

Ask HN: Why doesn't Amazon manufacture an MP3 player? - rsbrown

I would love to have a low-cost, no frills MP3 player that easily integrates with the Amazon MP3 marketplace.<p>It appears that the Kindle has limited MP3 capabilities, but I don't own one so I can't speak to it directly.
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dasht
In another comment, the poster (rsbrown) makes the excellent clarification:

"What I am suggesting is a low-cost, high-quality device (like the Flip
camcorder)."

Here is my guess as to why Amazon does not rush into that:

a) Kindle, as you'll recall, was very early to the market for book readers. As
a consequence, Amazon was able to negotiate sweet deals for _content_. With
MP3s, that opportunity to take an early lead in available content is gone.

b) Consumer mobile is very tricky and there are lots of very large guerrillas
crowding that room. Why don't Flip camcorders come with MP3 players? Why
doesn't Cisco make a cheap, high-quality MP3 stand-alone player? etc. Amazon
doesn't appear to be "tooled up" for that - it doesn't have the in-house
expertise (yet?!?) to justify too many risks in that space.

c) Ok, Amazon comes out with a player, let's say. It has to be pretty darn low
per unit margins or else it can't compete. That means R&D and start-up costs
will take a very long time to recoup (if they ever can be). All of that is OK
if somehow this increases Amazon's sell of digital audio files.... so, how do
you see that happening? (I don't.)

d) Why don't you make that sweet-spot MP3 player and offer Amazon exclusive
right to sell it based on a wholesale price that gives you a comfy profit (or
at your costs but with some kick-back on music sales). If you can't do that
(given financing) - then neither can they.

~~~
rsbrown
Amazon has a really nice MP3 market that is well-suited to compete with
Apple/iTunes. I contend that my hypothetical MP3 player would be designed
primarily to drive content sales in that marketplace. Therefore, they don't
need early mover advantage, because they already have the marketable content
in place.

"Why don't you make that sweet-spot MP3 player and offer Amazon exclusive
right to sell it"

You just had to throw down the gauntlet, didn't you? :)

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wmf
The MP3 player market is mostly over; it's being subsumed by phones.

Also, see [http://techcrunch.com/2009/10/06/doubletwist-unveils-an-
alte...](http://techcrunch.com/2009/10/06/doubletwist-unveils-an-alternative-
to-the-itunes-music-store-powered-by-amazon-mp3/)

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sjs382
They sell blades, not razors. Well, they _do_ sell razors when there isn't a
good enough one to sell blades for, but it isn't their primary concern.

For MP3s, there's already great players to sell music for.

~~~
rsbrown
I hear you, but it seems to me that the market for MP3 players consists of two
groups:

1) High-priced, high-quality devices (iPod, Zune)

2) Low-priced, low-quality devices

What I am suggesting is a low-cost, high-quality device (like the Flip
camcorder).

