Amazon: 3D Smartphone is AT&T Exclusive, Appstore Triples to 240,000

AT&T (T) will be the exclusive carrier for Amazon’s (AMZN) impending, first-ever smartphone, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. AT&T already provides wireless service for the vendor’s Kindle tablets.

With Amazon reportedly slated to debut the new smartphone June 18 in Seattle—it’s supposedly a glasses-free 3D entry—the company also is touting the growth of its application ecosystem. Specifically, the company noted Appstore has tripled in volume year over year to some 240,000 applications.

The company also said the number of new developers joining its Appstore each month has nearly doubled in the last year.

While Amazon’s Appstore numbers are a fraction of the number of apps residing in Apple’s (AAPL) and Google’s (GOOG) online stores—both of those rivals claim about 1.2 million apps—Amazon said developers are telling the company that they’re making money from what they do offer in the store.

Amazon backed its anecdotal claims with data gleaned from a survey it commissioned conducted by researcher IDC, indicating the money developers are making from apps and games for its Kindle Fire tablet compares favorably to any other mobile platform. The study, which spanned some 360 smartphone and tablet application developers, yielded the following top-level data:

“Developers tell us that they experience improved reach, greater monetization and, oftentimes, higher revenue when they have their apps and games in the Amazon Appstore,” said Mike George, Amazon Appstore and Games vice president.

“But this is just the beginning—we’re building more services and capabilities for developers and more Android-based APIs based on their feedback,” he added. “Most Android apps just work on Kindle Fire, and with an Appstore made for Android devices, Amazon’s Appstore can help developers distribute their apps on Android devices all over the world.”

Amazon’s rumored handset, which the company might position head to head with Apple’s iPhone and Samsung’s Galaxy S5, would move the online retailer deeper into the mobile device market by adding to its Kindle tablet lineup. The smartphone is said to be the first of two models Amazon is working on, with the second one an entry-level unit positioned for consumers at a competitive price point and slated for a later release.

Word has been out for at least two years that Amazon has been working on a new smartphone, with the buzz all along that the entry will be built by Foxconn and run on Google’s Android OS.