The Amazon Fire phone may not have exceeded sales of 35,000 devices in its first 25 days on the market.
The phone made up just 0.02 percent of market share in July, according to online ads network Chitika, which analyzed tens of millions of smartphone-based online ad impressions generated within the Chitika ad network from July 25, the day the Fire was launched, through Aug. 14.
When comparing that against recent data from comScore, which put total US smartphone penetration at 173 million people in June, Fire sales would not have exceeded 35,000 in its first three weeks.
Compare this to Apple’s iPhone, which saw so much demand in the first three days after its Sept. 21, 2012 launch — customers bought five million units — that the company ran out of supply and had to push back deliveries.
To put this in perspective, while it may have taken Amazon around three weeks to hit 35,000, American musician Jack White sold 40,000 copies of his “Lazaretto” album on vinyl in the first week after its release in June.
“While the Fire Phone was listed atop Amazon’s Best Seller list for several days in early August, North American usage of the device has grown only incrementally, rather than exponentially,” Chitika said in a report.
Amazon did not immediately respond to request for comment. The company does not usually release sales data about its devices.
The phone has faced much criticism over the past month despite scoring prime real estate on Amazon. and launching with a deal to sell through major carrier AT&T.
Chief among the complaints were lackluster reviews, including that its design “traps” users in the Amazon ecosystem, and that it doesn’t carry popular Google apps such as Maps and Drive.
Users have also criticized Amazon for pricing the phone too high. The phone retails for $200 with a contract, the same as the iPhone 5s and latest-generation Samsung Galaxy.