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David Limp, the long-standing head of Amazon’s consumer devices division, is poised to step down later this year, as confirmed by Amazon in response to a report by the Wall Street Journal, according to a statement given to GreyJournal. For more than 13 years, Limp has held the role of Senior Vice President overseeing devices and services within Amazon. During his tenure, he led the division responsible for prominent products such as the Echo/Alexa ecosystem and Amazon’s range of Fire tablets.
This decision comes in light of prevalent indications that Amazon’s substantial investments in the smart home sector have not yielded the anticipated results. Reports from November revealed that the division was incurring a significant annual revenue loss of $5 billion. This circumstance was exacerbated by the organization’s extensive layoffs, which encompassed around 27,000 positions as part of CEO Andy Jassy’s strategy to manage financial challenges.
Jassy remarked, “Dave will remain in his role for the next few months, and we’ll announce his successor in the coming weeks. I remain excited and quite optimistic about the products and services we’re building in Devices and Services—we’re at the relative beginning of what’s possible and what I believe these businesses will add for customers and the company.”
Nonetheless, Jassy and his team reiterated their commitment to sustained involvement in the consumer hardware domain, particularly emphasizing their dedication to the Echo line. Recent revelations have outlined Amazon’s intention to fortify its position in the competitive realms of generative AI and extensive language models, with Alexa head Rohit Prasad spearheading these efforts.
In response to the developments, David Limp addressed the situation through a blog post, stating, “It’s time.” Reflecting on his extensive history of developing and delivering consumer electronics, spanning over three decades, he expressed his affection for the role while expressing a desire to explore a new perspective on the future. He indicated that while the specific path is uncertain, he is certain it won’t involve the consumer electronics domain. Limp will remain engaged for a few more months to facilitate the rollout of upcoming fall products.
Amazon is scheduled to unveil a fresh lineup of devices on September 20 at an event in Arlington, Va., where its secondary HQ2 offices are located.
Prior to his enduring tenure at Amazon, Limp gained experience at Apple and Palm, further enhancing his industry expertise.
Jassy praised Limp’s contribution, noting, “Under Dave’s leadership, Amazon has become one of the world’s leading innovators in building devices and underlying services that customers love. From Kindle readers to Fire TV to Alexa and Echo, over the past decade and a half we’ve been able to invent and keep improving experiences that help make our customers’ lives better every day.”
