Amazon is developing its own smartphone to compete with Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android.
Bloomberg reports that Chinese phone maker Foxconn International is working with Amazon on the device.
Initial speculation of an Amazon smartphone began in November 2011, when Taiwanese media reported a meeting between Amazon and Foxconn, according to USA Today.
Currently, Amazon is working to acquire a wireless patent. Recently, the company hired former senior director of acquisitions at Intellectual Ventures Management Matt Gordon to manage Amazon’s patent acquisitions and investments. Obtaining a patent would allow Amazon to enter the smartphone market without copyright disputes from Apple or Samsung.
According to Citigroup research analyst Mark Mahaney, the Amazon smartphone will likely use Texas Instruments OMAP 4 Processor and “adopt QCOM’s dual-mode 6 series standalone basehand given QCOM has been a long-time baseband supplier for Amazon’s E-reader.”
Amazon will likely have to pay Google an “OS royalty” if it chooses to utilize the Android OS on its smartphone. Many Android vendors have already signed agreements with Amazon, according to The Next Web.
The Daily Mail reports that the Kindle Fire, which uses an Android system, dominates 50 percent of the non-Apple tablet market.
As of now, there is no release date for the Amazon smartphone, and the company has declined to confirm media reports.