Amazon Plans Smartphone Comeback Extra Than a Decade After Fire Phone Flop

Now, Amazon is dialing up a brand new cellphone.

The newest effort, recognized internally as “Transformer,” is being developed inside its units and companies unit, in accordance with 4 individuals acquainted ​with the matter. The cellphone is seen as a possible cell personalization system that may sync with dwelling voice assistant Alexa and function a conduit to Amazon prospects all through the day, the individuals stated.

The initiative is the most recent ‌chapter in a years-long effort to carry to market Bezos’ long-held imaginative and prescient, opens new tab of a ubiquitous voice-driven computing assistant akin to the voice-controlled pc in science fiction collection “Star Trek.”

Bezos had envisioned a smartphone that had buying at its core and will tackle Apple by providing transport comfort and reductions by means of the Prime membership. Along the best way, Amazon might acquire a wealth of recent information about customers solely out there by means of cell phones mixed with buy historical past and content material preferences.

Amazon’s effort to develop a brand new smartphone has not been beforehand reported. Reuters couldn’t decide some particulars, such because the anticipated worth of the cellphone, the income Amazon hopes to generate, or the monetary dedication ​Amazon has made to the mission.

The timeline for Amazon’s Transformer mission can be unclear, and the individuals cautioned it may very well be scrapped if the technique shifts or because of monetary issues.

An Amazon spokesperson declined to remark for this story.

Shares of the corporate fell ​1.6% to $205.37 on Friday and are down 9.3% for the 12 months.

As envisioned, the brand new cellphone’s personalization options would make shopping for from Amazon.com, watching Prime Video, listening to Prime Music or ordering meals from companions like ⁠Grubhub simpler than ever, the individuals stated. They requested for anonymity as a result of they weren’t approved to debate inside issues.

A key focus of the Transformer mission has been integrating synthetic intelligence capabilities into the system, the individuals stated. That might get rid of the necessity for conventional app shops, which ​require downloading and registering for purposes earlier than they can be utilized.

Alexa would possible be a core characteristic however not essentially the first working system of the cellphone, the individuals stated.

Indeed, the quick historical past of AI-embedded {hardware} is marked by failed entrants, together with the Humane AI pin and Rabbit R1 assistant ​which each sought to make generative AI out there with out the necessity to log in to computer systems or cell phones.

Both suffered poor vital receptions, and the Humane pin was discontinued.

That has not deterred others from pursuing AI-native units that dispose of the app-driven visible language of smartphones. OpenAI is working with former Apple design chief Jony Ive on a number of {hardware} prototypes, whereas Apple, Google and Meta are growing new AI-embedded glasses and different units, similar to watches and headphones.

“Amazon could have an opportunity,” Francisco Jeronimo, vice chairman of information and analytics at International Data Corporation, wrote in a analysis word on Friday. The firm “brings together a powerful services ecosystem spanning commerce, ​content, cloud, and an existing AI foundation with Alexa, along with deep expertise in data-driven customer engagement.”

But, “the window of opportunity is tiny,” he wrote. “Every major player is moving in the same direction.”

While Amazon’s AWS is dominant in offering world cloud computing infrastructure, the corporate has sought to beat ​a fame for being flat-footed in providing AI purposes as rivals have sped forward.

Alexa, which underwent a multi-year AI-led revamp earlier than its new launch in 2025, is seen internally as vital to Amazon’s future in consumer-facing companies. The cellphone, the individuals stated, is one other try by Amazon to speed up prospects’ AI utilization both on ‌the system or by means of ⁠Alexa.

FIRED PHONE

Amazon’s preliminary entry into the smartphone market in 2014 included options similar to a camera-based buying instrument that acknowledged merchandise, discovered them on the market on Amazon.com and put them in prospects’ on-line carts.

The Fire Phone’s proprietary Fire OS lacked in style apps out there within the Android and iOS app shops, and had an advanced multi‑digital camera display screen system for displaying 3D pictures that used a lot battery energy that the handset usually overheated.

Amazon packaged the Fire Phone with a free 12 months of Amazon Prime, however it nonetheless offered poorly. Amazon reduce the value from $649 unlocked to $159 and in the end canceled the cellphone after 14 months, taking a $170 million cost for unsold stock.

Colin Sebastian, analyst at monetary agency R.W. Baird, stated the truth that Amazon has failed earlier than with a smartphone doesn’t make it insurmountable to attempt once more, however cautioned that it is going to be troublesome. “Amazon will have to give consumers a ​compelling reason to switch phones and people are pretty attached to the ​existing app stores,” he stated.

As it did over a decade ⁠in the past, Amazon faces the daunting activity of unseating market leaders Apple and Samsung, which collectively commanded about 40% of world gross sales final 12 months, in accordance with Counterpoint Research, a technology-focused market analysis agency.

And smartphone shipments are headed for his or her largest decline ever in 2026, anticipated to plunge 13%, in accordance with IDC, as surging reminiscence chip costs drive up system prices.

MANDATE FOR ‘BREAKTHROUGH’ GADGETS

The mission is being led by a year-old group inside Amazon’s units unit known as ​ZeroOne, whose mandate is to create “breakthrough” devices, the individuals stated. ZeroOne is led by J Allard, a former Microsoft govt concerned in such units because the Zune music participant and Xbox gaming console.

The head ​of Amazon’s units and companies unit, Panos ⁠Panay, has been working to reverse years of unprofitability within the division.

That features a forthcoming pill that may—for the primary time—run Android as a substitute of Fire OS and will promote for round $400, which Reuters was first to report.

Three individuals who have labored on the Transformer mission stated the cellphone continues to be beneath improvement. The firm has explored each a standard smartphone and a so‑known as “dumbphone” with extra restricted options that would assist counter display screen habit. Amazon has not but sought wi-fi provider companions for the system, these individuals stated.

One inspiration for the brand new cellphone has been the Light Phone, two of the individuals stated, a $700 ⁠minimalist smartphone with ​a digital camera, map, calendar and never a lot else, similar to an app retailer or net browser.

A dumbphone or characteristic cellphone might additionally assist Amazon promote it as a possible ​second handset to accompany iPhones and Samsung Galaxies already in prospects’ pockets, the individuals stated. Such handsets, just like the Light Phone and flip telephones, accounted for 15% of world handset gross sales in 2025, in accordance with Counterpoint Research.

Scant information exists on how many individuals carry multiple cellphone, stated Chetan Sharma, an impartial wi-fi analyst. Nowadays, he stated, the ​apply is commonest amongst white-collar employees who need a second cellphone away from the prying eyes of their employers or mother and father who need a system to present to youngsters to restrict entry to social media.