Amazon Fire Phone fails to set market alight

Amazon has taken a big financial hit on its Fire Phone with the firm finding it difficult to move units in a saturated market.

The web giant has written off $170 million in relation to the Fire Phone citing "inventory evaluation and supplier commitment cost".

CFO Tom Szkutak also revealed the firm has $83 million worth of devices sitting in its warehouses, during a call with investors.

The Fire Phone handset was originally unveiled in June by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. Analysts had expected Amazon to disrupt the smartphone market by offering up the hardware at budget price and then relying on customers making purchases from the firm's ecosystem.

Instead, Amazon initially decided to charge users $649 for a SIM-free handset, or $199 when they signed up to a 24-month contract. The price has since been dropped to $449 SIM-free and is available for free on contracts.

In the UK, the Fire Phone starts at 399 SIM-free and is also available free on contracts costing 33 per month.

Despite packing a handful of unique features, including the pseudo-3D Dynamic Perspective view together with the Firefly and MayDay apps, the device has been critically panned.

The Fire Phone has a 2.1 star rating on Amazon.com, based on over 3000 Amazon reviews.

With a focus on promoting Amazon's consumer offerings and the lack of high-end Google apps available, the Fire Phone was also given 2 stars by IT Pro.