Last year it seemed as though everyone was certain Amazon would follow up the success of the Kindle Fire with an Amazon branded smartphone to take on the iPhone. Instead, Jeff Bezos unleashed the Kindle Fire HD on the world.

The rumor mill is back with more Amazon smartphone rumors, as a new report claims Amazon is getting close to finishing its smartphone that will launch later this year.

According to the sketchy sources over at Digitimes, Amazon’s answer to the iPhone will come with a 4.7-inch screen and will be released in the second quarter of 2013.

Citing “industry supply chain sources,” the report says that Amazon wanted to go with a 4.3-inch screen, but those plans were scrapped after Amazon decided consumers want a larger screen. It’s expected that the Amazon Kindle Phone will run a customized version of Android similar to the Kindle Fire tablets.

Amazon has been working on enhancing some of the specifications on the smartphone, which may cause delays for the planned second quarter release.

Digitimes has earned a bad reputation when it comes to Apple rumors, but this is one of their first reports on Amazon’s hardware, so you should read it with a large serving of skepticism until we hear confirmation for more reputable sources.

• SourceDigitimes