Amazon.com Inc. is planning to debut a smartphone this month, according to a person with knowledge of the matter, plunging the world's largest retailer deeper into the competitive mobile-device market.
Amazon tweeted on Wednesday that it will hold a product introduction on June 18 in Seattle that will include CEO Jeff Bezos. The tweet included a picture of a thin, black device with Amazon's name in silver emblazoned on it.
Bloomberg News reported in 2012 that Amazon was developing a smartphone that would run on Google Inc.'s Android operating system. Foxconn International Holdings Ltd. was working with Amazon on the device.
A smartphone would give Amazon a wider range of hardware devices to bolster its diversification into digital books, songs and movies.
The company's gadget lineup includes the Kindle e-reader, Kindle Fire tablets and a Fire TV set-top box.
