Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) edged higher after unveiling ZeroOne, a dedicated group led by ex-Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) executive J. Allard to develop breakthrough consumer gadgets.

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The Seattle-based teambacked by offices in San Francisco and Sunnyvalelaunched in September 2024 and aims to revive Amazon’s hardware edge after mixed results with Kindle (over 200 million devices sold), Echo smart speakers (100 million units) and the ill-fated Fire Phone that bowed out after 12 months.

Allard, the architect behind Xbox and Zune, will helm product strategy and R&D to fast-track next-gen experiences. ZeroOne follows Amazon’s February AI-powered Alexa reveal and reflects the company’s push to diversify revenue beyond retail and AWS.

Investors should care because a successful hardware reset could unlock new high-margin revenue streams and deepen user lock-in across Amazon’s ecosystem.

With Amazon rumored to host a fall hardware event, markets will be watching ZeroOne’s first prototypes and timeline for product rollouts.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.