According to The Wall Street Journal, Amazon’s entire appliance division has suffered operating losses of more than $5 billion in recent years.
Amazon is now examining whether it should “focus on trying to add new capabilities to Alexa,” the report said.
The cost-effective review includes the devices unit with Alexa, a voice assistant available on several Amazon devices.
“The company has more than 10,000 employees and is a major recipient of investment capital,” the report said.
It appears that the e-commerce giant is considering reducing its investments in Alexa-powered products.
An Amazon spokesperson said that as part of this year’s review, “we are of course considering the current macro environment and considering opportunities to optimize costs.”
Shares of Amazon rose more than 4 percent on Thursday after the cost-cutting review report came out.
Once part of our private lives as virtual assistants, now more than 35 smart speaker models have been discontinued (as of April 2022), 46 brands have not released a new smart speaker since 2019, and 34 companies have not released a new smart speaker since 2018.
While Amazon-branded smart speakers grew 33 percent during the second quarter (Q2) compared to last year, other brands such as Google and Apple were down 31 percent and 57 percent, respectively, according to global market research firm Omdia.
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