Honestly there were so many things wrong with the fire phone I dont think adding Google Play would have made any real difference.

They’ve been pretty successful in the tablet market.

But go into anywhere that sells phones. Carrier store, Best Buy, Walmart, whatever. Find a single Android phone that DOESN’T have google services on it. I’d be surprised if you can.

People want Android. And by Android they largely mean the Google Play Store and related services.

“It’s an Android phone, but none of the apps you see advertised are available for it!” No normal user is going to be happy with AOSP.