Well, the answer to that is that it is possible. It seems that Amazon is launching an Android application centre on its site which could undercut Android’s own prices.

The Amazon store is thought to launch shortly when the popular game – Angry Birds – will be showcased, along with some other less well known games.

The information revealing Amazon’s marketing strategy came about by accident when commentators discovered a sales page on the Amazon site listing a number of Android applications. It was later removed, but not before the analysts realised what Amazon appeared to be up to.

For instance, one camera application was priced at just £1.80 on Amazon, but the Android price is £2.40. This is a tremendous discount of 25%.

It has been pointed out that the temporary page on Amazon could just be a test page, so the prices may well be different, if and when Amazon finally does announce Android applications are available. On the other hand, if the page is an accurate reflection of their marketing strategy then it reveals a lot about how Amazon is going to market software items.

Amazon has developed rapidly since it was launched in 1994. The company was originally an online book store based in Seattle, Washington in the USA. Since then it has not only expanded hugely within many European countries, it is now established in Japan and China.

Today, as well as books, you can buy DVDs, mp3 music, video games, and computer software; even food and household goods.

Smartphone applications therefore are likely to be a natural extension.