Exclusives make my head hurt. Exclusives are definitely not a good idea, especially for a company putting out their first smartphone. But according to a new report coming from BGR, it appears that Amazon’s upcoming smartphone is going to be an exclusive to AT&T. The smartphone is also reportedly coming with Amazon Prime Data service from AT&T. For those that are unaware, Amazon Prime is a great service. While most of us probably use it for getting free two-day shipping from Amazon, you can also get Instant video – which now has HBO, well next month it will. All for just $99/year, which it did increase from $79/year earlier this year. That’s a lot of “year’s” in one sentence. But now it looks like Amazon is going to be adding data to the mix, for their smartphone – and it’ll likely make its way over to their tablets as well.
According to BGR:
“More than one trusted source we spoke with told BGR that Amazon’s smartphone could be made available exclusively on AT&T’s network in the United States. If that is in fact the case, Prime Data could be the first high-profile deal based on a setup similar to the carrier’s new “Sponsored Data” program.”
It does sound like Amazon is going to be using AT&T’s Sponsored Data which they announced back at CES. So let’s put together a scenario here. Let’s say, Amazon gives everyone 2GB of data each month when they purchase the Amazon smartphone. For a lot of people that’s probably plenty of data, which means you’d be able to use a featurephone plan, if those even exist anymore. Making your monthly bill cheaper, while Amazon foots the bill, of course you’ll probably need to be an Amazon Prime member.
So far it all sounds like a good idea, but until we know the full story from Amazon, I’m going to keep my thoughts and opinions out of it. But what do the rest of you think about it?