Amazon is engaged on a brand new cellphone, internally known as “Transformer,” to speed up consumer engagement with its AI assistant Amazon Alexa, Reuters reported Friday.
The machine is conceived not as a traditional competitor to Apple or Samsung handsets however as a personalization interface designed to maintain shoppers tied to Amazon’s ecosystem of companies. It could depend on AI to scale back and even exchange conventional apps.
The undertaking remains to be in improvement and will take completely different kinds, together with a regular smartphone or a “dumbphone,” presumably used as a secondary machine. It’s being led by a devoted innovation workforce targeted on breakthrough {hardware}, however key particulars like value, timeline, and launch stay unclear.
Alexa+ adoption and up to date {hardware} strikes
Amazon’s Alexa+, the upgraded model of the assistant launched in March 2025, attracted tens of hundreds of thousands of sign-ups inside its first 9 months and generated engagement charges two to a few instances greater than the unique model.
Amazon has claimed that roughly 76% of the duties customers carry out with Alexa+ can’t be replicated by any competing AI assistant.
At CES 2026, Amazon confirmed a set of AI-enhanced merchandise meant to push Alexa+ into extra contexts.
The corporate unveiled the Echo Dot Max and a refreshed Echo Studio, each engineered for deeper Alexa+ integration. It additionally expanded the assistant’s attain into BMW automobiles and launched a web-based model accessible exterior Amazon’s personal {hardware}.
The Hearth Telephone’s shadow
The “Transformer” undertaking is seen as Amazon’s renewed push into the cell market after the failure of its Hearth Telephone.
The Hearth Telephone, launched by then-CEO Jeff Bezos in July 2014, was a industrial disaster.
Fewer than 35,000 models have been bought within the first two months after launch. Inside weeks, the worth dropped from $650 to 99 cents as Amazon scrambled to clear cabinets.
The market hasn’t grown any friendlier since then. As of February 2026, Apple commanded 31.5% of world smartphone shipments, and Samsung held 21.4%, that means the 2 leaders collectively accounted for 53% of the market, based on StatCounter.
