What you need to know
- Amazon’s head of devices and services, Panos Panay, had an interview with the Financial Times, where he briefly touched on those Amazon Phone rumors.
- It was stated that a phone isn’t exactly the goal for Amazon right now; however, Panay didn’t exactly give a firm “no” to the idea, stating it might be “misleading.”
- Rumors from March claimed that Amazon could be seeking a smartphone do-over under the “Transformer” project.
An Amazon executive had an interview this week to discuss the future of its devices, and it might’ve soured any smartphone hopes.
A Financial Times interview with Amazon’s head of devices and services, Panos Panay, shed some light on those “Transformer Project” rumors. A great deal of this interview with Panay covered Alexa, the company’s AI, and how it could be implemented meaningfully. In the home, Panay discussed one area: simplicity was needed there, but then came the topic of a potential Amazon Phone, or the resurrection of the Fire Phone.
The publication asked, “What sort of device will you come forward with? Will it be a phone?” This generated quite the response from the Amazon exec, who said, “Here’s what I’d say: it’s just not the goal. I know there’s a lot of rumours out there.”
Panay doesn’t believe that the phone is going anywhere, but says that it is going through “transformations” lasting upward of a decade. However, Panay didn’t want to definitely say “no” to the question of whether or not Amazon is chasing a phone. A follow-up response reads, “If I black and white say no, I would say that was accurate. But I also think it’s misleading.”
There seem to be two factors here. The first concerns competition in the smartphone market. The Financial Times brought up Apple’s iPhone, basically asking if someone would trade their iPhone for an Amazon Phone. This brought about a storied response from Panay, who said, “You’re bringing up a lot of the past,” as the Fire Phone didn’t really make a splash when it debuted over ten years ago.
Nothing’s really certain
The second factor is how Panay feels about delivering yet another phone. He says, “What I won’t ever do again is [go to the customer and say] here’s another phone. What do you think? There’s no point. We know what customers need right now.” Curiously, the publication asked if Amazon would be interested in a “light phone” to accommodate certain services. Panay seemed open to the idea, but also said it’s “not a focus today.”
Rumors in March claimed that Amazon was chasing another smartphone era under the “Transformer” project. Details were incredibly light, with the only substance shining through being that the device could lean heavily on AI, as a “voice-driven” device for ordering food, shopping, and more. This last question by the Financial Times is interesting, considering the Light Phone (by Light) was mentioned in those rumors.
Supposedly, Amazon was looking at this type of device for inspiration. It would’ve stripped away the more distracting things, like social media apps, games, what have you, for the basics. We’re caught in a weird limbo right now with these Amazon Phone rumors, so it’s probably best to wait and see what happens (if anything ever does).
Android Central’s Take
This is a funny interview when you get down to it. I only say that because of the reference to Apple’s iPhone. I have to imagine if Amazon debuted a phone today. Let’s say there was a press release, we covered it, and it’s out next week or whatever. How many people would chase this phone? I’m not talking tech enthusiasts and publications that want to report on it. I mean real people. The consumers. A person such as yourself reading me yap. That’s difference maker here. I think, and it looks like Amazon sees this to, that those are the people they need to capture. If they don’t, why do it?