WhatsApp video calling had almost been available on Amazon Echo devices

Amazon and Meta almost closed a deal in the summer of 2020, allowing users to make calls or video calls via WhatsApp on Amazon Echo devices. The deal would have made Echo devices with a screen more attractive in Europe.

Amazon Echo Show 15

Amazon and Meta were ‘two days away from a deal’, says Meta CEO Andrew Bosworth to Buzzfeed. Ultimately, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg decided that the corona pandemic, in which many people started video calling more, might offer an opportunity for Meta to sell much more of its own Portal devices. That’s why the deal fell through.

Had the deal gone through, Amazon could have integrated contacts from WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger into its Echo devices. Now, users of an Echo Show can only call other owners with such a device or people who have the Alexa digital assistant app on their phone. Thanks to a deal with Meta, Amazon could have tried to sell Echos as devices for children or the elderly for easy video calling.

Meta decided to discontinue its own Portal devices a few months ago. According to Bosworth, the market for smart home devices had not developed as Meta, then Facebook, had estimated when Portal launched in 2018. As a result, it remained a relatively small market and it was impossible for Meta to continue to invest in it.