Amazon has drastically dropped the price of its Fire Phone, just over a month after its launch in the US, and only weeks ahead of its release in the UK.

Initially sold for $198 (£122), the 32GB Fire Phone is now available in the US for 99 cents with a two-year contract with AT&T. The contract includes a year of Amazon Prime membership and various other cloud services.

The price drop comes as the Fire Phone preps for launch in the UK and Germany on 30 September. In both markets, it will be sold at a similar price through an exclusive network partner (O2 in the UK, and Deutsche Telekom in Germany) and will only be available on contract.

While Amazons statement on the price drop sought to emphasise the value consumers would get from the price drop, critics are already pointing to the slashed price as a symptom of the disappointing reaction the Fire Phone has received. According to one study, the company may have sold only 26,000 Fire Phones since the launch, and the smartphone has not lived up to the “iPhone killer” label that some attached to it in the build-up to its launch.

Both of the Fire Phones unique features, its Dynamic Perspective display and Firefly product recognition solution, have been criticised as tools designed to stimulate more sales for Amazons eCommerce site, with little use for consumers beyond taking them directly to the checkout.