Computing Amazon could follow in Apple’s footsteps by building its own processors — here’s what that means for future Kindles and Fire TVs News By Scott Younker Published 2 July 2026 New processors could start production next year When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works . (Image credit: Bluestok / Shutterstock) Copy link Facebook X Reddit Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter With AI causing skyrocketing production and data costs across the industry, Amazon could be taking the Apple route of bringing processor design in-house in an attempt to save money. The leak comes from supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo who claims that Amazon is “moving away from externally sourced processors and adopting a COT (customer-owned model).” According to Kuo, this decision was made because of the rapid expansion of AI compute and Amazon is responding by streamlining and changing things in its “non-AI businesses.” (Image credit: Erin Bashford) Part of that is a gradual shift away from external sourcing and taking control of processor development. Kuo says that Amazon is tapping AIchip for back-end design and testing with this strategy starting in earnest in 2027. Latest Videos From Watch full video here: AIchip is 23 year old companny based out of Taipei, Taiwan that designs silicon for other companies, specifically application-specific integrated cricuit (ASIC) chips. In general, these chips are designed, as the name implies for very specific functions. In recent years AIchip has developed 3nm chips used in AI servers for customers that include Amazon and Intel, per Taipei Times . Kuo claims that silicon designed by AIchip could appear in Amazon’s devices, including the Kindle, Fire TV, Echo, Blink, Ring and Alexa-enabled products. You may like Ming-Chi Kuo: Apple giving Intel a ‘once-in-a-generation window’ to manufacture iPhone, iPad and Mac chips OpenAI is reportedly making its own phone — here’s how it could be different from the iPhone ‘Personal computing as we know it is dead’: Framework CEO issues dire warning over AI boom Why it matters If Kuo’s claims turn out to be true, this could take Amazon down a more Apple path. Until 2020, Apple used Intel silicon in its Macs before introducing the M1 CPU in November of that year. Meanwhile, the company had been using its own in-house A-series chips in the iPhone and iPad since 2010 with the introduction of the A4 chip. That silicon debuted on the iPhone 4 and the original iPad. Tom’s Guide: Direct to Your Inbox Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Designing the chip in-house, even if itis built by partners like Samsung TSMC, gives Apple more control over integration and optimization leading to improved performance. What Amazon is already doing (Image credit: Amazon) Notably, Amazon may have already started this transition with the new Echo speakers launched in October 2025 . Those speakers feature two custom-designed chips; the AZ3 or the AZ3 Pro, which are specifically meant for ambient AI tasks. Per an Amazon blog post , the Echo Dot Max uses the AZ3 for detecting conversations, which is how the Echo enables users from anywhere in the room to talk to Alexa Plus AI. The Echo Studio, Echo Show 8 and Echo Show 11 all have the AZ3 Pro, which adds support for more language models and “vision transformers.” What to read next OpenAI just made its biggest move against Nvidia — and it could make ChatGPT cheaper to run Apple’s hardware shake-up could speed up development of new products — and that’s the best news I’ve heard all year Is a new Apple TV in the works?
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