In a press release, Amazon has announced that it is to launch it's own-brand of consumer electronics named AmazonBasics. This range of products has been created to offer customers "exceptional value". Initially AmazonBasics will only be available in the US through Amazon.com, however the product range is expected to be rolled out to international sites in the coming months. Paul Ryder, vice president of Consumer Electronics for Amazon.com as quoted in the press release said,

"We saw an opportunity to create a line of consumer electronics basics that combine quality and low prices for an overall focus on value. We drew on our history of developing other private-label brands and combined that with our mission to give customers the ultimate in selection and value. AmazonBasics is the result. We will continue to gather input from customers and evaluate opportunities for new products under the AmazonBasics brand. We aim to offer our customers as wide a selection as possible, and we think AmazonBasics makes a great addition to the brands we already carry."

A quick look at the AmazonBasics portion of Amazon.com will reveal HDMI, USB, Ethernet, Firewire and Optical cables as the products currently on sale along with blank dvd/cd media however this range of goods will obviously be expanded upon in the coming months.

There has been no official word as yet, but I suspect that we could be seeing USB Pen Drives, SD Cards, card readers and USB hubs as part of the products on sale in the coming months as e-tailers in my experience seem to love branding these sort of items as their own. I guess it's because they're cheap for the consumer and will sell by the shed load. Only time will tell though if Amazon do start selling these items under the AmazonBasics brand.

Amazon is no stranger to releasing its own products either. The Kindle Amazon's e-book reader has been on sale in the US for a while now, and I wouldn't be surprised if we see AmazonBasics branded accessories for it in the future as it would make sense for Amazon to support one brand it owns with another brand it owns. Though this is pure speculation on my part of course.

AmazonBasics site.