In a move that appears to be directly targeting Apple and the iPhone, Amazon Wireless has begun selling all non-Apple smartphones for just one cent with a new two-year contract. They’re also giving a free $100 gift card to anyone who orders a hotspot-eligible phone and activates the feature.
Devices included in the same include the Samsung Galaxy S II, the Epic 4G Touch, the BlackBerry Torch 4G (normally $199 from Sprint), and the Motorola Droid Razr (normally $300 from Verizon).
It’s hard to see this as anything other than Amazon going up against Apple in order to sell more smartphones by making the pricing difficult to refuse.
Amazon does not offer the iPhone through their wireless program, leaving Apple’s obvious free iPhone 3GS bargain out of the picture.
With the iPad remaining the dominant player (even though the Kindle Fire has been doing quite well), and Amazon reportedly working on a smartphone for next year, Amazon could easily be trying to push Android device sales to decrease Apple’s market share.