I wonder if one of the ways they are trying to lessen demand is by showing over-estimated delays in shipping. I've gotten every recent order delivered much faster than estimated at the time of purchase. (Sample size about n=5)
So it appears to me that Amazon knows exactly how long it'll take to get products to you, and lead times are nowhere near the 2-3 weeks that they're showing to customers. The conclusion has to be, I think, that they're doing this to reduce demand.
The other way I think they're reducing strain on their warehousing infrastructure is by preferentially showing Fulfilled By Merchant (FBM), as opposed to Fulfilled By Amazon (FBA) listings in search results. We've been seeing this as well.