After the success of the Kindle Fire, it has just been reported that Amazon is planning to set its foot into the smartphone manufacturing arena. Bloomberg notes that the news comes from ‘trusted sources’, who have been engaged with Amazon’s activities related to the planning of an Android smartphone, presumably a Kindle-branded device. The sources preferred not to reveal their identity, as is customary with these leaks.

One of the sources said that Amazon has been on the run for acquiring the intellectual rights for the use of a number of wireless device patents. This is obviously one of those first steps any smartphone manufacturer has to plan these days with the kind of legal battle being fought between the giants in the mobile device market. Indeed Amazon, who only recently entered the tablet market with the Kindle Fire, is already facing a number of patent related cases, with 20 last year and 5 this year (although it isn’t clear if those challenges are related to the Kindle Fire or other Amazon products/services).

Amazon beefed up its patent prowess recently by hiring Matt Gordon, formerly senior director of acquisitions at Intellectual Ventures Management LLC, the company that was founded by former Microsoft Corp. Chief Technology Officer Nathan Myhrvold and owns more than 35,000 intellectual property assets. Gordon will be general manager for patent acquisitions and investments at Amazon, according to his profile on LinkedIn.

The sources revealed that Foxconn would be manufacturing the smartphones for Amazon as per the latest private agreement between the two companies. If Amazon’s smartphone is as successful as the Kindle Fire, smartphones by Amazon are not only  going to be a new path for Amazon, but they can also be expected to make a positive impact on the smartphone market and its related services. Just see how quickly Google turned around a Kindle Fire competitor, Nexus 7.

We will have to wait to see what impact an Amazon smartphone will have on the market and consumers. Do you believe that an Amazon smartphone would taste good or rather better than what we have around us today? Share with us in the comments below!

[via Bloomberg]