“You’re in good hands with Amazonstate.” “How about ‘KindleCare?'” “Nah, sounds like a daycare center.” This may be the conversation soon in Amazon’s meeting rooms as it looks like Amazon may be looking to join in on the cashstavaganza known as extended warranties.
Amazon may be considering extended warranty and repair services similar to Apple’s AppleCare, according to two trademark applications the company filed earlier this month. The applications also suggest that the company may expand its Kindle brand far beyond the current segment of tablets and ebook readers.
The company filed a trademark application in December 13th for the wordmark “Kindle” with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Check out the description of the associated goods and services:
“Maintenance, repair, updating and installation services for computer hardware, computer peripherals, computer networks and consumer electronic devices; consulting services in the field of physical maintenance of computer hardware, computer peripherals, computer networks and consumer electronic devices; technical support services, namely, troubleshooting in the nature of the repair of computer hardware.”
That sounds familiar, where have I seen that before… Oh yeah! It’s a word-for-word copy of Apple’s AppleCare trademark! (OK, after they did a cut-and-paste from Apple, they did add another sentence, but…)
So Amazon wants to get into the “care” business, eh? It’s easy to understand why, extended warranties are a cash cow for retailers. Some estimates say that consumers spend up to $25 billion a year on protection rackets like those sold by Best Buy, Costco, and yes, Apple.
Amazon does currently offer Kindle buyers an extended warranty. It’s from ServiceNet, a 3rd-party provider owned by AIG. Get those guys out of the middle, and Amazon could see some nice change from the extended warranties.
Amazon operates on razor-thin margins when it comes to the Kindle. A little additional revenue coming in via extended warranties, which are basically pure profit, would look nice on the bottom line.
