Here is some good news for people looking for inexpensive smartphones. According to latest reports, Amazon has dropped the price of its Amazon Fire phone drastically as the device has failed to garner much market share in the face of competition from the major smartphone manufacturers like Apple and Samsung.

Android Geeks reports that early this summer Amazon formed an exclusive partnership with AT&T to offer Amazon Fire for $99.99 with a two year contract. However, this did not work and soon the price of the device was reduced to $0.99 along with a two-year contract.

Now it appears that even the $0.99 price is not able to lure customers, and they can opt for buying the Amazon Fire phone unlocked and without a contract for $199.

In fact, Amazon is offering more deals for customers choosing to buy the Amazon Fire phone. Customers buying this handset will now get one year's free membership to Amazon Prime - a membership-only plan that allows consumers free two-day shipping, in addition to several other benefits like free streaming video as well as cloud storage. This is a major saving for the consumers, as the Amazon Fire phone alone (without a contract), comes for $450.

By any standards, the Amazon Fire phone cannot be called an inferior smartphone. However, since it is not from any of the major smartphone manufacturers or does not carry the Android or iPhone brand name, people are somewhat hesitant to purchase it.

The Amazon Fire phone offers an almost full 3D-viewing experience, comes with a wonderful screen along with Gorilla Glass, offers a 1080p video experience, sports a 13 MP camera, NFC (Near Field communications) and the Android customizable version.

All these specs notwithstanding, customers seem to be hesitant to shift from their existing iPhone, Samsung, or LG smartphones.