Amazon’s hardware boss running Alexa and Echo plans to retire

Dave Limp, Amazon’s SVP of devices and services, plans to retire in the coming months, as reported by The Wall Street Journal. His retirement marks the end of a more than 13-year career at the company.

Amazon published emails to staff from CEO Andy Jassy and Limp addressing the departure on its website. Jassy says that Limp will stay in his role “for the next few months” and that the company plans to announce a 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,” Jassy wrote.

Limp’s organization manages popular products like Amazon’s Echo smart speakers and the Alexa voice assistant. But the division has fallen on some hard times recently, with Limp announcing in November that the company would be laying off some employees in the organization.

Limp is leaving because “it’s time,” he said. “I have been doing a version of this job (building and shipping consumer electronics) on and off for 30+ years. I love it, but I also want look into the future through a different lens. I am not sure what that future is right now, with the notable exception that it won’t be in the consumer electronics space.”

The company is set to host its next fall devices and services event on September 20th, as announced by Limp on his LinkedIn. In his email, Limp said, “I will be around for a few more months and we have a lot to deliver on with our fall products.”

Update August 14th, 4:47PM ET: Added context from Jassy and Limp’s emails to staff.