Over a decade since the company’s last mobile phone was discontinued, Amazon is seemingly planning a return to the smartphone market. The report is based on insights from multiple people familiar with the matter, though Amazon hasn’t confirmed anything yet.
Amazon Seems to be Planning a Smartphone Comeback
According to a report, which is based on insights from four people familiar with the matter, Amazon might be jumping back into the smartphone market in the future. The project is known internally as “Transformer” and is being developed within the company’s devices and services unit.
The phone may be a mobile personalization device that could sync with Alexa, and will likely make it easier for customers to shop on Amazon, watch Prime videos, and interact effortlessly with other Amazon apps and platforms. The people also added that a key focus of the project has been integrating AI capabilities into the device.
This news of a potentially new device comes more than a decade after the company discontinued its Amazon Fire phone around a year after it was released, due to low demand and subpar sales.
Many Details Are Still Unclear
As the news of this potential new smartphone is still new, and based on insights from a few sources, many details are still unknown. For example, there are no details about the price of the phone, how much Amazon is spending on development, the operating system the phone may use, or even a timeline for the project.
The company also hasn’t yet decided on wireless carrier partners for the device, and has explored both a traditional smartphone and a “dumbphone”, which is a basic and minimalist mobile device with limited features.
The anonymous sources also said the idea may be scrapped altogether if strategic changes take place or if there are financial concerns. As a result, there’s a chance that this phone will never be released.
However, it certainly makes sense for Amazon to get back into the phone game, as mobile devices are the most popular medium for shopping online, and having a phone with Amazon built in could make it easier than ever for people to shop from mobile devices.
In addition to this being a win for Amazon and a win for online shoppers, it could have plenty of benefits for ecommerce brands. Anything that streamlines and improves the customer experience and removes even a little friction from the buying experience is a win for online sellers.
It’ll be interesting to see whether this phone actually comes to market, or if the company has second thoughts about it. If it does release, it’ll be interesting to see what it’ll look like, what features it has, and if it’s able to capture some of the market share that’s dominated by the likes of Apple and Android.
However, we likely have a while to wait, as the company hasn’t even confirmed the phone is real and in development, so we may not have any details about the device anytime soon.
