dead. So to speak. Those checking the Amazon Fire Phone page will now notice the handset has been listed as “Currently unavailable.”
The Internet retailer has confirmed to GeekWire that it has sold all its remaining stock, but there’s no mention of whether we’re going to see a sequel or not. Most likely not. A few weeks ago, we told you that Amazon was laying off engineers part of Lab126 who had been involved in the creation of the fiasco.
The Fire Phone is a product of the Amazon Lab126 hardware-development division, which, according to a report, is currently overseeing other products. It’s the first time Amazon has been firing Lab126 personnel.
But the hardware division is still involved in the creation of a bunch of products, including a computer for the kitchen that can receive voice commands, a new battery tech that allows next-gen Kindle eReaders to run for up to 2 years between charges, and a new 3D friendly Fire tablet (with different tech than in the Fire Phone).