Amazon Fire Phone In Canada, When and With Who

Yet another smart phone platform launched yesterday (June 18th) with a press announcement on par with Apple or Samsung.  Amazon's Jeff Bezos announced the Fire Phone.  Pre orders have already started the official launch date is July 25th.  Amazon's Fire Phone will be launching just in the United States and only available on AT&T.   

This hasn't stopped many this side of the 49th parallel looking for an alternative to the androiPhones that occupy ninety percent of the smartphone market from wondering when the Fire Phone will launch in Canada and if only one carrier will be able to offer the Fire Phone which one will it be?  

Answering these questions will come later rather than sooner unfortunately.  Amazon's digital products such as streamed music, movies and TV shows are not available in Canada due to intellectual rights issues.  It would make no sense to sell the phone if the content is not available.

If it is the intention to keep the Fire Phone on one carrier only per country like Apple did during the early life of the iPhone then it could make for interesting wagering. Rogers would be the the most likely candidate.  Canada's most popular cellular carrier was also the first with the iPhone and Android.  

Bell can't be counted out, they were the only carrier to snag the Palm Pre, we all know how that turned out but they were carrier that was willing to take a chance on a new smartphone platform.  

There is a chance although a slim one that one of Canada's newer regional cell carriers such as Mobilicity or Wind Mobile will pick up the Fire Phone to finally vault one of the struggling carriers over the one million mark, but for Amazon thy would need an agreement with a national carrier if they are to have any chance at success in the market that Apple and Google already dominate.  

Despite the growth of the smartphone industry in the past decade it has been unable to support more than two platforms.  Prior to the introduction of the iPhone Blackberry and to a lesser extent Windows Mobile were the two big dogs in the pound.  In the early going after iPhone hit the scene, Blackberry went to second place and Windows Mobile became road kill.  Then after the rise of Android, it was Blackberry that became left over kibble in the food bowl.  

Amazon will have to deliver something nothing short of spectacular just to be a viable competitor to iPhone and Android. To get to that point in Canada Amazon will have to get all their digital content products into the Canadian as soon as possible.