Amazon is trialling in-app payments for its Kindle Fire tablet, according to reports, in a move that could greatly increase the revenue per user of its aggressively-priced tablet. A Bloomberg report, citing Maria Ly, co-founder of Skimble, a seller of physical fitness programs that has been involved in Amazon’s pilot, claims that Amazon is testing the ability for consumers to purchase both subscriptions and individual items through apps, which would also bring it into direct competition with Apple and Google. Like the two firms, Amazon plans to take a 30% cut of any revenue generated, Ly tells Bloomberg.
The online retail giant loses $4 on every Kindle Fire sold, according to IHS iSuppli, and is attempting to claw back $136 from every user in content revenues, according to research by RBC Capital. The move could prove a shrewd one for Amazon, with in-app purchases for things such as subscriptions and virtual goods proving rather lucrative. IHS Screen Digest forecasts that in-app purchases will generate more revenues than paid-for apps by 2013, with the market soaring to $5.6 billion in 2015. Amazon already appears to be gaining traction with its Android app store, and is generating more revenue per daily user than the Google Play store, according to research from mobile analytics firm Flurry this month.
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