Episode 59 - Amazon’s 2023 Device Event

Let’s set the stage… you’re driving down the interstate (hmm… haven’t we been here before?)… and while attempting to make a pass in the left lane going a perfectly legal speed, you discover the source of all the slowness is a big semi truck, cruise set on 65, and emblazoned down the blue cargo bed in bold, white letters is “AMAZON”…

This is a familiar site to all of us because, well, it’s frankly how we get a lot of our stuff! For better or for worse, it’s a thing! So when Amazon shows up each fall with one of those semi trucks loaded down with nothing more than announcements for new products and services people tend to pay attention! 

This year was, put simply, no different and yet entirely different at the same time… Words like “Echo”, “Fire”, and “for kids” abounded, but right under the surface was a new sort of tension… All things Echo suddenly also mean all-things-Generative AI, and the normal lineup of every possible screen size of device was pared down to just a couple of (relatively) minor refreshes and spec bumps. 

This by itself isn’t necessary just an Amazon thing… we’ve talked very recently about how at first glance Apple’s own iPhone event was seemingly subdued, even calm. But Amazon is just in a different position… layoffs earlier in the year touched almost every division, including the ones responsible for these very devices. And while Echo is nearly ubiquitous across households, they partially accomplish that feat with bargain-basement prices and never-ending pack-ins…

So the question that remains, is this truly just a “slower year” for Amazon, or is there perhaps something more strategic happening just behind closed doors… Let’s find out…