Amazon’s Alexa Will Undergo a Performance Review for 2023
CEO Andy Jassy is looking at ways to reduce costs at Amazon in a variety of areas, including Amazon’s Alexa smart assistant.
Alexa is used by millions of people worldwide. But due to preparations for a lull in the global economy in 2023, Amazon is considering a fresh approach to Alexa that may include adding or cutting back on services for it.
Let’s take a closer look.
What is Alexa?
Amazon Alexa is basically Amazon’s equivalent to Siri, Cortana, or Google Now. It’s the cloud-connected smart assistant that powers their smart speakers, such an the Echo.
Alexa can carry out a variety of tasks for you like play music, control smart home gadgets, order food, check the weather, order a cab, and more. It allows people to get quick access to information and interact with the digital world through voice command.
Why is Amazon conducting a performance review of Alexa for 2023?
Alexa may be one of Amazon’s most used services, but its not one of its most profitable. A recent report showed that Alexa has cost Amazon a $5 billion loss from operating costs.
During Amazon's review, the company will look at ways to improve Alexa in order to make it more profitable, or ways to cut corners. Alexa will also be reevaluated to make sure it continues to meet Amazon’s and its customers’ needs into the future.
Amazon even told its employees who work in areas that are unprofitable to search for positions in areas of the company that are doing well. This is a clear indication that Amazon will start downsizing Alexa’s staff.
Is this a sign of things to come?
It’s not just Amazon that’s looking for ways to reduce costs. Many major companies have started making preparations over the past few months for the economy to dip in 2023.
With the uncertain economic landscape, there’s no telling exactly how far the economy will fall. But as for now, even companies like Amazon that are tightening their belts will continue to push forward in other areas.
What are Amazon's plans for 2023?
Amazon greatly expanded during the pandemic, hiring over 800,000 new employees. This mass expansion is partly due to the heightened need for delivery services during a time when people were forced to stay indoors.
During that period, Amazon also acquired Roomba Maker iRobot, the round automatic vacuum that you may have seen buzzing around people’s houses on its own, and MGM studios so it can add over 4,000 movies to its Prime Video service—another pandemic favorite.
Having acquired these two huge companies and invested heavily, Amazon is expected to continue to develop these acquisitions and make them as viable as possible in 2023 and beyond.
So apart from their performance reviews and imminent downsizing, Amazon is still looking to make the most out of its brand and all its branches, even in a down economy.
Conclusion
Amazon’s Alexa is one of the most popular voice assistants out there. With the Echo series and other Alexa-enabled devices, users can turn on lights, play music and get information on demand.
It’s a valuable service, but hasn’t been profitable as of late, so we can expect to see some cuts to its funding. However, it’s very unlikely that Amazon would abandon Alexa completely.
The concept behind Alexa involves services that will be far more technologically capable in the future. This will make Alexa far more valuable and far more profitable years down the line.
In short, Alexa will pay dividends in the years to come but it’s not a good enough service yet to overcome its operational costs and will therefore go through some corner cutting.