Not all too long ago, the idea of online retail giant Amazon launching a tablet would have seemed ridiculous. Now, with Kindle Fire revealed to the world, almost anything in the mobile space seems possible.

As such, the suggestion by Citigroup that Amazon is working on its first smartphone is not only being taken seriously by commentators, it's positively being endorsed.

Kindle the key

"Based on our supply chain channel checks in Asia led by Kevin Chang, Citi's Taipei-based hardware research analyst, we believe an Amazon smartphone will be launched in 4Q12," states Citigroup, according to All Things D.

"We believe the smartphone will adopt Texas Instrument's OMAP 4 processor and is very likely to adopt QCOM's dual mode 6-series standalone baseband, given QCOM has been a long-time baseband supplier for Amazon's eReader."

No operating system has been mentioned, though Citigroup claims Amazon will need to pay royalties to Microsoft for every 'KindlePhone' manufactured, which – thanks to the Redmond giant's patent library – suggests Android could be the platform of choice.

Forbes is also reporting that any phone from Amazon would likely be entry level, acting as an on-the-go prompt for Amazon's web services.

[source: All Things D]