Cellcom
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Amazon is working with HTC to produce a range of Android-powered smartphones according to a report.
According to people familiar with the project talking to the FT, Amazon and HTC have three devices on their product roadmap, with one likely to be released in 2014.
Amazon has long been rumoured to be working on a smartphone to pair with its Kindle Fire range of Android tablets to compete with offerings from Google and Apple.
As part of the OHA, HTC gains free access to Google’s Android software. It also means HTC can gain Google certification for its Android devices allowing them to come pre-loaded with access to Google Play and its 850,000 standard Android apps, as well as Google’s Android app suite, which includes Chrome, Gmail, Calendar, Maps and Search.
Amazon "forked" Android to produce the software powering its Kindle Fire tablets in 2012, so that they would access its own app store, not Google's. The Kindle Fire range uses Microsoft's Bing for its search engine, maps from Nokia, and its own Silk browser.
Previous attempts by another OHA member, Acer, to produce a smartphone with a different variant of Android produced by China’s Alibaba, resulted in a clash with Google which saw Acer abruptly pull out of its partnership with Alibaba.
For HTC, which dipped to a heavy loss in the third quarter, the threat of being forced out of the OHA could be double-edged. It is losing ground in the Android space in the west to Samsung's larger marketing spend and phone range, and has set its sights on China - where Google's Android is used on only a tiny percentage of smartphone handsets, most of which run the Android Open Source Platform (AOSP) without Google services.
By partnering with Amazon and making smartphones to be sold under the Amazon brand, HTC would be returning to its roots after branching out with its own HTC-branded smartphones in 2009.
• In October, HTC launched the latest in its One smartphone line and its first "phablet", the 5.9in HTC One Max.
According to people familiar with the project talking to the FT, Amazon and HTC have three devices on their product roadmap, with one likely to be released in 2014.
Amazon has long been rumoured to be working on a smartphone to pair with its Kindle Fire range of Android tablets to compete with offerings from Google and Apple.
HTC risks expulsion from Google's OHA
If HTC has worked with with Amazon to produce a "forked" version of Google's Android operating system on the phones, then it could face expulsion from the Open Handset Alliance (OHA) - a consortium of mobile phone makers and networks whose stated purpose is to "accelerate innovation in mobile and offer consumers a richer, less expensive, and better mobile experience".As part of the OHA, HTC gains free access to Google’s Android software. It also means HTC can gain Google certification for its Android devices allowing them to come pre-loaded with access to Google Play and its 850,000 standard Android apps, as well as Google’s Android app suite, which includes Chrome, Gmail, Calendar, Maps and Search.
Amazon "forked" Android to produce the software powering its Kindle Fire tablets in 2012, so that they would access its own app store, not Google's. The Kindle Fire range uses Microsoft's Bing for its search engine, maps from Nokia, and its own Silk browser.
Previous attempts by another OHA member, Acer, to produce a smartphone with a different variant of Android produced by China’s Alibaba, resulted in a clash with Google which saw Acer abruptly pull out of its partnership with Alibaba.
For HTC, which dipped to a heavy loss in the third quarter, the threat of being forced out of the OHA could be double-edged. It is losing ground in the Android space in the west to Samsung's larger marketing spend and phone range, and has set its sights on China - where Google's Android is used on only a tiny percentage of smartphone handsets, most of which run the Android Open Source Platform (AOSP) without Google services.
Back to its roots
Founded in 1997 in Taiwan, HTC started life designing and manufacturing devices, such as mobile phones and PDAs based on Microsoft’s Windows Mobile operating system, for distribution by mobile phone operators like Orange in the UK as own-brand products.By partnering with Amazon and making smartphones to be sold under the Amazon brand, HTC would be returning to its roots after branching out with its own HTC-branded smartphones in 2009.
• In October, HTC launched the latest in its One smartphone line and its first "phablet", the 5.9in HTC One Max.
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