What's Going On With Amazon.Com Stock Tuesday?

David Limp, the driving force behind Amazon.Com Inc’s AMZN device division, has shared his plans to depart in the upcoming months after a career spanning 13 years in the company. 

Limp’s move marks another significant exit from the company’s leadership since Andy Jassy assumed the CEO role two years prior.

Such high-profile departures have become more frequent since Jassy’s takeover, raising questions about the company’s internal dynamics and future direction, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Limp led Amazon’s Alexa and a portfolio of other services and gadgets that have struggled to make money. The Echo device line, in particular, has proven more challenging to monetize.

Limp’s division fell prey to Jassy’s cost cuts, downsizing 27,000 jobs across the company.

Limp’s planned exit marks another disruption for the core of Amazon’s senior leadership, the S-Team.

In 2022, Amazon Consumer CEO Dave Clark departed after 23 years. Other S-Team departures since mid-2021 include Jeff Blackburn, who led the media and entertainment businesses; Alicia Boler Davis, senior vice president of global customer fulfillment; Charlie Bell, from Amazon’s cloud business; and Jay Carney, of public relations and public policy.

Limp, 56 years old, joined Amazon in 2010 to run its devices organization. Under Limp’s leadership, Amazon introduced several successful products:

Echo smart speaker, Fire TV streaming media player, and Fire tablets.

Amazon has sold over 500 million Alexa-enabled devices. Despite the vast sales, these smart speakers failed to contribute to the bottom line. In some years, the devices unit reported an operating loss exceeding $5 billion.

Broadcasting ads through Echo devices is problematic as users find them intrusive.

Most Echo users utilize the device for basic tasks like setting timers or checking the weather, neither generating revenue for Amazon.

In 2022, Limp cited continued big bets on Alexa, Zoox self-driving taxis, and Kuiper internet satellites as evidence supporting CEO Andy Jassy’s willingness to invest billions on projects that might not pay off for years.

In 2023, reports suggested Amazon’s plans to revamp Alexa with ChatGPT technology.

Price Action: AMZN shares traded lower by 0.70% at $139.59 premarket on the last check Tuesday.

Photo via Wikimedia Commons

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.