A new analysis of the Amazon Fire Phone, introduced last month, suggests sales of the device have not exactly been lighting things up. This is in contrast to news yesterday showing that Amazon appears to have a hit on their hands with the Amazon Fire TV. However, the device has only been out for a short period of time, so things could still turn around for Amazon.
Because Amazon does not share figures regarding the number of actual devices, analysts have to infer how their devices are doing in the market. In the case of the Amazon Fire Phone, analysts have combined data from Chitika and comScore to estimate Amazon has sold no more than about 35,000 Fire Phones.
Chitika operates an ad network and is able to pull data regarding the number of impressions by device. After 20 days of sales, that data indicated Fire Phones accounted for 0.015% and 0.020% of all impressions. For comparison, the Motorola Droid Ultra, another carrier-specific device, was close to the same level. That can be contrasted with a device like the LG G3, available on several carriers, which hit levels about three times as high. Meanwhile, comScore data for the period through the end of June indicates there were approximately 173 million smartphones in use in the U.S. Given normal growth rates, that number should be between 175 million and 177 million at the same time Chitika pulled their impressions data.
After doing some math, the base number is in the 26,000 unit range for Fire Phones in use in the U.S. after the initial twenty days of sales. However, analysts indicate that should be adjusted for the possibility that Fire Phone users may not be hitting Chitika sites as frequently as the rest of the smartphone population. The same dynamic occurs with Apple devices whose users apparently surf the web more than their installed base, inflating the share Chitika sees. However, even adjusting for this, the analysis suggests no more than around 35,000 Fire Phones were in use.
Amazon has not responded to the analysis specifically, but it is believed they see the Fire Phone as a long term solution to staying connected to the e-commerce lifecycle rather than a short-term blockbuster.
source: The Guardian
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