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Tag: Amazon

  • Amazon Fires Have Destroyed Almost 3 Percent Of The Rainforest

    Amazon Fires Have Destroyed Almost 3 Percent Of The Rainforest

    Amazon fires are a major threat to the world’s largest rainforest, but we’re only just beginning to understand how fire spreads there.

    NASA recently released a study that looked at understory fires burning in the Amazon rainforest between 1999 and 2010. Through satellite imagery, they found that 2.8 percent of the rainforest has been affected by these devastating undestory fires.

    So, what makes these understory fires so bad? The understory of the rainforest is not easily visible from the air so satellite views used to be able to see only so much. These fires also burn incredibly slowly so it’s hard to track their progress and just how much they burn.

    That being said, NASA says that the trees in the rainforest have not yet adapted to fire. That means the trees affected by fire can not shrug off the damage caused and end up dying. The researchers estimate that as many as 50 percent of all trees affected by understory fires end up dying.

    Thankfully, deforestation and understory fires are not related whatsoever. NASA originally thought that might be the case, but they found that forests next to those that had been cleared had the lowest rates of fire. Both are still detrimental to the rainforest, but it would have been even more disastrous if deforestation and fires had been related.

    The researchers believe they may be able to predict areas of the forest that are more likely to catch fire in the future. They will now focus their efforts on this to help prevent more destruction.

  • Amazon’s Indie Games Store Is Open For Business

    Indie gaming is becoming increasingly more important as AAA titles become less frequent. Valve, Sony and Nintendo have all jumped on board the indie gaming bandwagon, and now Amazon has thrown its support behind it as well.

    Amazon announced today that it’s opening an indie games storefront on its site. In Amazon’s own words, it’s all about increasing discoverability:

    The Indie Games Store is a dedicated storefront designed to specifically help indie game developers with promoting their PC, Mac, and browser-based games while helping gamers discover a large and growing selection of innovative indie games.

    You will realize this is only a good thing if you’ve ever browsed Amazon’s digital game catalog. Before, everything was lumped together into one storefront and some great indie games were pushed to the very back. Now these titles have their own storefront where consumers can more easily find interesting and unique titles.

    As with most major product launches, Amazon will be offering a number of promotions to those who buy indie games from its new store:

  • Indie Spotlight – The Indie Spotlight puts the focus on developers with Q&A and featured bios to give customers a glimpse of each developer’s style and personality. We’ll feature a different indie developer every week starting today with Gaijin Games.
  • Indie Bundles – Starting today until July 23rd, gamers can get great deals on Indie Bundles and increase their collection. These bundles are made up of 5, 6, or 10 games each, and will cost $9.99, which is a discount of up to 90% off if purchased separately.
  • Gift with Purchase – Starting today until July 17th, customers who purchase any indie title from the Indie Games Store, will receive codes to redeem 3 pre-selected titles for free. The games change daily and each purchase entitles customers to 3 free games, so customers are encouraged to check often.
  • Indie Gamer’s Choice – To help connect gamers and developers, we’re introducing the Indie Gamer’s Choice program, where gamers can get involved. The Indie Gamer’s Choice positions two indie games head-to-head and allows players to vote on their favorite title to become the Indie Gamer’s Choice, which is featured in the store.

    • Amazon is still trailing behind Steam when it comes to digital distribution, but it’s quickly becoming a major player in the space. Moves like this only further cement Amazon as one of the premier destinations for digital game downloads. At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if Amazon released a desktop app to directly compete with Steam and Origin.

  • Amazon Brings The Kindle DX Back For An Encore Performance

    Last year, Amazon killed a number of its Kindle products in anticipation of the Kindle Fire HD launch. One of those killed products was the Kindle DX – a large-format text e-reader. Now it has appeared once again on Amazon’s storefront as mysteriously as it had disappeared all those months ago.

    The Digital Reader reports that the Kindle DX is available once again for its usual price of $299. For that price, you get a 9.7-inch e-reader that displays text in large-format fonts for easy reading. In fact, some of our readers lamented its original passing saying that the device was better than others at displaying PDFs and manuals.

    So, why is it back? That’s the funny thing – nobody knows. All Amazon is saying is that it’s “excited to offer customers this option.” Well, it’s obviously excited to make money, but why offer a device that it unceremoniously killed over six months ago? Was there unseen demand for the device in the time between its removal and its resurrection this week? It’s hard to say, and Amazon isn’t being exactly being helpful.

    With all this in mind, it’s probably best that you pick one up now if you really need a 9.7-inch e-reader. You never know when Amazon will just outright kill it again without any warning. For all we know, Amazon could introduce a 10-inch Kindle Fire HD and kill off the DX once and for all. Granted, that wouldn’t be such a bad trade-off. The 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD is already a pretty great tablet, and making it just a hair bigger sounds like natural progression to me.

    Oh, one more thing – the return of the Kindle DX was made possible by the sacrifice of another. The Verge is reporting that the Kindle Keyboard was killed around the same time that the DX was brought back. It’s a good thing the Kindle DX has a keyboard, right?

  • Amazon May Be Getting More Serious About Groceries, Expanding AmazonFresh Outside Seattle

    Amazon may be looking to make a significant dive into the grocery business, as the company is looking to expand its small grocery program AmazonFresh to other cities in the upcoming months.

    In fact, the first expansion could be as early as this week. Reuters reports that AmazonFresh may be coming to Los Angeles this weeks and San Francisco later in 2013.

    Currently, AmazonFresh is a Seattle-only service that provides grocery delivery (produce, meat, alcohol, etc.) to over 80 different zip codes in the area.

    Here’s how Amazon describes their small AmazonFresh program:

    “We are a home grocery delivery service offering a full selection of fresh groceries, including produce, dairy, meat and seafood – even alcohol. We also carry products from iconic local merchants and farmers. We provide fast, convenient delivery straight to your home in as little as four hours of placing your order and FREE delivery on qualifying orders. We also offer best-selling Amazon.com items to add right to your grocery order.”

    According to Reuters’ anonymous sources, Amazon will use the two non-Seattle expansions as a gauge for a larger rollout next year. Apparently, Amazon is eyeing the launch of AmazonFresh in 20 other urban areas in 2014 – some even outside the U.S. The grocery business is a tricky one – but there’s money to be made and Amazon knows that. They’ve sure had plenty of time to test the program in Seattle – it first launched way back in 2007.

  • Netflix Loses Ground to Other Streaming Services – But Not Much

    Netflix Loses Ground to Other Streaming Services – But Not Much

    Subscription-based streaming is on the rise, Netflix still leads the pack – but it’s lost just a bit of its stranglehold.

    That’s the word from NPD, who just published their VideoWatch VOD report for Q1 2013.

    According to NPD, the number of viewers using subscription services to stream television shows (think Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Instant Video) rose dramatically – 34% as compared to the figures from the same period in 2012.

    Netflix still dominates the market with an 89% market share – but that’s actually down 4% from last year. That means that Hulu and Amazon Prime Instant Video are both gaining ground.

    “There’s no doubt that Netflix is driving the growth in SVOD, particularly with increased attention to television programming,” said Russ Crupnick, senior vice president of industry analysis at NPD. “We are also seeing good gains in the streaming numbers from Hulu Plus and Amazon Prime, and while neither pose an immediate threat to Netflix it is interesting to see which services later adopters will try.”

    The biggest gains go to Hulu, which grabbed 3% of Netflix’s streaming TV share (up to 10% from 7%). Amazon Prime Instant Video gained 1% (up to 2% from just 1%).

    And it looks like people are choosing to subscribe to multiple services. A year ago 76% of viewers just used Netflix – nothing else. Now, that number has fallen to 67%. 10% said they stream using both Netflix and Amazon, while 8% said they stream using both Netflix and Hulu.

  • Amazon/Viacom Deal Adds Nickelodeon, Comedy Central Shows to Prime Instant Video

    Amazon has just snatched up a bunch of new content for its Prime Instant Video streaming service – most of it in the form of kids shows from the Viacom family of networks.

    The Amazon/Viacom deal is being touted as a “multi-year, multi-national” licensing agreement and they say that it will bump up Amazon Prime’s video catalog by over 100 TV shows and over 1000 episodes.

    The content comes from networks like Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., MTV, and Comedy Central – shows like Dora the Explorer, Blue’s Clues, SpongeBob Squarepants, and more kids programming. On the adult side, Amazon Prime Instant Video members will see shows like Key & Peele, Workaholics, and Teen Mom 2 land on the service.

    Many of these titles were just recently available on Netflix, but that deal expired last week. So now, Amazon has picked up the slack.

    “Kids’ shows are one of the most watched TV genres on Prime Instant Video,” said Bill Carr, VP of Digital Video and Music for Amazon. “And this expanded deal will now bring customers the largest subscription selection of Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. TV shows online, anywhere. With programs like Dora the Explorer, SpongeBob SquarePants, Bubble Guppies and The Backyardigans there are hundreds of great shows for kids and parents to choose from. In addition, we are bringing customers popular shows from MTV and COMEDY CENTRAL like Key & Peele, Workaholics, Awkward and Teen Mom 2, with the promise of more shows from these networks in the future.”

    Not only is Amazon continuing with their original programing initiative, greenlighting 5 new shows last week, but they also just inked an expanded deal with NBCUniversal to bring more shows from NBC, USA, and SyFy to Prime Instant Video.

  • Amazon Greenlights First 5 Shows: Alpha House, Betas, Annebots, Creative Galaxy, Tumbleaf

    In April, Amazon debuted 14 pilots for shows that could become its first originals. Five of them made the cut: Alpha House, Betas, Annebots, Creative Galaxy, and Tumbleaf. They will begin production, and air later this year, and in early 2014.

    “We are thrilled at the enthusiastic customer response to our first original pilots,” said Roy Price, Director of Amazon Studios. “We built Amazon Studios so that customers could help decide which stories would make the very best movies and TV shows. It’s exciting to see the process in motion, doing exactly what we set out to do. The success of this first set of pilots has given us the push to try this approach with even more shows—this is just the beginning.”

    Alpha House stars John Goodman, and was written by Academy Award nominee and Pulitzer-Prize winner Garry Trudeau and produced by Elliot Webb and Jonathan Alter. It’s a comedy about “four misfit senators turned unlikely roommates”.

    Betas is a comedy set in Silicon Valley, following four friends as they try to get rich with a new mobile social networking app. It stars Ed Begley Jr., Jon Daly, Joe Dinicol, Charlie Saxton and Karan Soni, and is written by Evan Endicott and Josh Stoddard.

    The other three are kids shows. Here are the official descriptions:

    Annebots revolves around Anne, a young scientist, who creates three robot helpers to assist her scientific experiments in the back of her dad’s junkyard. This science-based series from creator J.J. Johnson aims to introduce kids to science and technology in a fun, new way.

    Creative Galaxy is an animated interactive art adventure series, designed to inspire kids’ creative thinking through crafts, story, music and dance. The series was created by Angela Santomero, creator of Blue’s Clues and the Emmy-nominated literacy series, Super Why!

    Tumbleaf was created by Drew Hodges and Kelli Bixler of Bix Pix Entertainment, the award-winning stop motion studio. The series, aimed at preschoolers, is set in a whimsical land where a small blue fox named Fig plays each day and discovers adventure, friendship and love around every bend. Children will be enriched by narratives that promote play through exploration and scientific thinking.

    Each of the shows will appear exclusively on Prime Instant Video. The pilots are currently available for streaming.

  • Amazon Launches ‘Login With Amazon’ For Websites And Apps

    Amazon announced a new Login with Amazon service for websites, apps and games, which lets users login using their Amazon accounts. The company says it reduces sign-in friction and can drive higher customer engagement and conversions.

    Obviously the feature would compete directly with offerings from companies like Google, Facebook and Twitter.

    “Login with Amazon enables app developers and website owners to leverage Amazon’s trusted sign-in solution, allowing them to focus on providing a great experience for their customers,” said Michael Carr, Amazon Vice President, eCommerce Services. “Amazon customers now have a hassle-free way to quickly and securely sign-in to apps, games and websites, without having to remember yet another password.”

    Amazon subsidiaries Zappos and Woot have been using the Amazon login feature, and the company says it has seen “significant” customer adoption. Zappos in particular saw 40% of its new customers choose to sign-in with an Amazon account. On Woot, new customers picked Login with Amazon two times more often than any other social login on the site. Those customers, Amazon says, had the highest conversion rate.

    Amazon appears to be looking to capture users while they’re on properties across the web more than ever before. They also recently launched a “Send to Kindle” button for content, enabling users to send articles for later reading on their Kindle devices/apps.

    You can find all the necessary documentation for Login with Amazon for web, Android and iOS here.

  • Amazon Set To Take Over The World With Kindle In June

    Amazon hasn’t been able to effectively compete with Apple just yet as its Kindle Fire devices are only available in a select few countries. That’s all going to change next month.

    Amazon announced today that the Kindle Fire HD and Kindle Fire HD 8.9″ will start shipping to over 170 countries in June. If you don’t believe them, pre-orders are open now in all those countries.

    “Kindle Fire HD is the #1 best-selling item in the world for Amazon since its launch, and we’re thrilled to make it available to even more customers around the globe today,” said Dave Limp, Vice President, Amazon Kindle. “Not only does Kindle Fire feature advanced hardware, it’s also a service. When combined with our content ecosystem, great email and browsing and top-rated customer service, we hope people around the world will agree that Kindle Fire HD is the best tablet for an incredible price.”

    Coinciding with the announcement, Amazon also announced that its Appstore for Android is now open for business in over 200 countries. Those getting a Kindle Fire next month can start downloading the very best Kindle has to offer while those who already own Android devices can start taking advantage of Amazon’s free app of the day, among other promotions.

    Speaking of which, Amazon will be making Fruit Ninja and Cut the Rope: Experiments available as free downloads on its Appstore on May 23 and May 24 respectively to celebrate the launch. The offer is available to everybody who has access to Amazon’s Appstore for Android.

    “We are thrilled to be expanding the reach of our global app distribution to nearly 200 countries. We think our customers will love the app selection we have to offer and also find features such as Free App of the Day and personalized recommendations very helpful as they discover and explore new apps and games,” said Mike George, Vice President of Apps and Games at Amazon. “By further expanding the distribution of apps to millions of customers around the world, we are continuing to make it easy for customers to enjoy their Amazon apps on Kindle Fire and any Android device.”

    This is a pretty big deal for Amazon. It can now compete on a global level with other device manufacturers, like Apple, who have been selling tablets for years now. The cheap price of the Kindle Fire HD has the potential to undercut Apple, Samsung and more around the world.

    Needless to say, it will be very interesting to see how the global tablet market reacts to this news.

  • Kindle Worlds Will Pay You To Write Fan Fiction

    Fan Fiction is awesome, right? It’s a way for fans to better engage with their favorite brands, and some franchises actually gain new fans thanks to fan fiction. Amazon wants to capitalize on it while paying authors for their trouble.

    Amazon announced Kindle Worlds today – a new publishing platform that licenses popular series and then allows amateur authors to publish fan fiction based on those series. Right out of the gate, Amazon has secured the rights to Gossip Girl, Pretty Little Liars and Vampire Diaries. I can already see the latter inspiring plenty of fan fiction.

    “At Kindle, we’re not only inventing on the hardware and software side of the business, we’re inventing new ways to create books,” said Philip Patrick, Director, Business Development and Publisher of Kindle Worlds. “Our goal with Kindle Worlds is to create a home for authors to build on the Worlds we license, and give readers more stories from the Worlds they enjoy. We look forward to announcing additional World licensing deals in the coming weeks.”

    So, how will the payment system work? Here’s how Amazon describes it:

    Amazon Publishing will pay royalties to both the rights holders of the Worlds and the author. The standard author’s royalty rate (for works of at least 10,000 words) will be 35% of net revenue. As with all titles from Amazon Publishing, Kindle Worlds will base net revenue off of sales price—rather than the lower, industry standard of wholesale price—and royalties will be paid monthly.

    In addition, with the launch of Kindle Worlds, Amazon Publishing will pilot an experimental new program for particularly short works—between 5,000 and 10,000 words. For these short stories—typically priced under one dollar—Amazon will pay the royalties for the World’s rights holder and pay authors a digital royalty of 20%.

    It’s not a bad deal for something that people generally write while expecting no monetary return. It might even be a great platform for an aspiring author to launch their own career. There’s numerous stories out there of fan fiction authors getting their big break after somebody discovered their work.

    Kindle Worlds will officially launch in June with over 50 commissioned works from famous authors. After that, anybody can submit their fan fictions to the Kindle Worlds publishing portal. To get a head start, head over to the official site to learn more.

  • Zombieland Series Gets the Ax, Creator Says Fans ‘Hated It Out of Existence’

    It appears that the fans have spoken – Amazon Studio’s Zombieland series will not be receiving a full run.

    The news was tweeted out by series writer/producer Rhett Reese, who went on to say that viewers “hated it out of existence.” Reese also worked on the film of the same name that inspired the Amazon series.

    Zombieland was part of big push from Amazon into the original content game, spearheaded by their Amazon Studios division. Back in April, Amazon released 14 pilots (both comedy and kids shows) and asked fans to submit their feedback. Amazon said that fan feedback would determine which pilots were picked up for full series runs, but didn’t go into any more specifics.

    The other shows include Alpha House, Betas, Browsers, Dark Minions, Onion News Empire, Supanatural, Those Who Can’t, Annebots, Creative Galaxy, Positively Ozitively, Sara Solves It, Teeny Tiny Dogs, and Tumbleaf.

    The Zombieland pilot, which has been available for all Amazon user to stream for just under a month, currently sits with a 3.5 star rating out of 5 with 5,500 reviews. Did you watch the Zombieland pilot? What did you think?

  • Amazon Prime Adds NBC Universal Shows: Hannibal, Grimm, Suits, and More

    Good news for Amazon Prime Instant Video customers today, as Amazon has just announced an expanded licensing agreement with NBCUniversal that will bring a handful of NBC, USA, and SyFy shows to the streaming video service.

    Starting today, subscribers will get access to prior seasons of NBC’s Grimm, Hannibal, and Smash, USA’s Suits and Covert Affairs, and SyFy’s Defiance, Alphas, Eureka, and Warehouse 13.

    “We listen carefully to our customers to find out which TV shows and movies they find the most entertaining,” said Brad Beale, Director of Digital Video Content Acquisition for Amazon. “Our expanded agreement with NBCUniversal gives Prime members access to even more exclusive content that they can stream instantly, at no additional cost. Compelling shows like Covert Affairs, Defiance, Grimm, Hannibal and Suits are big wins for our customers and we look forward to adding more titles soon.”

    The deal also bring a couple of kids shows to Kindle FreeTime Unlimited – Curious George and The Land Before Time.

    Earlier this year, Amazon Prime added Food Network and Travel Channel shows, as well as FX’s hit series Justified and PBS’ Downton Abbey (which they nabbed exclusive rights to, snatching it away from Netflix and Hulu). Last month, Amazon released a series of pilots produced by Amazon Studios. Viewer feedback will determine which of the 14 shows are given a full run.

  • Kindle Fire Gets Amazon Coins, Amazon’s Virtual Currency

    Back in February, Amazon announced that Amazon Coins, its new virtual currency, would be coming to Kindle Fire devices in May. It’s May, and today, the company announced that the currency is now available.

    Customers can now start using the currency in any app from the Amazon Appstore.

    To celebrate, the company is giving away 500 free coins to all Kindle Fire customers in the U.S. This is the equivalent of $5. The coins are being automatically deposited in users’ accounts.

    “Today we are giving Kindle Fire owners $5 worth of Coins to spend on new apps and games, or to purchase in-app items, such as recipes in iCookbook, song collections in SongPop or mighty falcon bundles in Angry Birds Star Wars. And with discounts of up to 10% when you buy Coins, this is a great way for customers to save money when they buy apps, games and in-app items,” said Mike George, Vice President of Apps and Games at Amazon. “We will continue to add more ways to earn and spend Coins on a wider range of content and activities—today is Day One for Coins.”

    Developers will continue to earn the standard 70% revenue share, and Amazon will continue to support real currency as well. Amazon is encouraging the use of Amazon Coins, however, by letting customers get discounts of up to 10%.

  • Amazon 3D Smartphone In The Works [Report]

    Amazon 3D Smartphone In The Works [Report]

    A report is out from the Wall Street Journal today, indicating that Amazon is working on a new line of hardware products, which includes a smartphone with 3D display capability, an additional smartphone, and an audio-only streaming device. These are in addition to the previously rumored set-top box. Collectively, the report (which cites people familiar with the company’s plans as the source) says, the projects are known as Project A, B, C and D or “The Alphabet Projects” and are in development in Amazon’s Lab126 facility.

    The one smartphone would be able to display 3D images without users having to wear glasses, and would use retina-tracking technology to let people use their eyes to navigate through content, which would appear to float above the screen like a hologram, according to the report. The device would reportedly support 4G LTE and would come with Qualcomm chips.

    Finally, the Journal’s sources suggested that Amazon’s efforts could lead to a streaming music service that would compete with the likes of Pandora and Spotify, and presumably accompany the aforementioned audio-streaming device. They also indicated that the company wants to release some of the offerings in the coming months, but they could be abandoned if financial or performance concerns become too great.

    We’ve been hearing rumors about Amazon smartphones for quite some time. Speculation has been happening for years. Frankly, it would make a great deal of sense alongside its Kindle and Kindle Fire devices as the company increasingly competes with Apple and Google.

    In March, rumors heated up that Amazon planned to launch a Kindle Phone in Q2.

  • Kindle For Android Gets Design Update

    Amazon has released a new update for its Kindle for Android app, which has tens of millions of users, according to the company.

    The update includes a new design and interface, and easy access to samples.

    “Customers have told us they love the UI of Kindle Fire and how easy it is to access and navigate their digital content,” a spokesperson for Amazon tells WebProNews “We’re extending this design to Kindle for Android by optimizing the Kindle Store for tablets, improving the library interface, redesigning the home screen, and simplifying navigation through the app.”

    “For customers who are new to Kindle or Kindle apps, we’re making samples of many of the best sellers even easier to find, to help them get started,” the spokesperson adds. “Customers will find the samples on the home screen of their Kindle app.”

    Kindle for Android

    The app gives users acccess to over 1.5 million books in the Kindle Store, including 300,000 exclusive titles.

    The update can be downloaded from the Amazon Appstore for Android or from Google Play.

  • Amazon Sales Up 22% To $16.07 Billion For Q1, Profit Down

    Amazon reported its Q1 earnings today with sales up 22% to $16.07 billion.

    Operating cash flow was up 39% year-over-year to $4.25 billion for the trailing twelve months. Free cash flow was down 85% to $177 million for the trailing twelve months. This includes purchases of corporate office space and property in Seattle. Operating income was down 6% to $181 million in the first quarter, compared with $192 million in first quarter of 2012. Net income decreased 37% to $82 million in the quarter.

    Amazon is excited about its original content business moving forward.

    CEO Jeff Bezos said, “Amazon Studios is working on a new way to greenlight TV shows. The pilots are out in the open where everyone can have a say. I have my personal picks and so do members of the Amazon Studios team, but the exciting thing about our approach is that our opinions don’t matter. Our customers will determine what goes into full-season production. We hope Amazon Originals can become yet another way for us to create value for Prime members.”

    There is also talk of a pending Amazon ad network that would take on the likes of Google and Facebook, not to mention set-top boxes.

    Stock is up in after hours trading.

    Here’s the release in its entirety:

    SEATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Apr. 25, 2013– Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) today announced financial results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2013.

    Operating cash flow increased 39% to $4.25 billion for the trailing twelve months, compared with $3.05 billion for the trailing twelve months ended March 31, 2012. Free cash flow decreased 85% to $177 million for the trailing twelve months, compared with $1.15 billion for the trailing twelve months ended March 31, 2012. Free cash flow for the trailing twelve months ended March 31, 2013includes fourth quarter 2012 cash outflows for purchases of corporate office space and property in Seattle, Washington, of $1.4 billion.

    Common shares outstanding plus shares underlying stock-based awards totaled 471 million on March 31, 2013, compared with 464 million one year ago.

    Net sales increased 22% to $16.07 billion in the first quarter, compared with $13.18 billion in first quarter 2012. Excluding the $302 million unfavorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, net sales grew 24% compared with first quarter 2012.

    Operating income decreased 6% to $181 million in the first quarter, compared with $192 million in first quarter 2012. The unfavorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter on operating income was $12 million.

    Net income decreased 37% to $82 million in the first quarter, or $0.18 per diluted share, compared with $130 million, or $0.28 per diluted share, in first quarter 2012.

    “Amazon Studios is working on a new way to greenlight TV shows. The pilots are out in the open where everyone can have a say,” saidJeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. “I have my personal picks and so do members of the Amazon Studios team, but the exciting thing about our approach is that our opinions don’t matter. Our customers will determine what goes into full-season production. We hope Amazon Originals can become yet another way for us to create value for Prime members.”

    Highlights

    • Amazon.com expanded selection for Prime Instant Video, announcing new licensing agreements with A+E Networks, CBS Corporation, FX, PBS Distribution and Scripps Networks Interactive, bringing exclusive access to popular television series such as Downton Abbey, Justified and Under the Dome as well as shows from HGTV, DIY Network, Food Network, Cooking Channel and Travel Channel. Prime Instant Video now includes more than 38,000 movies and TV episodes that are available for Prime members to watch at no additional charge.
    • Amazon Studios, the original film and series production arm of Amazon.com, debuted 14 original comedy and kids pilots. The pilots, which feature stars such as John Goodman, Jeffrey Tambor and Bebe Neuwirth, are available exclusively atwww.amazonoriginals.com and on the Amazon Instant Video app for Kindle Fire HD, Kindle Fire, iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, Roku, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii and Wii U, as well as hundreds of other connected devices. Viewer feedback will help determine which pilots Amazon Studios will produce into full series.
    • Amazon expanded the popular Kindle Fire feature “X-Ray for Movies” to TV shows, bringing the power of IMDb directly to the most popular TV shows on Kindle Fire. With a single tap viewers can discover the names of actors and what they’ve been in, without even leaving the TV show.
    • Kindle Owners’ Lending Library has grown to over 300,000 books available to borrow for free as frequently as a book a month, including many titles exclusive to Amazon.
    • Amazon announced the launch of the Amazon MP3 store optimized specifically for Safari browser. For the first time ever, iPhone and iPod touch users can discover and buy digital music from Amazon’s 22 million song catalog. Amazon also announced its Cloud Player app for iPad and iPad mini, enabling customers to play or download music stored in Cloud Player to their device, play music that is already stored on their device, and manage or create playlists.
    • Amazon announced it has extended its popular AutoRip services to vinyl records. AutoRip provides customers with free MP3 versions of CDs and vinyl records they purchase from Amazon. Additionally, customers who have purchased AutoRip CDs or vinyl records at any time since Amazon first opened its Music Store in 1998 will find MP3 versions of those albums in their Cloud Player libraries – also automatically for free.
    • Amazon announced the launch of Kindle Fire HD 8.9” — the large-screen version of its best-selling tablet —for the U.K.,Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Japan. With the expansion of Kindle Fire HD 8.9” to Europe and Japan, Amazon also announced a lower price on Kindle Fire HD 8.9” in the U.S., with the Wi-Fi version starting at $269 and the 4G version starting at$399.
    • Amazon Publishing, the publishing arm of Amazon.com, announced that it will start paying authors their royalties monthly, 60 days in arrears — allowing authors to receive payment more frequently than the twice-a-year industry standard.
    • Amazon acquired Goodreads, a leading site for readers and book recommendations that helps people find and share books they love. Goodreads members can discover new books by seeing what their friends are reading or by using the Goodreads Book Recommendation Engine; share ratings and recommendations; track what they have read, and list what they want to read.
    • Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced the launch of Amazon Redshift, a fast and powerful, fully managed, petabyte-scale data warehouse service in the cloud for a fraction of the cost of a traditional data warehouse.
    • AWS launched AWS OpsWorks, an application management solution for the complete lifecycle of complex applications, including resource provisioning, configuration management, deployment, monitoring, and access control.
    • AWS announced Amazon Elastic Transcoder, a highly scalable service for transcoding video files between different digital media formats. Amazon Elastic Transcoder manages all aspects of the transcoding process transparently and automatically, providing scalability and performance by leveraging AWS services.
    • AWS announced AWS CloudHSM, a new service enabling customers to increase data security and meet compliance requirements by using dedicated Hardware Security Module (HSM) appliances within the AWS Cloud. The CloudHSM service allows customers to securely generate, store and manage cryptographic keys used for data encryption in a way that keys are accessible only by the customer.
    • AWS has lowered prices 31 times since it launched in 2006, including 7 price reductions so far in 2013.

    Financial Guidance

    The following forward-looking statements reflect Amazon.com’s expectations as of April 25, 2013. Our results are inherently unpredictable and may be materially affected by many factors, such as fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, changes in global economic conditions and consumer spending, world events, the rate of growth of the Internet and online commerce and the various factors detailed below.

    Second Quarter 2013 Guidance

    • Net sales are expected to be between $14.5 billion and $16.2 billion, or to grow between 13% and 26% compared with second quarter 2012.
    • Operating income (loss) is expected to be between $(340) million and $10 million, compared to $107 million in the comparable prior year period.
    • This guidance includes approximately $340 million for stock-based compensation and amortization of intangible assets, and it assumes, among other things, that no additional business acquisitions, investments, or legal settlements are concluded and that there are no further revisions to stock-based compensation estimates.

    A conference call will be webcast live today at 2 p.m. PT/5 p.m. ET, and will be available for at least three months atwww.amazon.com/ir. This call will contain forward-looking statements and other material information regarding the Company’s financial and operating results.

    These forward-looking statements are inherently difficult to predict. Actual results could differ materially for a variety of reasons, including, in addition to the factors discussed above, the amount that Amazon.com invests in new business opportunities and the timing of those investments, the mix of products sold to customers, the mix of net sales derived from products as compared with services, the extent to which we owe income taxes, competition, management of growth, potential fluctuations in operating results, international growth and expansion, the outcomes of legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment and data center optimization, risks of inventory management, seasonality, the degree to which the Company enters into, maintains, and develops commercial agreements, acquisitions, and strategic transactions, and risks of fulfillment throughput and productivity. Other risks and uncertainties include, among others, risks related to new products, services, and technologies, system interruptions, government regulation and taxation, payments, and fraud. In addition, the current global economic climate amplifies many of these risks. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com’s financial results is included in Amazon.com’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings.

    Our investor relations website is www.amazon.com/ir and we encourage investors to use it as a way of easily finding information about us. We promptly make available on this website, free of charge, the reports that we file or furnish with the SEC, corporate governance information (including our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics), and select press releases and social media postings.

    About Amazon.com

    Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle, opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth’s Biggest Selection. Amazon.com, Inc. seeks to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and other sellers offer millions of unique new, refurbished and used items in categories such as Books; Movies, Music & Games; Digital Downloads; Electronics & Computers; Home & Garden; Toys, Kids & Baby; Grocery; Apparel, Shoes & Jewelry; Health & Beauty; Sports & Outdoors; and Tools, Auto & Industrial. Amazon Web Services provides Amazon’s developer customers with access to in-the-cloud infrastructure services based on Amazon’s own back-end technology platform, which developers can use to enable virtually any type of business. Kindle Paperwhite is the most-advanced e-reader ever constructed with 62% more pixels and 25% increased contrast, a patented built-in front light for reading in all lighting conditions, extra-long battery life, and a thin and light design. The new latest generation Kindle, the lightest and smallest Kindle, now features new, improved fonts and faster page turns. Kindle Fire HD features a stunning custom high-definition display, exclusive Dolby audio with dual stereo speakers, high-end, laptop-grade Wi-Fi with dual-band support, dual-antennas and MIMO for faster streaming and downloads, enough storage for HD content, and the latest generation processor and graphics engine—and it is available in two display sizes—7” and 8.9”. The large-screen Kindle Fire HD is also available with 4G wireless, and comes with a groundbreaking $49.99 introductory 4G LTE data package. The all-new Kindle Fire features a 20% faster processor, 40% faster performance, twice the memory, and longer battery life.

    Amazon and its affiliates operate websites…. As used herein, “Amazon.com,” “we,” “our” and similar terms include Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise.

    AMAZON.COM, INC.
    Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
    (in millions)
    (unaudited)
    Three Months Ended Twelve Months Ended
    March 31, March 31,
    2013 2012 2013 2012
    CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, BEGINNING OF PERIOD $ 8,084 $ 5,269 $ 2,288 $ 2,641
    OPERATING ACTIVITIES:
    Net income (loss) 82 130 (87 ) 561
    Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash from operating activities:
    Depreciation of property and equipment, including internal-use software and website development, and other amortization 700 457 2,402 1,338
    Stock-based compensation 229 160 901 605
    Other operating expense (income), net 31 46 139 168
    Losses (gains) on sales of marketable securities, net – (2 ) (7 ) (8 )
    Other expense (income), net 68 15 306 (78 )
    Deferred income taxes (80 ) (38 ) (307 ) 83
    Excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation – (40 ) (390 ) (56 )
    Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
    Inventories 535 747 (1,211 ) (1,374 )
    Accounts receivable, net and other 729 746 (877 ) (479 )
    Accounts payable (4,187 ) (4,258 ) 2,141 1,388
    Accrued expenses and other (703 ) (529 ) 864 721
    Additions to unearned revenue 684 397 2,083 1,252
    Amortization of previously unearned revenue (460 ) (269 ) (1,712 ) (1,070 )
    Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities (2,372 ) (2,438 ) 4,245 3,051
    INVESTING ACTIVITIES:
    Purchases of property and equipment, including internal-use software and website development (670 ) (386 ) (4,068 ) (1,899 )
    Acquisitions, net of cash acquired, and other (103 ) (50 ) (798 ) (615 )
    Sales and maturities of marketable securities and other investments 599 1,738 3,098 6,641
    Purchases of marketable securities and other investments (776 ) (852 ) (3,227 ) (5,997 )
    Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities (950 ) 450 (4,995 ) (1,870 )
    FINANCING ACTIVITIES:
    Excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation – 40 390 56
    Common stock repurchased – (960 ) – (1,237 )
    Proceeds from long-term debt and other 25 68 3,319 154
    Repayments of long-term debt, capital lease, and finance lease obligations (182 ) (153 ) (603 ) (483 )
    Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities (157 ) (1,005 ) 3,106 (1,510 )
    Foreign-currency effect on cash and cash equivalents (124 ) 12 (163 ) (24 )
    Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents (3,603 ) (2,981 ) 2,193 (353 )
    CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, END OF PERIOD $ 4,481 $ 2,288 $ 4,481 $ 2,288
    SUPPLEMENTAL CASH FLOW INFORMATION:
    Cash paid for interest on long-term debt $ 13 $ 6 $ 37 $ 17
    Cash paid for income taxes (net of refunds) 86 19 179 45
    Property and equipment acquired under capital leases 340 149 993 721
    Property and equipment acquired under build-to-suit leases 150 17 163 207
    AMAZON.COM, INC.
    Consolidated Statements of Operations
    (in millions, except per share data)
    (unaudited)
    Three Months Ended
    March 31,
    2013 2012
    Net product sales $ 13,271 $ 11,249
    Net services sales 2,799 1,936
    Total net sales 16,070 13,185
    Operating expenses (1):
    Cost of sales 11,801 10,027
    Fulfillment 1,796 1,295
    Marketing 632 480
    Technology and content 1,383 945
    General and administrative 246 200
    Other operating expense (income), net 31 46
    Total operating expenses 15,889 12,993
    Income from operations 181 192
    Interest income 10 12
    Interest expense (33 ) (21 )
    Other income (expense), net (77 ) (99 )
    Total non-operating income (expense) (100 ) (108 )
    Income before income taxes 81 84
    Benefit (provision) for income taxes 18 (43 )
    Equity-method investment activity, net of tax (17 ) 89
    Net income $ 82 $ 130
    Basic earnings per share $ 0.18 $ 0.29
    Diluted earnings per share $ 0.18 $ 0.28
    Weighted average shares used in computation of earnings per share:
    Basic 455 453
    Diluted 463 460
    (1) Includes stock-based compensation as follows:
    Fulfillment $ 61 $ 37
    Marketing 16 12
    Technology and content 120 85
    General and administrative 32 26
    AMAZON.COM, INC.
    CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME
    (in millions)
    (unaudited)
    Three Months Ended
    March 31,
    2013 2012
    Net income $ 82 $ 130
    Other comprehensive income (loss):
    Foreign currency translation adjustments, net of tax of $(9) and $(38) (78 ) 137
    Net change in unrealized gains on available-for-sale securities:
    Unrealized gains (losses), net of tax of $1 and $(3) (2 ) 7
    Reclassification adjustment for losses (gains) included in “Other income (expense), net,” net of tax effect of $0 and $1 – (2 )
    Net unrealized gains (losses) on available-for-sale securities (2 ) 5
    Total other comprehensive income (loss) (80 ) 142
    Comprehensive income $ 2 $ 272
    AMAZON.COM, INC.
    Segment Information
    (in millions)
    (unaudited)
    Three Months Ended
    March 31,
    2013 2012
    North America
    Net sales $ 9,391 $ 7,427
    Segment operating expenses (1) 8,934 7,078
    Segment operating income $ 457 $ 349
    International
    Net sales $ 6,679 $ 5,758
    Segment operating expenses (1) 6,695 5,709
    Segment operating income (loss) $ (16 ) $ 49
    Consolidated
    Net sales $ 16,070 $ 13,185
    Segment operating expenses (1) 15,629 12,787
    Segment operating income 441 398
    Stock-based compensation (229 ) (160 )
    Other operating income (expense), net (31 ) (46 )
    Income from operations 181 192
    Total non-operating income (expense) (100 ) (108 )
    Benefit (provision) for income taxes 18 (43 )
    Equity-method investment activity, net of tax (17 ) 89
    Net income $ 82 $ 130
    Segment Highlights:
    Y/Y net sales growth:
    North America 26 % 36 %
    International 16 31
    Consolidated 22 34
    Y/Y segment operating income growth (decline):
    North America 31 % 20 %
    International (133 ) (72 )
    Consolidated 11 (15 )
    Net sales mix:
    North America 58 % 56 %
    International 42 44
    100 % 100 %
    (1) Represents operating expenses, excluding stock-based compensation and “Other operating expense (income), net,” which are not allocated to segments.
    AMAZON.COM, INC.
    Supplemental Net Sales Information
    (in millions)
    (unaudited)
    Three Months Ended
    March 31,
    2013 2012
    North America
    Media $ 2,513 $ 2,197
    Electronics and other general merchandise 6,128 4,772
    Other (1) 750 458
    Total North America $ 9,391 $ 7,427
    International
    Media $ 2,545 $ 2,513
    Electronics and other general merchandise 4,086 3,203
    Other (1) 48 42
    Total International $ 6,679 $ 5,758
    Consolidated
    Media $ 5,058 $ 4,710
    Electronics and other general merchandise 10,214 7,975
    Other (1) 798 500
    Total consolidated $ 16,070 $ 13,185
    Y/Y Net Sales Growth:
    North America:
    Media 14 % 17 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise 28 44
    Other 64 66
    Total North America 26 36
    International:
    Media 1 % 21 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise 28 40
    Other 14 24
    Total International 16 31
    Consolidated:
    Media 7 % 19 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise 28 43
    Other 59 61
    Total consolidated 22 34
    Y/Y Net Sales Growth Excluding Effect of Exchange Rates:
    International:
    Media 7 % 22 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise 32 42
    Other 18 26
    Total International 21 32
    Consolidated:
    Media 10 % 19 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise 30 43
    Other 60 61
    Total consolidated 24 34
    Consolidated Net Sales Mix:
    Media 31 % 36 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise 64 60
    Other 5 4
    100 % 100 %
    (1) Includes sales from non-retail activities, such as AWS in the North America segment, advertising services, and our co-branded credit card agreements in both segments.
    AMAZON.COM, INC.
    Consolidated Balance Sheets
    (in millions, except per share data)
    March 31, December 31,
    2013 2012
    ASSETS (unaudited)
    Current assets:
    Cash and cash equivalents $ 4,481 $ 8,084
    Marketable securities 3,414 3,364
    Inventories 5,395 6,031
    Accounts receivable, net and other 2,516 3,364
    Deferred tax assets 507 453
    Total current assets 16,313 21,296
    Property and equipment, net 7,674 7,060
    Deferred tax assets 123 123
    Goodwill 2,535 2,552
    Other assets 1,732 1,524
    Total assets $ 28,377 $ 32,555
    LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
    Current liabilities:
    Accounts payable $ 8,916 $ 13,318
    Accrued expenses and other 5,416 5,684
    Total current liabilities 14,332 19,002
    Long-term debt 3,040 3,084
    Other long-term liabilities 2,573 2,277
    Commitments and contingencies
    Stockholders’ equity:
    Preferred stock, $0.01 par value:
    Authorized shares — 500
    Issued and outstanding shares — none – –
    Common stock, $0.01 par value:
    Authorized shares — 5,000
    Issued shares — 479 and 478
    Outstanding shares — 455 and 454 5 5
    Treasury stock, at cost (1,837 ) (1,837 )
    Additional paid-in capital 8,585 8,347
    Accumulated other comprehensive loss (319 ) (239 )
    Retained earnings 1,998 1,916
    Total stockholders’ equity 8,432 8,192
    Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity $ 28,377 $ 32,555
    AMAZON.COM, INC.
    Supplemental Financial Information and Business Metrics
    (in millions, except per share data)
    (unaudited)
    Y/Y %
    Q1 2012 Q2 2012 Q3 2012 Q4 2012 Q1 2013 Change
    Cash Flows and Shares
    Operating cash flow — trailing twelve months (TTM) $ 3,051 $ 3,222 $ 3,368 $ 4,180 $ 4,245 39 %
    Purchases of property and equipment (incl. internal-use software & website development) — TTM $ 1,899 $ 2,123 $ 2,310 $ 3,785 $ 4,068 114 %
    Free cash flow (operating cash flow less purchases of property and equipment) — TTM $ 1,152 $ 1,099 $ 1,058 $ 395 $ 177 (85 %)
    Free cash flow — TTM Y/Y growth (decline) (39 %) (40 %) (31 %) (81 %) (85 %) N/A
    Invested capital (1) $ 10,006 $ 10,250 $ 10,392 $ 11,181 $ 12,019 20 %
    Return on invested capital (2) 12 % 11 % 10 % 4 % 1 % N/A
    Common shares and stock-based awards outstanding 464 468 469 470 471 2 %
    Common shares outstanding 450 452 453 454 455 1 %
    Stock-based awards outstanding 13 16 16 16 16 17 %
    Stock-based awards outstanding — % of common shares outstanding 2.9 % 3.6 % 3.6 % 3.5 % 3.4 % N/A
    Results of Operations
    Worldwide (WW) net sales $ 13,185 $ 12,834 $ 13,806 $ 21,268 $ 16,070 22 %
    WW net sales — Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 34 % 32 % 30 % 23 % 24 % N/A
    WW net sales — TTM $ 51,404 $ 54,325 $ 57,256 $ 61,093 $ 63,978 24 %
    WW net sales — TTM Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 37 % 35 % 33 % 29 % 27 % N/A
    Operating income (loss) $ 192 $ 107 $ (28 ) $ 405 $ 181 (6 %)
    Operating income — Y/Y growth (decline), excluding F/X (38 %) (34 %) (137 %) 59 % 1 % N/A
    Operating margin — % of WW net sales 1.5 % 0.8 % (0.2 %) 1.9 % 1.1 % N/A
    Operating income — TTM $ 732 $ 637 $ 531 $ 676 $ 665 (9 %)
    Operating income — TTM Y/Y growth (decline), excluding F/X (50 %) (50 %) (48 %) (15 %) (6 %) N/A
    Operating margin — TTM % of WW net sales 1.4 % 1.2 % 0.9 % 1.1 % 1.0 % N/A
    Net income (loss) $ 130 $ 7 $ (274 ) $ 97 $ 82 (37 %)
    Net income (loss) per diluted share $ 0.28 $ 0.01 $ (0.60 ) $ 0.21 $ 0.18 (37 %)
    Net income (loss) — TTM $ 561 $ 377 $ 40 $ (39 ) $ (87 ) (116 %)
    Net income (loss) per diluted share — TTM $ 1.22 $ 0.82 $ 0.09 $ (0.09 ) $ (0.19 ) (116 %)
    Segments
    North America Segment:
    Net sales $ 7,427 $ 7,326 $ 7,884 $ 12,175 $ 9,391 26 %
    Net sales — Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 36 % 36 % 33 % 23 % 26 % N/A
    Net sales — TTM $ 28,667 $ 30,587 $ 32,540 $ 34,813 $ 36,777 28 %
    Operating income $ 349 $ 344 $ 291 $ 608 $ 457 31 %
    Operating margin — % of North America net sales 4.7 % 4.7 % 3.7 % 5.0 % 4.9 % N/A
    Operating income — TTM $ 991 $ 1,120 $ 1,268 $ 1,592 $ 1,700 72 %
    Operating income — TTM Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 2 % 14 % 34 % 71 % 72 % N/A
    Operating margin — TTM % of North America net sales 3.5 % 3.7 % 3.9 % 4.6 % 4.6 % N/A
    International Segment:
    Net sales $ 5,758 $ 5,508 $ 5,922 $ 9,093 $ 6,679 16 %
    Net sales — Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 32 % 28 % 27 % 23 % 21 % N/A
    Net sales — TTM $ 22,737 $ 23,738 $ 24,716 $ 26,280 $ 27,201 20 %
    Net sales — TTM % of WW net sales 44 % 44 % 43 % 43 % 43 % N/A
    Operating income (loss) $ 49 $ 16 $ (59 ) $ 70 $ (16 ) (133 %)
    Operating margin — % of International net sales 0.9 % 0.3 % (1.0 %) 0.8 % (0.2 %) N/A
    Operating income — TTM $ 515 $ 359 $ 183 $ 76 $ 11 (98 %)
    Operating income — TTM Y/Y growth (decline), excluding F/X (49 %) (57 %) (68 %) (77 %) (83 %) N/A
    Operating margin — TTM % of International net sales 2.3 % 1.5 % 0.7 % 0.3 % 0.0 % N/A
    Consolidated Segments:
    Operating expenses (3) $ 12,787 $ 12,474 $ 13,574 $ 20,590 $ 15,629 22 %
    Operating expenses — TTM (3) $ 49,899 $ 52,846 $ 55,805 $ 59,425 $ 62,267 25 %
    Operating income $ 398 $ 360 $ 232 $ 678 $ 441 11 %
    Operating margin — % of Consolidated sales 3.0 % 2.8 % 1.7 % 3.2 % 2.7 % N/A
    Operating income — TTM $ 1,505 $ 1,480 $ 1,451 $ 1,668 $ 1,711 14 %
    Operating income — TTM Y/Y growth (decline), excluding F/X (22 %) (21 %) (15 %) 7 % 15 % N/A
    Operating margin — TTM % of Consolidated net sales 2.9 % 2.7 % 2.5 % 2.7 % 2.7 % N/A
    AMAZON.COM, INC.
    Supplemental Financial Information and Business Metrics
    (in millions, except inventory turnover, accounts payable days and employee data)
    (unaudited)
    Y/Y %
    Q1 2012 Q2 2012 Q3 2012 Q4 2012 Q1 2013 Change
    Supplemental
    Supplemental North America Segment Net Sales:
    Media $ 2,197 $ 1,874 $ 2,215 $ 2,903 $ 2,513 14 %
    Media — Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 17 % 18 % 15 % 13 % 14 % N/A
    Media — TTM $ 8,270 $ 8,559 $ 8,847 $ 9,189 $ 9,506 15 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise $ 4,772 $ 4,937 $ 5,061 $ 8,503 $ 6,128 28 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise — Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 44 % 41 % 39 % 24 % 28 % N/A
    Electronics and other general merchandise — TTM $ 18,784 $ 20,226 $ 21,652 $ 23,273 $ 24,629 31 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise — TTM % of North America net sales 66 % 66 % 67 % 67 % 67 % N/A
    Other $ 458 $ 515 $ 608 $ 769 $ 750 64 %
    Other — TTM $ 1,613 $ 1,802 $ 2,041 $ 2,351 $ 2,642 64 %
    Supplemental International Segment Net Sales:
    Media $ 2,513 $ 2,245 $ 2,385 $ 3,611 $ 2,545 1 %
    Media — Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 22 % 12 % 12 % 7 % 7 % N/A
    Media — TTM $ 10,261 $ 10,431 $ 10,590 $ 10,753 $ 10,785 5 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise $ 3,203 $ 3,224 $ 3,497 $ 5,431 $ 4,086 28 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise — Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 42 % 42 % 39 % 37 % 32 % N/A
    Electronics and other general merchandise — TTM $ 12,314 $ 13,139 $ 13,956 $ 15,355 $ 16,238 32 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise — TTM % of International net sales 54 % 55 % 56 % 58 % 60 % N/A
    Other $ 42 $ 39 $ 40 $ 51 $ 48 14 %
    Other — TTM $ 162 $ 168 $ 170 $ 172 $ 178 9 %
    Supplemental Worldwide Net Sales:
    Media $ 4,710 $ 4,119 $ 4,600 $ 6,514 $ 5,058 7 %
    Media — Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 19 % 15 % 14 % 10 % 10 % N/A
    Media — TTM $ 18,531 $ 18,990 $ 19,437 $ 19,942 $ 20,291 9 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise $ 7,975 $ 8,161 $ 8,558 $ 13,934 $ 10,214 28 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise — Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 43 % 42 % 39 % 29 % 30 % N/A
    Electronics and other general merchandise — TTM $ 31,098 $ 33,365 $ 35,608 $ 38,628 $ 40,867 31 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise — TTM % of WW net sales 60 % 61 % 62 % 63 % 64 % N/A
    Other $ 500 $ 554 $ 648 $ 820 $ 798 59 %
    Other — TTM $ 1,775 $ 1,970 $ 2,211 $ 2,523 $ 2,820 59 %
    Balance Sheet
    Cash and marketable securities $ 5,715 $ 4,970 $ 5,248 $ 11,448 $ 7,895 38 %
    Inventory, net — ending $ 4,255 $ 4,380 $ 5,065 $ 6,031 $ 5,395 27 %
    Inventory turnover, average — TTM 10.4 10.1 9.7 9.3 9.5 (8 %)
    Property and equipment, net $ 4,653 $ 5,097 $ 5,662 $ 7,060 $ 7,674 65 %
    Accounts payable — ending $ 6,886 $ 7,072 $ 8,369 $ 13,318 $ 8,916 29 %
    Accounts payable days — ending 62 68 75 76 68 9 %
    Other
    WW shipping revenue $ 461 $ 469 $ 517 $ 832 $ 633 37 %
    WW shipping costs $ 1,129 $ 1,054 $ 1,153 $ 1,798 $ 1,396 24 %
    WW net shipping costs $ 668 $ 585 $ 636 $ 966 $ 763 14 %
    WW net shipping costs — % of WW net sales 5.1 % 4.6 % 4.6 % 4.5 % 4.7 % N/A
    Employees (full-time and part-time; excludes contractors & temporary personnel) 65,600 69,100 81,400 88,400 91,300 39 %
    (1) Average Total Assets minus Current Liabilities (excluding current portion of Long-Term Debt) over five quarter ends.
    (2) TTM Free Cash Flow divided by Invested Capital.
    (3) Represents cost of sales, fulfillment, marketing, technology and content, and general and administrative operating expenses, excluding stock-based compensation.

    Amazon.com, Inc.

    Certain Definitions

    Customer Accounts

    • References to customers mean customer accounts, which are unique e-mail addresses, established either when a customer places an order or when a customer orders from other sellers on our websites. Customer accounts exclude certain customers, including customers associated with certain of our acquisitions, Amazon Payments customers, Amazon Web Services customers, and the customers of select companies with whom we have a technology alliance or marketing and promotional relationship. Customers are considered active when they have placed an order during the preceding twelve-month period.

    Seller Accounts

    • References to sellers means seller accounts, which are established when a seller receives an order from a customer account. Sellers are considered active when they have received an order from a customer during the preceding twelve-month period.

    Registered Developers

    • References to registered developers mean cumulative registered developer accounts, which are established when potential developers enroll with Amazon Web Services and receive a developer access key.

    Units

    • References to units mean physical and digital units sold (net of returns and cancellations) by us and sellers at Amazon domains worldwide – for example www.amazon.com, www.amazon.co.uk… – as well as Amazon-owned items sold through non-Amazon domains. Units sold are paid units and do not include units associated with certain acquisitions, rental businesses, web services or advertising businesses, or Amazon gift certificates.

     

    Source: Amazon.com, Inc.

  • Amazon To Launch ‘Kindle TV’ Set-Top Box This Fall [REPORT]

    Amazon To Launch ‘Kindle TV’ Set-Top Box This Fall [REPORT]

    Is Amazon about to jump into the set-top box game?

    That’s the word from Bloomberg Businessweek, who quotes three sources familiar with the matter. According to the sources, the ‘Kindle TV’ (name uncertain) will be available this Fall.

    Amazon’s new set-top box would work just like any internet-connected streaming device for your television – it would plug into your TV and let users stream internet content. Nothing revolutionary, of course, but Amazon has never offered a product like this before.

    Naturally, sources say that the set-top box would let users stream Amazon Video on Demand, as well as Prime Instant Video offerings for Prime subscribers. The benefit for Amazon in manufacturing and operating its own set-top box is that the company would be able to point users in the right direction when it comes to content (watch it on Prime Instant, not Netflix!). Plus, it would give Amazon another way to showcase original content from Amazon Studios, which we saw get a huge kickstart earlier this week from a series of new pilots.

    According to the report, the new set-top box is being developed by Amazon’s Lab126 division in Cupertino, and is being helmed by former VP of video products at Cisco Systems Malachy Moynihan.

    Right out of the gate, Amazon would be competing with Apple TV, Roku, and consoles like the Xbox 360, which all offer the same deal – streaming internet content on your TV.

    The first and most obvious question regarding an Amazon set-top box (other than price, of course), is which apps it would support. For instance, would it launch with a Netflix app, considering that they are a huge competitor in terms of battling for streaming eyes. You would have to imagine that it would, considering Amazon has been able to play nice with other video apps like Netflix on their other devices, like the Kindle Fire tablet.

  • Amazon: These Are The Most Well-Read American Cities

    Amazon put out its annual list of the top twenty most well-read cities in America today.

    While number one is the same as it was last year, there are some differences. Cambridge, for example, fell from number 2 to number 4. Berkley fell from number 3 to number 7. Boulder, which was last year’s number 5, is not even on the list this year.

    Here’s the list:

    1. Alexandria, Va.
    2. Knoxville, Tenn.
    3. Miami, Fla.
    4. Cambridge, Mass.
    5. Orlando, Fla.
    6. Ann Arbor, Mich.
    7. Berkeley, Calif.
    8. Cincinnati, Ohio
    9. Columbia, S.C.
    10. Pittsburgh, Penn.
    11. St. Louis, Mo.
    12. Salt Lake City, Utah
    13. Seattle, Wash.
    14. Vancouver, Wash.
    15. Gainesville, Fla.
    16. Atlanta, Ga.
    17. Dayton, Ohio
    18. Richmond, Va.
    19. Clearwater, Fla.
    20. Tallahassee, Fla.

    For comparison, here’s last year’s.

    New additions include: Vancouver, Dayton, Clearwater,and Tallahassee.

    “The results of our annual Most Well-Read Cities list is proof that people across the country are reading, and also that we’re still seeing the popularity of Fifty Shades of Grey,” said Sara Nelson, Editorial Director of Books and Kindle. “It’s fun for us to see facts like the citizens of Cambridge are buying the most books in the business category or that one of our favorite novels of 2012, Gone Girl, is the best-selling book in the Most Well-Read City, Alexandria.”

    Ranking was determined by compiling sales data of books, magazines and newspapers in print and Kindle format since June 1, 2012, on a per capita basis, in cities with over 100,000 residents.

    Did your city make the list?

  • Amazon’s Original Pilot Initiative Sees Early Success, Lots of Feedback

    On Friday, Amazon finally made all of those pilots they had been talking about for months available for all to view and vote on. Amazon has said that they will use user feedback to determine which of the 14 pilots launched on Friday eventually see a full series run.

    And today, they’re announcing that the initiative has seen some early success.

    According to Amazon, 8 out of the 10 most-streamed episodes over the weekend belonged to the new pilots.

    “For the past year the Amazon Studios team has collaborated with some of the best actors and writers in Hollywood to produce top-quality shows. Now we’ve handed the remote to our customers to hear what they think,” said Roy Price, Director of Amazon Studios. “In just a few days the pilots have received thousands of helpful and sometimes hilarious reviews. Keep the feedback coming – and help us decide which pilots will be turned into full series.”

    Amazon says that out of those thousands of reviews, 80% of them have been for 4 or 5 stars.

    The full list of comedy pilots available includes Alpha House, Betas, Browsers, Dark Minions, Onion News Empire, Supanatural, Those Who Can’t, and Zombieland. And the 6 kids shows are Annebots, Creative Galaxy, Positively Ozitively, Sara Solves It, Teeny Tiny Dogs, and Tumbleaf.

    Price has said that Amazon doesn’t really have a particular number in mind when it comes to how many pilots they will greenlight for full seasons. “Seven would be a lot, but zero wouldn’t be enough. So somewhere between there,” he said. The user feedback will be the determining factor, and it looks like plenty of people are interested in helping Amazon make the decision.

  • Amazon Debuts 14 Pilots, Wants Your Feedback

    Amazon Studios has just unveiled 14 new pilots for your viewing pleasure, and your feedback will determine which pilots are developed into something more.

    Over on the Amazon Original Pilots page, you can find the pilots for 8 different comedy shows. Most of them have been announced and viewers have simply been waiting for the pilots to drop – this includes Zombieland, based on the film of the same name and Betas, a show about a Silicon Valley startup.

    The full list of the comedy pilots is Alpha House, Betas, Browsers, Dark Minions, Onion News Empire, Supanatural, Those Who Can’t, and Zombieland.

    Amazon has also launched the pilots for 6 children’s shows: Annebots, Creative Galaxy, Positively Ozitively, Sara Solves It, Teeny Tiny Dogs, and Tumbleaf.

    All of the pilots are free to watch for people in the U.S. and the U.K. German LOVEFILM customers will get the pilots in a few weeks.

    Amazon is also inviting viewers to rate and review the pilots, in an attempt to determine which ones should receive a full-series run. On the pilots page, Amazon links viewers to a survey where they can answer questions about any and all of the 14 pilots – “Overall, how would you rate the show” and “Based on what you’ve seen, would you watch future episodes” type questions.

    Not all of these pilots will receive additional episodes – but the exact number that will is still undecided. Amazon Studios director Roy Price told The Verge:

    “We don’t have any particular number of shows in mind…We would like to see a few shows come out of the process. Seven would be a lot, but zero wouldn’t be enough. So somewhere between there.”

    So, go watch, and go vote. Let’s see if Amazon can draw up some good series out of this experiment.

  • Zombieland Pilot Premieres on Amazon (and We Get a Trailer)

    UPDATE: The pilot has not yet launched, Amazon informs me. And when it does, it will be available to all, not just Prime members.

    ORIGINAL ARTICLE: The pilot for Amazon’s new original comedy series Zombieland, based on the movie of the same name, is now available for Amazon Prime customers. You can find it here.

    “Zombieland will strive to break the rules—action, adventure, thrills, chills and laughs and all packed into a half hour format,” said creator Paul Wernick. “This is not your average show but Amazon is not your average network.”

    Zombieland features the same characters from the film – Columbus, Little Rock, Tallahassee, etc. But you wont see Woody Harrelson or Emma Stone. Instead, a new crop of actors take on the now iconic roles Tyler Ross as Columbus, Izabela Vidovic as Little Rock, Kirk Ward as Tallahassee, and Maiara Walsh as Wichita. Some of the film’s original creative team in on board, however, including writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. It’s being directed by Tucker and Dale vs Evil‘s Eli Craig.

    You can check out the trailer below:

    Zombieland is the 7th comedy pilot greenlit by Amazon Studios, which will all be available on Amazon Prime and LOVEFILM UK. User feedback will determine which pilots are developed into fill series.