Dive Brief:
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Amazon has laid off engineers who worked on its Fire phone at Lab126, its hardware-development center in Silicon Valley.
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The layoffs were the first to occur in the history of the 11-year-old division.
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The company also scaled back or halted some of Lab126’s projects and reorganized the division.
Dive Insight:
The job cuts stem in part from a reorganization at Lab126 last year after the Fire phone flopped.
“What Amazon makes are devices that are not too flashy, but they are inexpensive and they are simple to use,” said Tom Mainelli, an IDC analyst. “Mostly they are another way to serve up content that Amazon can sell you.”
The changes at Lab126 left some workers with redundant roles and have led to a high turnover rate in recent months.
