Amazon launches Fire sale to shift handset inventory

EVERYTHING SELLER Amazon is cutting the price of its Fire handsets in the US in an apparent pre-Christmas sales drive.

The Fire phone has been on sale in the UK for just under two months, and is sold by Amazon and O2 in 32GB and 64GB models.

UK prices range from zero to £399 depending on your monthly contract. But punters in the US have been offered a cut-price handset-only option, according to Re/code.

The Fire was available in unlocked format for $649 when it launched in the US, but the price has dropped dramatically in the intervening weeks. Buyers in the US can now pick up the phone, and its associated Prime membership features, for $199.

Given that Prime membership costs around $100 we can probably say that the handset now costs $99.

The unlocked Fire remains at £399 in the UK, but that may change. Amazon conceded in an interview with Fortune in October that it had priced the handset too high.

'We didn't get the price right,' said David Limp, senior vice president for devices at Amazon.

'I think people come to expect great value, and we sort of mismatched expectations. We thought we had it right. But we're also willing to say we missed. And so we corrected.'

We have asked Amazon for more information on the price cut, and what impact it might have on the UK market, and are waiting for a response.

Amazon claims that the Fire beats its rivals with a 13MP rear camera, and the 5.7in HD screen and quad-core 2.2GHz Qualcomm processor have some appeal on paper.

However, reviews for the Fire handset on Amazon suggest that UK buyers are not getting the experience they were expecting, and the handset gets a number of one-star ratings. µ