Amazon's
first, failed attempt at breaking into the smartphone market may have
been its last -- for now, at least. The e-commerce company is reportedly
in the midst of restructuring its hardware efforts, resulting in the
layoff of dozens of engineers from its secretive hardware division
responsible for the Fire Phone, Lab126.
In late 2014, news broke that the e-commerce giant was at work on a successor to its Fire Phone. This was surprising not only because the experimental phone reportedly cost Amazon $170 million in losses, but that the company's own CEO, Jeff Bezos, admitted that the phone was a failure, albeit a "smart" one. Alas, Amazon no longer thought it very smart to pushing on with the smartphone project.
Aside from laying off an undisclosed amount of engineers, WSJ reports that Amazon is scaling back its hardware efforts. Several projects have been put on hold, including a tablet with a much larger screen, as well as a product that aimed to be a high-end computer for the kitchen. Not quite sure how well that one would have done any ways.
The Fire Phone negatively impacted morale in Lab126, but that's not to say the hardware development center didn't have its share of successes. Actually, it had quite a few of them, like the Kindle and its many models and tablet variations. The Fire TV set-top box, and more recently, the innovative Amazon Echo and the quirky Dash Buttons.
It's highly doubtful that this move will translate into Amazon fully bowing-out of producing hardware. Kindles will continue to be made and if anything, a re-evaluation might be just what it needs if we're to see another Fire Phone.
But even as much as we would like for Amazon to take another crack at making a smartphone, the smartphone industry, as it stands, is carrying on just fine without it.
In late 2014, news broke that the e-commerce giant was at work on a successor to its Fire Phone. This was surprising not only because the experimental phone reportedly cost Amazon $170 million in losses, but that the company's own CEO, Jeff Bezos, admitted that the phone was a failure, albeit a "smart" one. Alas, Amazon no longer thought it very smart to pushing on with the smartphone project.
Aside from laying off an undisclosed amount of engineers, WSJ reports that Amazon is scaling back its hardware efforts. Several projects have been put on hold, including a tablet with a much larger screen, as well as a product that aimed to be a high-end computer for the kitchen. Not quite sure how well that one would have done any ways.
The Fire Phone negatively impacted morale in Lab126, but that's not to say the hardware development center didn't have its share of successes. Actually, it had quite a few of them, like the Kindle and its many models and tablet variations. The Fire TV set-top box, and more recently, the innovative Amazon Echo and the quirky Dash Buttons.
It's highly doubtful that this move will translate into Amazon fully bowing-out of producing hardware. Kindles will continue to be made and if anything, a re-evaluation might be just what it needs if we're to see another Fire Phone.
But even as much as we would like for Amazon to take another crack at making a smartphone, the smartphone industry, as it stands, is carrying on just fine without it.
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