Credit: Andrew Cunningham

Amazon is developing a new smartphone over a decade after discontinuing the Fire Phone, Reuters reported today, citing four anonymous “people familiar with the matter.”

Reuters said the phone is codenamed Transformer but couldn’t confirm what it might cost, how much Amazon has invested into development thus far, or how much Amazon expects to make off the device. Like any product reportedly under development, it’s possible that Amazon will never release the phone. Reuters’ sources noted that Transformer could be cancelled over finances or a change in strategy.

When reached for comment by Ars Technica, an Amazon spokesperson declined to comment on Reuters’ report.

Amazon reportedly considered making a dumbphone but is now working on a smartphone built around its own services. Alexa could potentially serve as the phone’s operating system, but Reuters’ sources said that’s not certain and did not elaborate on how the system would work.

Amazon’s team also wants the phone to make it easy to shop via Amazon and partners like Grubhub and to stream content from Prime Video and Prime Music.

AI integration is a “key focus” of Transformer, per Reuters’ sources, who said that Amazon wants the phone to drive usage of Amazon’s AI products. The phone may use AI in lieu of app stores, the sources said, similar to the Light Phone, which the Transfomer development team is taking “inspiration” from, Reuters said, citing two of its sources.

Reuters’ report doesn’t explicitly mention “Alexa+,” the generative AI version of Alexa, but the subscription-based assistant would likely be central to Transformers’ reported goals.

Fire Phone, take two

Amazon’s reported attempts to develop a new smartphone come at an interesting time. It’s been about 11 years since Amazon killed the FireOS-based Fire Phone, which sold for only about a year before it was discontinued due to poor sales. Meanwhile, Amazon’s devices division has reportedly struggled financially for years, largely because Alexa-based devices have failed to generate revenue.

A return to smartphones would pit Amazon against Apple and Samsung, which dominate the market and bring years of app ecosystems, hardware innovation, AI development, and loyal fanbases.

It’s unclear why Amazon thinks now is a good time to get back into phones. Even potentially low prices may not be enough to convince people to buy.