The Amazon Fire phone was a flaming failure, whether it was because of its price point or the less than impressive specs of the devices. While it didn’t really make a dent in the online retail store juggernaut’s finances, it may have affected their reputation as a producer of consumer devices. Reports are coming in that the company may be retrenching in some of their divisions, specifically those that work in Lab126, their hardware-development center where the Fire phone was developed.
In the 11 years of existence of Lab126, this is apparently the first massive layoffs they’ve experienced, prompting analysts to wonder whether they may be giving up on producing smartphones or even more tablets, given the not-so-exciting reception for their Fire tablets as well. There is hope in Echo, their voice-activated virtual assistant that has been well-received, although it’s more of a cult following than massive popularity. Other products in the work, which include a large-screen tablet, may be put on hold, according to insiders, as they are looking into reorganizing the division.
Previously, Amazon was gung-ho about investing in product development, but they reported tighter cost controls for the second quarter, which of course led to higher profit and shares skyrocketed with that news. But it might be Lab126 that will bear the brunt of these changes, on top of one of their top engineers, Jon McCormack, moving to Google earlier this month.
The talk inside Lab126 is that the top execs were asking for products or features that they considered “gimmicky” and “unnecessarily expensive”. Now everything seems to be in limbo, and supposedly upcoming products like a smart stylus or a projector or a 14-inch tablet may either be scaled back or totally stopped. There was no response from Amazon when Wall Street Journal asked for their side of the story.
VIA: Wall Street Journal
