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Amazon hardware staff are reportedly not excited about the slate of upcoming devices, with admissions of low morale due to a “weak pipeline” of products. Amazon’s hardware division, called Lab126, is the division at Amazon who designs and creates everything from its popular Fire Tablets and Fire TVs to the Echo smart speaker powered by Alexa.
Not all of Amazon’s hardware releases have been success stories. The Fire phone was by all accounts a commercial failure for the company. Many of its products however have been extremely popular and continue to drive business to Amazon in one way or another. But a new report from Reuters suggests that future devices may not gain the same level of popularity. Stating that they fear these devices won’t be a hit with consumers.
Reuters says it interviewed more than 15 employees (both former and current) about Amazon’s future hardware products. And the general consensus doesn’t seem great. The common theme appears to be lack of excitement because there’s nothing “groundbreaking” on the way. Many of the upcoming devices are geared towards customers using Alexa. Some employees described upcoming devices as a “hodgepodge” of products.
Amazon hardware staff morale is also low due to layoffs
Layoffs are another big reason that morale is reportedly low with those left within the division. Amazon over the past year has laid off scores of employees. In July it reportedly shut down the division responsible for the Halo tracker, laying off all employees and stopping support for the device on July 31.
In November of 2022 it laid off staff from both the Alexa and Luna divisions. And more recently it was revealed that Amazon hardware chief Dave Limp will be stepping down, who will be replaced with Panos Panay who previously led Windows and Surface for Microsoft.
New Amazon devices include a home projector
There’s not a lot of information about these devices, but according to the report there are a few different products that were confirmed to be on the way. This includes a home projector device that can “turn any surface into a screen.”
Another device was described as a digital measuring device. As well as a carbon monoxide detector and a home energy consumption monitor. Amazon is also said to have been working a device to test for viruses. All of these are reportedly powered by Alexa.
Amazon will be holding a hardware event on September 20 at 8am PST. Although it’s unclear if any of these devices will make an appearance.