Amazon's device chief won't deny a new smartphone is coming
Amazon is working on something phone-shaped — its own devices chief just won't say what. Panos Panay, who leads Amazon's hardware division, broke his silence on the rumored 'Transformer' smartphone project in a Financial Times interview, but his answer was engineered to commit to nothing. Given that Amazon's last phone attempt ended in a $170 million write-off, the caution is understandable.
The non-denial
Asked directly whether Amazon is building a smartphone, Panay said: "That's just not our goal. I know there's a lot of rumors… I think your direct question is, are we going after a smartphone? Many want me to say 'no,' but many want me to say 'yes,' I get it. My thinking is: no, not necessarily that we want a smartphone. It's a complicated question. If I say 'no' right away, I'd say that was true. But I also think it's misleading."
That's a lot of words for 'maybe.' The evasion is deliberate — Amazon is clearly developing hardware, but Panay won't lock in expectations ahead of a formal announcement.
What's actually known
Technology.org has reported that the project is codenamed 'Transformer' and runs inside an internal unit called ZeroOne, led by J Allard — the former Microsoft executive behind the Xbox and the ill-fated Zune music player. Panay himself is also deeply involved.
Two directions are reportedly being explored: a conventional smartphone and a minimalist 'dumbphone' concept inspired by the Light Phone. Both would center on Alexa Plus — Amazon's generative AI assistant, which rolled out in March 2025 — as the primary interface.
That AI-first angle matters. The original Fire Phone (2014) failed partly because it had no ecosystem: no compelling apps, gimmicky hardware tricks like Dynamic Perspective, and premium pricing that buyers rejected. Amazon ended up taking a $170 million inventory charge and killed the device after 14 months. Alexa Plus is the bet that AI integration solves the ecosystem problem hardware alone couldn't.
The bigger questions
The US smartphone market is split between Apple and Samsung, with little room for a third player to break through on specs alone. Amazon's real weapon — if it goes this route — is the Prime ecosystem: hundreds of millions of subscribers already locked into Amazon shopping, streaming, and services.
But that strategy has complications. The FTC's ongoing antitrust case against Amazon could limit how aggressively the company bundles hardware with Prime benefits. And Alexa Plus itself has had a rough start — users reported slow deployment and broken smart home integrations through 2025 — which undercuts the claim that AI makes this phone different.
No pricing, carrier deals, or launch timeline have been announced. Whether Transformer ships as a phone, a dumbphone, or gets shelved entirely remains genuinely open.