Amazon Readies New Smartphone Backed Up By HTC

When Amazon came out with a tablet—the Kindle Fire—it was a big event. This small, inexpensive tablet backed up by the force of Amazon's massive content ecosystem made for an exciting combination that gave Amazon a lot of force as a hardware maker, as well as a hardware supporter. Now, word has emerged suggesting Amazon has a new slice of hardware goodness waiting in the form of a smartphone, produced by none other than HTC.

The idea of Amazon going for a smartphone offering has been part of the rumor mill's grist for some time now, but new reports suggest that Amazon may be driving even harder into the smartphone market than some expected, namely that there are three separate devices coming into view, with one expected to be released in 2014.

Such a project, though, is said to be somewhat risky for HTC. If HTC develops what's called a “forked” version of Android for the Amazon devices, then it could face expulsion from the Open Handset Alliance (OHA), of which HTC is currently a part. Losing standing in the OHA would in turn cost HTC its free access to the Android software, as well as the ability to get Google's certification on its devices. Google certification allows devices to add Google Play and the 850,000 apps included therein, along with Google's own suite of Android apps. The last time an OHA member looked to do something similar to HTC was back when Acer was out to build a smartphone for Alibaba, and that particular partnership was dissolved quickly when Google objected.

Amazon, who at last report was not part of the OHA, had “forked” Android for its own Kindle Fire release, allowing the Kindle Fire to access Amazon's app store as opposed to Google's, and Amazon in general seems to be staying away from Google's line of products, offering Bing for a default search engine, Nokia's mapping tools and Amazon's own Silk browser line.

While the loss of the OHA's support may seem like a hit too big to consider, some suggest that HTC dropping the OHA may be worthwhile. HTC is losing a lot of ground to Samsung in straight Android development, and that's got HTC looking closely at the Chinese markets, where Android isn't often used, favoring Android Open Source Platform instead. Some have even noted that such an approach would be a sort of return to HTC's “roots” in terms of mobile device making.

Plus there's the undeniable advantage of working with Amazon. The Kindle Fire was easily one of the biggest names in tablets when it first emerged, and some even believe it was the Kindle Fire's success that prompted Apple to look into the iPad Mini. A similar high-powered, smaller and low-cost smartphone would likely be well-received, especially given the inherent advantage of Amazon Prime video streaming.

There's certainly plenty of advantages for HTC in making this move, even if it does cost some substantial advantages in a different direction. While only time will truly tell if Amazon does release a smartphone, backed up by HTC or not, the end result may well prove a substantial shakeup to an already dynamic market.