Amazon fires part of the Fire Phone development team

American e-commerce giant Amazon is making a round of layoffs in the team responsible for the development of the Fire Phone. According to The Wall Street Journal, “dozens” of workers have been fired.

The layoffs will fall on Lab126, which is responsible for developing devices such as the Kindle e-reader, the Amazon Echo and the Fire Phone. A total of about 3,000 people work there, according to The Wall Street Journal. It would be the first layoffs at the department in 11 years.

The layoffs may be related to the disappointing market performance of the Amazon Fire Phone, which was slashed by 75 percent in June. Further details about the layoffs are scarce. The staff only receive a severance payment in exchange for their signature on a non-disclosure agreement. Earlier, Jon McCormack, one of Lab126’s chief engineers, left the company after working there for a total of six years. He now works for Google.