Foxconn seems to have won the contract, which is surprising given Apple’s iron grip hold on the supply chain. Sounds like there will be a couple of uncomfortable bedfellows in the next few months.
Interesting thought from Dan Frommer:
In particular, I’d love to see Amazon do something bolder than Apple, Google, and Microsoft when it comes to mobile service. Perhaps a data-only service option, or maybe some neat ad/offers-based subsidy, à la Kindle.
I know many people who would take the plunge into the smartphone market if data were subsidized with ads. Today, many Kindle ads are discounts for stuff available in the store. Imagine a phone that had advertisements and discounts for peripherals/extras for the phone itself. Amazon could give 20% off cases and subsidize data, which is basically using trickery to make people get a deal in the short term but give revenue to Amazon in the long term. Lucrative.