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Amazon plans smartphone comeback more than a decade after Fire Phone flop
Amazon’s Alexa-centric phone project aims to leverage AI to reduce app reliance and boost Alexa usage, targeting a market dominated by Apple and Samsung with 15% dumbphone sales in 2025.
- Reuters reports Amazon is developing a new smartphone codenamed 'Transformer', built by ZeroOne within its Devices and Services division and led by J Allard, designed around Alexa integration.
- The effort dates back to Jeff Bezos's long-held vision for a voice-first shopping device, while Amazon first entered smartphones in 2014 with the Fire Phone, scrapped after about a year due to poor sales.
- Design work draws inspiration from the Light Phone while testing voice-first interactions instead of app-centric workflows, and engineers are exploring Alexa-driven AI that could reduce reliance on traditional app stores.
- Amazon’s devices division, overseen by Panos Panay, has battled unprofitability and the phone has no confirmed release plans or carrier partners, facing tough competition from Apple and Samsung, which held 40% of global sales last year.
- Heavier AI spending and a shrinking handset market—expected to see a 15% share of sales in 2025—could influence Amazon’s smartphone strategy, amid a $50 billion OpenAI investment and $200 billion capex planned for 2026.
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Amazon plans smartphone comeback more than a decade after Fire Phone flop
The new phone is reportedly seen as a potential mobile personalization device that can sync with home voice assistant Alexa and serve as a conduit to Amazon customers throughout the day.
·New York, United States
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Coverage Details
Total News Sources50
Leaning Left2Leaning Right8Center15Last UpdatedBias Distribution60% Center
Bias Distribution
- 60% of the sources are Center
60% Center
C 60%
R 32%
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