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Tag: Amazon

  • Kindle Fire Owners Want The iPad 3 [SURVEY]

    On a day where we saw some supposed leaked images of the iPad 3 emerge as well as heard a rumor about a 10-inch Kindle Fire in the pipeline, deal aggregator TechBargains.com unveils some pretty compelling information about who’s clamoring for the iPad 3.

    And unfortunately for Amazon, it appears that the subset includes quite a few Kindle Fire owners.

    According to their survey about iPad 3 buzz, 53% of current Kindle Fire owners say that they plan on buying the iPad 3 when it comes out later this year. Of that set of users, 85% said that they wish to upgrade their current tablet and 73% said that “no tablet compares to the iPad.” Not only that, but 31% said they were undecided on whether or not they would but an iPad 3. That means that only 16% of Kindle Fire owners who participated in the survey are completely happy with their tablet.

    These findings echo a study we reported on earlier this month that said only 54% of Kindle Fire owners would classify themselves as “very satisfied” with their device.

    Of course, the $199 7-inch Kindle Fire is not really a true competitor of the iPad, but it is shocking that this many Kindle Fire owners say they will pony up the cash for the next-gen Apple device.

    The study also asked current iPad owners about their future plans, and the results scream loyalty. 66% of iPad owners and a surprising 56% of iPad 2 owners say they will buy the iPad 3 whenever it comes out. What do they want out of the device? Most importantly, 85% said a quad-core processor (which they’ll likely be getting). 82% said that they want a better speaker and 72% said that they want a less-reflective screen.

    Check out the infographic below for more insight from the survey:

    iPad 3 Buyers infographic
    [Via: TechBargains]

  • 10-Inch Kindle Fire Set For Q2 2012?

    According to reports, Amazon has tapped Foxconn to manufacture a 10-inch version of their popular Kindle Fire tablet, and you could have your hands on one pretty soon.

    The reports comes from DigiTimes, who quote sources that say “Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry) has obtained ODM orders for 10-inch Kindle Fire from Amazon and will begin shipments in the second quarter of 2012.”

    The Kindle Fire sold well during the holiday season, as Amazon reported that it was their best-selling device. As the imminent launch of the iPad 3 looms, however, it’s expected that Amazon will cut their order for the 7-inch Kindle Fire in half. The biggest draw for many buyers of the 7-inch Kindle Fire was the $199 price point, and one wonders how they would be able to compete with the iPad in the realm of 10-inch tablet prices. A 10-inch Kindle Fire would surely have a lower price than the iPad 3, so it would directly challenge Apple’s dominance.

    A recent study found that Kindle Fire owners were in no way as satisfied with their device as iPad owners (74% to 54%). The price was said to be the part users liked the most, followed by the screen and then the “ease of use.” Users’ disappointments with the Kindle Fire were lack of physical volume buttons, followed by poor battery life and lack of 3G. The smaller 7-inch screen size wasn’t mentioned, so it’s unclear as to whether or not it played a role in their dissatisfaction.

    Every time Amazon sells a Kindle Fire, they lose a couple of bucks, as the manufacturing costs were revealed to exceed $199 by a few dollars. However, analysts have predicted that Amazon’s strategy of recouping those losses with app and media purchases will work – they say each Kindle could make Amazon over $100 in its lifetime.

    Oddly enough, as rumors of a larger Kindle Fire appear, rumors of a smaller iPad continue to float around. Latest rumors say that Apple could be launching a 7-inch iPad Mini later this year on the heels of the iPad 3, which is expected in March.

  • Amazon Sellers Complain

    Amazon Sellers Complain

    Amazon is encouraging their retailers to comply with new 24/7 buyer communication requirements, and is getting complaints from sellers, who say new policies are forcing them to stay open for business 7 days a week.

    One seller told Tamebay, “basically, they are now forcing us to respond to 90% of messages within 24 hours. We already work 6 days of the week, this essentially means we have to work 7 days to cope with this“. One problem occurs when not every buyer message requires a response. If a buyer emails a vendor to say to say “thanks” for an item, the vendor will get a demerit against his or her seller metrics, if they don’t promptly mark the message as “not needing a response.” If these black marks add up on seller profiles, even when neglected on weekends and holidays, restrictions can be placed on vendor accounts.

    The Amazon buyer-seller contact response time management feature tracks customer service-oriented stats, and Amazon notes that “customers who do not receive timely responses are more likely to leave negative feedback, or file A-to-Z Guarantee claims, which impact performance metrics. The contact response time tracker doesn’t accomodate for weekends or holidays, which might make things plainly annoying for small vendors, but possibly a big problem for large businesses, who might not have administrators in the office on a Sunday.

    The following is a buyer communication instructional email from Amazon Services Europe:

    Dear Seller,
    Buyers tell us that receiving timely responses from sellers to their enquiries is an important contributor to their overall satisfaction with an order. Our research has shown that sellers who respond to 90% or more of their messages within 24 hours have nearly 24% less negative feedback than sellers who take longer to respond.
    To help make your Amazon Marketplace transactions successful, we recommend that you respond to buyer enquiries within 24 hours. You can access buyer enquiries by clicking the “Messages” link in the upper-right corner of your seller account home page. Copies of messages are also sent to the e-mail address associated with your account.
    You can monitor your average response times on the Customer Metrics page of your seller account. Your Buyer-Seller Contact Response Time metrics are located at the bottom of the page.
    For more information on how response time metrics are calculated, search on “Contact Response Time Metrics” in our online seller Help.
    The following are some best practices for achieving a great response time metric:
    – Regularly monitor your response time metrics.
    – Check your seller account for messages every day, including at the weekend.
    – Mark messages you have read but not responded to as “unread” in your e-mail client.
    – Use a Contact Response Management (CRM) system to track enquiries.
    – Let buyers know if a question or issue will require additional time to research.
    – If you receive the same questions on a regular basis, consider creating a document with prepared answers.
    Regards,
    Amazon Services Europe

    It would seem like a small-volume seller would be taking a risk to have his or her Amazon account suspended, if they were to step away from the internet for periods longer than 24 hours from time to time. Larger vendors would likely just have to hire weekend staff. So, if one were to offer great customer service, along all traditional lines, this would mean nothing, if the seller failed to click on a buyer’s thank you note.

  • iPad’s Biggest Competitor Is iPhone 4S, Not Kindle Fire

    According to a recent study by iSuppli, the iPad so thoroughly owns the tablet market that its nearest competitor isn’t a tablet at all: it’s the iPhone 4S. In the fourth quarter of 2011 Apple shipped 15.4 million iPads. That number was lower than expected for the quarter, but the hit to the iPad’s market share came from the iPhone 4S, which launched at the beginning of the quarter, and which ate up a lot of disposable income that might otherwise have gone toward iPads.

    Amazon, meanwhile, had a strong showing with their Kindle Fire tablet, which sold 3.9 million units during the fourth quarter. Unlike the iPad, the Kindle Fire met analysts’ expecations almost exactly. Sales of the Kindle Fire also allowed Amazon to surpass Samsung to take second place in the tablet market for the quarter, after the iPad. Samsung retained second place for the year, however. In both cases, Amazon and Samsung were in second by a huge margin. Apple’s 15.4 million sales in the fourth quarter are almost quadruple Amazon’s Kindle Fire sales, and their 40.5 million sales for the year are nearly seven times Samsung’s sales.

    The study also predicted that Apple would make up for its losses in market share in the first half of 2012 with the launch of the iPad 3. The tablet market as a whole continued to grow in 2011. Total tablet sales came to 65.2 million units, beating analysts’ expectations by half a million units.

  • Kindle Touch Gets Handwriting Recognition

    The Kindle Touch just got a new functionality – handwriting recognition.

    Puzzazz, a developer of puzzle games for Kindle devices, announced their new game yesterday. Sudoku Unbound #3 for the Kindle Touch introduces TouchWrite technology for the device that allows users to write with their fingers.

    The product page explains the new tech:

    Place your finger anywhere in the box you want to enter the number and write it as large as you want. TouchWrite will read your writing and enter the number for you.

    It’s worth noting that the game is available for all Kindle devices, but it’s most interesting for Kindle Touch for the aforementioned use of handwriting recognition software. This is the first time the technology has appeared on the Kindle Touch.

    Speaking to Geek Wire, Puzzazz founder Roy Leban said that they built the TouchWrite technology as a way to improve the use of e-books.

    Leban was silent, however, when asked if Amazon was going to implement their software across all apps for the Kindle Touch. They will, however, implement the software into all future puzzle e-books from Puzzazz.

    If Amazon was smart, and I know they are, they would license this software for all future apps on the Kindle Touch. Being able to directly interact and write notes on an e-book on a Kindle Touch would definitely help Amazon further compete with Apple’s iPad.

  • Amazon Prime Might Not Be As Popular As You Think

    Apparently, Amazon Prime isn’t as popular as many would like to think.

    Current estimates from analysts have put the amount of Amazon Prime subscribers at 10 million or even more, a figure that would make the program a giant success in anyone’s mind. But according to three insiders quoted by Bloomberg, those analysts are way off. They say that as of October 2011, only 3-5 million million have purchased memberships to Amazon Prime.

    If you are unfamiliar with Amazon Prime, it’s a $79 a year service that gives subscribers a boatload of benefits on shipping and content. As an Amazon Prime member, you have free two-day shipping and discounted rates on one-day shipping. As of late late year, if you elect not to expedite your shipping, you get a $1 MP3 credit. Prime members also have free access to Amazon’s streaming library of movies and TV shows.

    Amazon launched its Prime service in 2005.

    But according to these sources, analysts have severely overestimated its popularity. They say that Amazon is looking to hit 10 million subscribers (at the high end) in the next year to year and a half.

    In the last year, Amazon’s shipping costs have ballooned to $4 billion, a big number considering that they only received $1.55 billion in shipping fees. But with Amazon Prime, is has always been about the long-term. The theory is that by providing the service, they will build loyalty and in the end, subscribers will spend way more than your average Amazon user.

    Right now, Amazon it offering a one-moth free trial of Prime. They have also just inked a deal with Viacom to stream more content from MTV, Comedy Central, Spike, and CMT.

    Last month, one analyst said that Amazon’s newest venture, the Kindle Fire tablet, was more profitable than previously thought. Although the costs to manufacture the device exceeds the price by a couple of dollars, he said that Amazon will recoup those losses through e-book sales, app sales, and of course, paid memberships to Amazon Prime.

  • Amazon Original Programming On The Way, Job Listings Hint

    It looks like Amazon is on its way to producing some original video content, not unlike Netflix and Hulu.

    Well, actually, it’s a little unlike Netflix and Hulu. Rather than outsourcing production of original programming, Amazon is looking to create it in-house, as is indicated in Amazon’s job listings (via Ryan Lawler at GigaOm).

    Recent listings include: Creative Executive, Kids, Creative Executive, Comedy, and Production Assistant.

    The Job Description/Responsibilities section for Creative Executive, Comedy, says:

    People’s Production Company is a movie and series production company. We are seeking a Creative Executive, Comedy to help develop half hour comedies for online and traditional distribution. Projects will primarily come from Amazon Studios. This position will report to the VP, Series Development.

    The ideal candidate knows the comedy genre, has development and production experience and wants to work with writers and artists to develop original series for the web and for traditional distribution channels.

    Responsibilities

    Assess pilot proposals
    Work with writers and artists to develop series ideas
    Staff, cast and produce pilots in a cost-efficient way
    Supervise series production when series are greenlit
    People’s Production Company, part of the Amazon.com, Inc. group of companies, is an equal opportunity employer. This job will be located in Sherman Oaks, CA.

    It looks like at the very least, Amazon is looking to offer comedies and children’s programming. My guess is that it won’t stop there. So far, Netflix is going the drama route. Hulu has gone with comedy and reality.

    We may be poised to see some interesting new directions for Amazon between this and a rumored retail store.

  • Texas Jury Kills Patent Troll That Claimed To Own The Interactive Web

    It’s a good day when patent trolls get what’s coming to them – a slap in the face by a federal jury.

    Eolas Technologies may be the biggest patent troll the Internet has ever seen. The company, alongside the University of California, claimed patents that pertained to the “interactive web.” This includes moving images, music clips, maps, search features, etc. Essentially, they claimed to have a patent for the modern Internet according to Wired.

    Eolas took over a dozen companies to court in 2009 over these ridiculous patent claims. Some of those companies included Google, Amazon.com, Adobe and others.

    Some companies just settled after the initial lawsuit to avoid further court costs. Those companies included Apple, Playboy and EBay. Google and others kept on fighting the claims that Eolas had a patent on the “interactive web.”

    Well, good news comes to those who wait as a federal jury in Tyler, Texas yesterday said that the two patents owned by Eolas were invalid. Those who settled back in 2009 must be feeling pretty silly right now.

    If the jury found their patents valid, the case would have gone forward with each company being tried for infringement. The jury invalidated the need for those trials and Eolas will never get their dirty money.

    What may have tipped the odds in the general Internet’s favor was that Tim Berners-Lee, creator of the Internet, and Pei-Yuan Wei, developer of a Web browser before Eolas, testified on behalf of the companies still fighting.

    If Eolas wants to keep fighting, they could appeal the decision. They probably won’t, however, as it would be too costly. They also would not be able to target any more companies during the appeal proceedings.

    It just once again goes to show you that companies shouldn’t settle with patent trolls. Fighting them will usually expose just how fraudulent their patent claims are.

  • Amazon Commercial Takes Shots At iPad’s Price

    Amazon Commercial Takes Shots At iPad’s Price

    Amazon has released a new commercial for their Kindle line of e-readers and tablets. The first part of the commercial focuses on Amazon’s standard response in the Kindle vs. iPad debate: the Kindle is easier to read in the sun.

    Then the focus shifts to the price. When the dorky iPad owner points out to the hot, bikini-clad Kindle owner that he can watch movies, she points out that her kids can do the same on their Kindle Fires, and that her Kindle and their Kindle Fires together cost less than his iPad.

    Whatever your feelings about the iPad, the Kindle Fire, Amazon has taken pretty much the only option open to them from a marketing standpoint. A recent survey showed that the iPad ranked much higher than the Kindle Fire in terms of customer satisfaction. In fact, the feature Kindle Fire owners said they were most satisfied with about their device was its price tag.

    What do you think of the commercial? Check it out below and let us know in the comments.

  • Google To Open Retail Store In Dublin

    Google To Open Retail Store In Dublin

    If Apple and Amazon can do it, so can Google. The search giant is opening a retail store at its Dublin headquarters after a trial run in London.

    The Google store would sell, you guessed it, Google merchandise. What kind of Google merchandise? That has yet to be revealed, but you can bet Google t-shirts will be available.

    The store will be located in the Montevetro office block on Dublin’s Barrow Street. The store would have about 1,323 square feet, or 123 square meters for those who will actually be shopping there, with an added mezzanine floor to attract street traffic.

    Bloomberg figures that Google is moving to retail in light of the company’s plans to acquire Motorola. It would help the search giant compete with Apple in both the retail and smartphone space.

    Google has been testing the concept of a retail store in London since last October. They opened a store inside PC World where they sold laptops running the company’s custom Chromebook operating system.

    The company has a store at its California headquarters that sells merchandise, but that’s not open to the public. Of course, they also have an online store where they sell Google and YouTube merchandise.

    Google’s Dublin office was a prime location as its the company’s second largest headquarters in the world. The company bought the two buildings that made up its current headquarters last March while leasing two other properties in the area. The Montevetro area that will house the retail store was bought last April for €100 million. Google will also expand its employee force to over 3,000 once everything is said and done.

    It remains to be seen if Google will succeed in this venture, but it doesn’t hurt to try.

    UPDATE: Google has told Marketing Land that they are not opening a public retail store in Dublin. Google said that the space within their Dublin office could be used as a retail space. It makes it similar to the Google employee-only store that is currently at their main headquarters in California.

  • Amazon, Viacom Partner To Increase Amazon Prime Instant Video Selection

    As a result of a digital licensing agreement with Viacom, Amazon announced today that Amazon Prime members will now be able to instantly stream television shows from MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, TV Land, Spike, VH1, BET, CMT and Logo. The addition of these selections bring the total number of Prime Instant Videos to more than 15,000.

    In a statement from Amazon, Brad Beale, director of video content acquisition for Amazon, said, “Over the last year we have received fantastic customer feedback about Prime Instant Video. We are constantly working to improve the service by adding the shows that our customers enjoy the most. This deal with Viacom brings Prime customers and Kindle Fire users thousands of comedies, kids’ shows, reality TV and much more from some of the best cable networks available. We now offer more than 15,000 movies and TV shows in Prime Instant Videos and are working hard to add even more great content.”

    Members of Amazon Prime will be able to enjoy Viacom’s offerings, which include such cultural fascinations like Jersey Shore and SpongeBob SquarePants, on a number of devices, including Amazon’s jewel, the Kindle Fire.

    Amazingly, the statement released from Amazon did not recommend any suitable prophylactics required to safely stream Jersey Shore to your Kindle Fire.

  • Statista Reveals Tech Company Earnings Per Employee

    Statista has come out with some interesting new figures about how much money a company generates per employee based on their reported figures. I know this is the technology age, but these figures are huge! Below are the bar graphs they put together to help us see the breakdown:

    I would be interested to see what employees make at these tech firms. It’s interesting that these few companies can generate so much revenue. I can’t help but wonder about the larger manufacturing and service based corporations. What does their per employee breakdown look like?

  • Amazon Preparing To Launch A Retail Store?

    Amazon Preparing To Launch A Retail Store?

    Amazon may be preparing to launch its very own retail store, according to a recent report. The company is apparently planning to launch a single store in Seattle, Washington, where Amazon is headquartered, sometime in the next few months. Amazon would use the store as a test case to determine whether a larger retail chain could be profitable.

    Citing “sources close to the situation” Michael Kozlowski of Good E Reader says that Amazon has contracted the design through a shell company in order to maintain secrecy. The Amazon store would specialize in higher-end items and books published through Amazon’s own recently launched publishing division.

    If it works, Amazon’s entrance into the retail store business could significantly intensify the company’s ongoing rivalry with brick-and-mortar retailers, most notably Barnes & Noble. With the collapse of Borders last year, Barnes and Noble and Books-A-Million stand as the last nationwide book retail chains. Competition with Amazon has severely impacted the traditional brick-and-mortar bookstore. Even as Barnes and Noble prepares a new Nook device to keep up with Amazon’s Kindle Fire, the company has also announced that it would shun books from Amazon’s publishing arm.

    What do you think? Is a retail store the right direction for Amazon, or should they stick to the online model that has worked so well for them until now? Sound off in the comments.

  • Study: Amazon Gains Momentum, Kindle Fire Less Satisfying Than iPad

    A new study has been published that shows Amazon as king of the hill among online retailers. The study, conducted by ChangeWave Research, looked at the planned online shopping activities of over 2,600 North American shoppers.

    According to the survey data, 46% of respondents in January 2012 said that they planned to make home entertainment purchases at Amazon in the next 90 days. That’s a 10% jump from January 2011, when only 36% said they planned to shop at Amazon in next 90 days.

    Home Entertainment Spending

    The study also compared Amazon to other online retailers, and the results are surprising. Amazon beat Costco, eBay, Best Buy, Walmart, and Target by enormous margins. Twenty percent of respondents said they planned to spend more money at Amazon in the next 90 days than they had in the last 90 days, while 11% said they would spend less, 49% said they would spend the same, and only 20% said they would spend no money at all. Costco was in a far distant second: 3% said they would spend more, 4% said less, 16% said they would spend the same, and 77% of respondents said they would spend no money at all.

    Online Spending Choices

    Interestingly, owning a Kindle fire seems to make customers more likely to spend money on Amazon. Of respondents who did not own a Kindle Fire, only 19% said they would spend more money at Amazon in the next 90 days, while 29% of Kindle Fire owners said they would do so.

    Kindle Fire vs. Non-Kindle Fire

    Even so, it seems that all is not well in the land of Kindle Fire owners. When it came to customer satisfaction the Kindle Fire came in a distant second after Apple’s iPad tablet. When asked to rate their satisfaction with their tablet, 74% of iPad owners said that they were very satisfied with their tablet, compared to only 54% of Kindle Fire owners. The good news for Amazon, though, is that although the Kindle Fire falls well below the iPad, it beats other tablets by 5%. Only 49% of owners of other tablets said they were very satisfied with their device.

    Tablet Satisfaction

    Another interesting aspect of the survey deals with what, specifically, Kindle Fire owners liked and disliked most about their devices. The most popular feature of the Kindle Fire by far is its price. Fifty-nine percent of respondents listed that as what they liked best about the device. In a distant second at 31% was the color screen, followed by ease of use at 27%. Kindle Fire owners’ dislikes, on the other hand, tended to center on features that the Kindle Fire lacks but that the iPad has. The chief complaint about the Kindle Fire was the lack of physical volume buttons (27%), followed by the lack of a camera (21%), poor battery life (15%), and lack of 3G/4G connectivity (12%). Interestingly, the 3G connectivity users miss in the Kindle Fire is a feature that has been present in previous e-ink versions of the Kindle.

    Kindle Fire Likes and Dislikes

    The full report is available from ChangeWave here.

  • Amazon Sports Collectibles Store Launches Just In Time For Super Bowl

    Amazon Sports Collectibles Store Launches Just In Time For Super Bowl

    This week being Super Bowl Week, everyone seems to have sports fever. All of the media coverage and internet chatter about the big game makes it a pretty good time for Amazon to announce a new sports memorabilia store.

    Amazon Sports Collectibles & Memorabilia beta launches today, bringing sports fans 2 million+ unique collectibles from all types of sports. We’re talking NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL and FIFA.

    Collectors will be able to browse the selection of cards, gear, pictures, balls, and jerseys by sport, year, specific team, and price. All of the focus is on authentic, unique memorabilia, with a premium placed on autographed items and other quirks like game-worn items.

    “Our customers have told us that when purchasing sports collectibles they highly value authenticity, which is why we have teamed with some of the top sports collectibles sellers in the world to provide unique items with easy to find authentication and condition information,” said Peter Faricy, vice president of Amazon Marketplace. “The emphasis on authenticated selection, combined with our A-to-z Guarantee protection on purchases, allows customers to shop the new store with confidence.”

    Every item page in the store will include information about authentication as well as condition:

    As I said before, the store is launching just in time for the Super Bowl, and Amazon has a category just for Super Bowl-themed collectibles. For instance, you can get a signed Eli Manning collectible mini-helmet for $289.95. If you’re a Pats fan, a signed Tom Brady mini-helmet is going to run you $569.99.

  • Kindle: Best Selling Product Across Europe and US

    Kindle E-readers and tablets nearly tripled in sales this past holiday when compared to the 2010 Christmas season. Amazon’s total sales for the final quarter were at a staggering $17.3 billion.

    Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos:

    “We are grateful to the millions of customers who purchased the Kindle Fire and Kindle e-reader devices this holiday season, making Kindle our bestselling product across both the U.S. and Europe,”

    Amazon doesn’t report exactly how many devices they sold but industry analyst approximate that nearly six million Kindle products moved this season.

    Wednesday Amazon launched their new e-books lending library which is just what it sounds like, a lending library. Members of Amazon Prime, which costs about $80 a year, can borrow one free e-book a month.

    Jeff Bezos comments on the new service:

    “Kindle owners can now choose from thousands of books to borrow for free, including over 100 current and former New York Times Bestsellers — as frequently as a book a month, with no due dates. No other e-reader or ebook store offers such a service,”

    Currently there are over 5,000 books available from the library. Amazon is hoping the introduction of the new service will drive Kindle sales up even further and contribute to the overall popularity of e-books.

  • Amazon Q4 Earnings Report Released, Net Income Plummets, Kindle Unit Sales Up 177%

    Amazon just released its earnings report for the fourth quarter. This includes an increase in net sales of 35% to $17.43 billion. Still, net income decreased 58% to $177 million for the quarter.

    Kindle unit sales (including Kindles and Kindle Fires) increased 177% over the same period last year.

    “We are grateful to the millions of customers who purchased the Kindle Fire and Kindle e-reader devices this holiday season, making Kindle our bestselling product across both the U.S. and Europe,” said CEO Jeff Bezos.

    Below is the release in its entirety:

    SEATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Jan. 31, 2012– Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) today announced financial results for its fourth quarter ended December 31, 2011.

    Operating cash flow increased 12% to $3.90 billion for the trailing twelve months, compared with $3.50 billion for the trailing twelve months ended December 31, 2010. Free cash flow decreased 17% to $2.09 billion for the trailing twelve months, compared with $2.52 billion for the trailing twelve months ended December 31, 2010.

    Common shares outstanding plus shares underlying stock-based awards totaled 468 million on December 31, 2011, compared with 465 million a year ago.

    Net sales increased 35% to $17.43 billion in the fourth quarter, compared with $12.95 billion in fourth quarter 2010. Excluding the $101 million favorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, net sales would have grown 34% compared with fourth quarter 2010.

    Operating income was $260 million in the fourth quarter, compared with $474 million in fourth quarter 2010. The favorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter on operating income was $5 million.

    Net income decreased 58% to $177 million in the fourth quarter, or $0.38 per diluted share, compared with net income of $416 million, or $0.91 per diluted share, in fourth quarter 2010.

    “We are grateful to the millions of customers who purchased the Kindle Fire and Kindle e-reader devices this holiday season, making Kindle our bestselling product across both the U.S. and Europe,” said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. “Our millions of third-party sellers had a tremendous holiday season with 65% unit growth and now represent 36% of total units sold.”

    Full Year 2011

    Net sales increased 41% to $48.08 billion, compared with $34.20 billion in 2010. Excluding the $1.09 billionfavorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the year, net sales would have grown 37% compared with 2010.

    Operating income decreased 39% to $862 million, compared with $1.41 billion in 2010. The favorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the year on operating income was $53 million.

    Net income decreased 45% to $631 million in 2011, or $1.37 per diluted share, compared with net income of$1.15 billion, or $2.53 per diluted share, in 2010.

    Highlights

    • During the nine-week holiday period ending December 31, 2011, Kindle unit sales, including both the Kindle Fire and e-reader devices, increased 177% over the same period last year.
    • Kindle Fire is the #1 bestselling, most gifted, and most wished for product across the millions of items available on Amazon.com since its introduction 17 weeks ago.
    • Amazon launched Kindle Stores at Amazon.it and Amazon.es. Kindle moved to the top of the bestseller list on launch day in both countries and held the top spot this holiday season. The new Kindle was also the bestselling product on Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de and Amazon.fr.
    • Amazon.com announced the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, a benefit of Prime membership that offers over 80,000 books to borrow for free – including over 100 current and former New York Times bestsellers – as frequently as a book a month, with no due dates.
    • Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) announced KDP Select, an annual fund of at least $6 million dedicated to independent authors and publishers who participate in the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. In December alone, customers borrowed 295,000 KDP Select titles, and KDP Select has helped grow the total library selection of books by over 16X.
    • Amazon continued to expand its catalog of title offerings for Prime Instant Video, announcing licensing agreements with Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution, which added the popular FOX and FX television shows Glee and Sons of Anarchy, and Disney-ABC Television, which added popular television shows including Lost and Grey’s Anatomy. These deals bring the total number of Prime Instant Videos to more than 13,000 movies and TV shows from partners such as CBS, Fox, NBCUniversal, Sony, Warner Bros., PBS, ABC-Disney and many more.
    • The number of videos purchased or rented from Amazon Instant Video and the number of Amazon Instant Video customers both more than doubled year-over-year in the fourth quarter. In addition, the number of Prime Instant Video streams increased nearly 300% in the fourth quarter compared to the third quarter.
    • Amazon Appstore for Android customers nearly tripled in the fourth quarter compared to the third quarter. In addition, customers downloaded more apps from the Amazon Appstore during the fourth quarter than they had during all previous quarters combined.
    • North America segment sales, representing the Company’s U.S. and Canadian sites, were $9.90 billion, up 37% from fourth quarter 2010.
    • International segment sales, representing the Company’s U.K., German, Japanese, French, Chinese, Italian and Spanish sites, were $7.53 billion, up 31% from fourth quarter 2010. Excluding the favorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, sales grew 29%.
    • Worldwide Media sales grew 15% to $6.01 billion. Excluding the favorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, sales grew 14%.
    • Worldwide Electronics and Other General Merchandise sales grew 48% to $10.91 billion. Excluding the favorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, sales grew 47%.
    • Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced the launch of its new South America (Sao Paulo) Region and U.S. West (Oregon) Region, bringing the total to eight geographic regions worldwide to which the company has deployed its global cloud computing services.
    • AWS announced the launch of Amazon DynamoDB, a fully managed NoSQL database service that provides extremely fast and predictable performance with seamless scalability. With a few clicks in the AWS Management Console, customers can launch a new Amazon DynamoDB database table, scale up or down their request capacity for the table without downtime or performance degradation, and gain visibility into resource utilization and performance metrics.
    • AWS announced that customers can now run their Microsoft Windows Server applications within the AWS Free Usage Tier – a program designed to help new AWS customers get started in the cloud. Developers and businesses with Windows Server applications can take advantage of 750 hours of Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) Micro Instance usage per month, at no charge for a one-year period.

    Financial Guidance

    The following forward-looking statements reflect Amazon.com’s expectations as of January 31, 2012. 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.

    First Quarter 2012 Guidance

    • Net sales are expected to be between $12.0 billion and $13.4 billion, or to grow between 22% and 36% compared with first quarter 2011.
    • Operating income (loss) is expected to be between $(200) million and $100 million, or between 162% decline and 69% decline compared with first quarter 2011.
    • This guidance includes approximately $200 million for stock-based compensation and amortization of intangible assets, and it assumes, among other things, that no additional business acquisitions or investments 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 at www.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 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. The new latest generation Kindle is the lightest, most compact Kindle ever and features the same 6-inch, most advanced electronic ink display that reads like real paper even in bright sunlight. Kindle Touch is a new addition to the Kindle family with an easy-to-use touch screen that makes it easier than ever to turn pages, search, shop, and take notes – still with all the benefits of the most advanced electronic ink display. Kindle Touch 3G is the top of the line e-reader and offers the same new design and features of Kindle Touch, with the unparalleled added convenience of free 3G. Kindle Fire is the Kindle for movies, TV shows, music, books, magazines, apps, games and web browsing with all the content, free storage in the Amazon Cloud, Whispersync, Amazon Silk (Amazon’s new revolutionary cloud-accelerated web browser), vibrant color touch screen, and powerful dual-core processor.

    Amazon and its affiliates operate websites… As used herein, “Amazon.com,” “we,” “our” and similar terms includeAmazon.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
    December 31, December 31,
    2011 2010 2011 2010
    CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, BEGINNING OF PERIOD $ 2,823 $ 1,539 $ 3,777 $ 3,444
    OPERATING ACTIVITIES:
    Net income 177 416 631 1,152
    Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash from operating activities:
    Depreciation of fixed assets, including internal-use software and website development, and other amortization 359 170 1,083 568
    Stock-based compensation 159 120 557 424
    Other operating expense (income), net 43 29 154 106
    Losses (gains) on sales of marketable securities, net – – (4 ) (2 )
    Other expense (income), net (16 ) (17 ) (56 ) (79 )
    Deferred income taxes 67 48 136 4
    Excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation (1 ) (23 ) (62 ) (259 )
    Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
    Inventories (1,260 ) (693 ) (1,777 ) (1,019 )
    Accounts receivable, net and other (1,077 ) (531 ) (866 ) (295 )
    Accounts payable 4,684 3,442 2,997 2,373
    Accrued expenses and other 1,076 596 1,067 740
    Additions to unearned revenue 358 186 1,064 687
    Amortization of previously unearned revenue (300 ) (263 ) (1,021 ) (905 )
    Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities 4,269 3,480 3,903 3,495
    INVESTING ACTIVITIES:
    Purchases of fixed assets, including internal-use software and website development (550 ) (328 ) (1,811 ) (979 )
    Acquisitions, net of cash acquired, and other (49 ) (271 ) (705 ) (352 )
    Sales and maturities of marketable securities and other investments 912 1,112 6,843 4,250
    Purchases of marketable securities and other investments (1,782 ) (1,728 ) (6,257 ) (6,279 )
    Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities (1,469 ) (1,215 ) (1,930 ) (3,360 )
    FINANCING ACTIVITIES:
    Excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation 1 23 62 259
    Common stock repurchased (277 ) – (277 ) –
    Proceeds from long-term debt and other 47 43 177 143
    Repayments of long-term debt, capital lease, and finance lease obligations (104 ) (100 ) (444 ) (221 )
    Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities (333 ) (34 ) (482 ) 181
    Foreign-currency effect on cash and cash equivalents (21 ) 7 1 17
    Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents 2,446 2,238 1,492 333
    CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, END OF PERIOD $ 5,269 $ 3,777 $ 5,269 $ 3,777
    SUPPLEMENTAL CASH FLOW INFORMATION:
    Cash paid for interest on long term debt $ 4 $ 3 $ 14 $ 11
    Cash paid for income taxes (net of refunds) 15 13 33 75
    Fixed assets acquired under capital leases 187 122 753 405
    Fixed assets acquired under build-to-suit leases 39 14 259 172
    AMAZON.COM, INC.
    Consolidated Statements of Operations
    (in millions, except per share data)
    (unaudited)
    Three Months Ended Twelve Months Ended
    December 31, December 31,
    2011 2010 2011 2010
    Product sales $ 15,309 $ 11,729 $ 42,000 $ 30,792
    Services sales 2,122 1,219 6,077 3,412
    Net sales 17,431 12,948 48,077 34,204
    Operating expenses (1):
    Cost of sales 13,830 10,317 37,288 26,561
    Fulfillment 1,659 1,090 4,576 2,898
    Marketing 593 376 1,630 1,029
    Technology and content 862 519 2,909 1,734
    General and administrative 184 143 658 470
    Other operating expense (income), net 43 29 154 106
    Total operating expenses 17,171 12,474 47,215 32,798
    Income from operations 260 474 862 1,406
    Interest income 14 14 61 51
    Interest expense (20 ) (11 ) (65 ) (39 )
    Other income (expense), net 19 29 76 79
    Total non-operating income (expense) 13 32 72 91
    Income before income taxes 273 506 934 1,497
    Provision for income taxes (86 ) (84 ) (291 ) (352 )
    Equity-method investment activity, net of tax (10 ) (6 ) (12 ) 7
    Net income $ 177 $ 416 $ 631 $ 1,152
    Basic earnings per share $ 0.39 $ 0.93 $ 1.39 $ 2.58
    Diluted earnings per share $ 0.38 $ 0.91 $ 1.37 $ 2.53
    Weighted average shares used in computation of earnings per share:
    Basic 455 450 453 447
    Diluted 462 458 461 456
    (1) Includes stock-based compensation as follows:
    Fulfillment $ 42 $ 25 $ 133 $ 90
    Marketing 12 7 39 27
    Technology and content 80 63 292 223
    General and administrative 25 24 93 84
    AMAZON.COM, INC.
    Segment Information
    (in millions)
    (unaudited)
    Three Months Ended Twelve Months Ended
    December 31, December 31,
    2011 2010 2011 2010
    North America
    Net sales $ 9,902 $ 7,211 $ 26,705 $ 18,707
    Segment operating expenses (1) 9,617 6,916 25,772 17,752
    Segment operating income $ 285 $ 295 $ 933 $ 955
    International
    Net sales $ 7,529 $ 5,737 $ 21,372 $ 15,497
    Segment operating expenses (1) 7,352 5,410 20,732 14,516
    Segment operating income $ 177 $ 327 $ 640 $ 981
    Consolidated
    Net sales $ 17,431 $ 12,948 $ 48,077 $ 34,204
    Segment operating expenses 16,969 12,326 46,504 32,268
    Segment operating income 462 622 1,573 1,936
    Stock-based compensation (159 ) (119 ) (557 ) (424 )
    Other operating income (expense), net (43 ) (29 ) (154 ) (106 )
    Income from operations 260 474 862 1,406
    Total non-operating income (expense) 13 32 72 91
    Provision for income taxes (86 ) (84 ) (291 ) (352 )
    Equity-method investment activity, net of tax (10 ) (6 ) (12 ) 7
    Net income $ 177 $ 416 $ 631 $ 1,152
    Segment Highlights:
    Y/Y net sales growth:
    North America 37 % 45 % 43 % 46 %
    International 31 26 38 33
    Consolidated 35 36 41 40
    Y/Y segment operating income growth (decline):
    North America (4 ) % 6 % (2 ) % 35 %
    International (46 ) 3 (35 ) 14
    Consolidated (26 ) 4 (19 ) 23
    Net sales mix:
    North America 57 % 56 % 56 % 55 %
    International 43 44 44 45
    100 % 100 % 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 Twelve Months Ended
    December 31, December 31,
    2011 2010 2011 2010
    North America
    Media $ 2,562 $ 2,370 $ 7,959 $ 6,881
    Electronics and other general merchandise 6,881 4,558 17,315 10,998
    Other (1) 459 283 1,431 828
    Total North America $ 9,902 $ 7,211 $ 26,705 $ 18,707
    International
    Media $ 3,447 $ 2,865 $ 9,820 $ 8,007
    Electronics and other general merchandise 4,032 2,834 11,397 7,365
    Other (1) 50 38 155 125
    Total International $ 7,529 $ 5,737 $ 21,372 $ 15,497
    Consolidated
    Media $ 6,009 $ 5,235 $ 17,779 $ 14,888
    Electronics and other general merchandise 10,913 7,392 28,712 18,363
    Other (1) 509 321 1,586 953
    Total Consolidated $ 17,431 $ 12,948 $ 48,077 $ 34,204
    Y/Y Net Sales Growth:
    North America:
    Media 8 % 13 % 16 % 15 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise 51 71 57 74
    Other 62 45 73 50
    Total North America 37 45 43 46
    International:
    Media 20 % 11 % 23 % 18 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise 42 46 55 54
    Other 32 6 24 22
    Total International 31 26 38 33
    Consolidated:
    Media 15 % 12 % 19 % 17 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise 48 60 56 66
    Other 58 39 66 46
    Total Consolidated 35 36 41 40
    Y/Y Net Sales Growth Excluding Effect of Exchange Rates:
    International:
    Media 18 % 13 % 16 % 18 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise 41 50 47 57
    Other 31 10 18 24
    Total International 29 29 31 34
    Consolidated:
    Media 14 % 13 % 16 % 16 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise 47 62 53 67
    Other 58 40 66 46
    Total Consolidated 34 37 37 40
    Consolidated Net Sales Mix:
    Media 34 % 40 % 37 % 43 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise 63 57 60 54
    Other 3 3 3 3
    100 % 100 % 100 % 100 %
    ____________________________
    (1) Includes non-retail activities, such as AWS, miscellaneous marketing and promotional agreements, other seller sites, and co-branded credit card agreements
    AMAZON.COM, INC.
    Consolidated Balance Sheets
    (in millions, except per share data)
    December 31, December 31,
    2011 2010
    ASSETS (unaudited)
    Current assets:
    Cash and cash equivalents $ 5,269 $ 3,777
    Marketable securities 4,307 4,985
    Inventories 4,992 3,202
    Accounts receivable, net and other 2,571 1,587
    Deferred tax assets 351 196
    Total current assets 17,490 13,747
    Fixed assets, net 4,417 2,414
    Deferred tax assets 28 22
    Goodwill 1,955 1,349
    Other assets 1,388 1,265
    Total assets $ 25,278 $ 18,797
    LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
    Current liabilities:
    Accounts payable $ 11,145 $ 8,051
    Accrued expenses and other 3,751 2,321
    Total current liabilities 14,896 10,372
    Long-term liabilities 2,625 1,561
    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 — 473 and 468
    Outstanding shares — 455 and 451 5 5
    Treasury stock, at cost (877 ) (600 )
    Additional paid-in capital 6,990 6,325
    Accumulated other comprehensive loss (316 ) (190 )
    Retained earnings 1,955 1,324
    Total stockholders’ equity 7,757 6,864
    Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity $ 25,278 $ 18,797
    AMAZON.COM, INC.
    Supplemental Financial Information and Business Metrics
    (in millions, except per share data)
    (unaudited)
    Y/Y %
    Q4 2010 Q1 2011 Q2 2011 Q3 2011 Q4 2011 Change
    Cash Flows and Shares
    Operating cash flow — trailing twelve months (TTM) $ 3,495 $ 3,033 $ 3,205 $ 3,114 $ 3,903 12 %
    Purchases of fixed assets (incl. internal-use software & website development) — TTM $ 979 $ 1,138 $ 1,374 $ 1,589 $ 1,811 85 %
    Free cash flow (operating cash flow less purchases of fixed assets) — TTM $ 2,516 $ 1,895 $ 1,831 $ 1,525 $ 2,092 (17 %)
    Free cash flow — TTM Y/Y growth (14 %) (18 %) (8 %) (17 %) (17 %) N/A
    Invested capital (1) $ 7,380 $ 7,931 $ 8,551 $ 9,147 $ 9,680 31 %
    Return on invested capital (2) 34 % 24 % 21 % 17 % 22 % N/A
    Common shares and stock-based awards outstanding 465 466 468 469 468 1 %
    Common shares outstanding 451 452 454 455 455 1 %
    Stock-based awards outstanding 15 14 15 14 14 (7 %)
    Stock-based awards outstanding — % of common shares outstanding 3.2 % 3.1 % 3.2 % 3.2 % 3.0 % N/A
    Results of Operations
    Worldwide (WW) net sales $ 12,948 $ 9,857 $ 9,913 $ 10,876 $ 17,431 35 %
    WW net sales — Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 37 % 36 % 44 % 39 % 34 % N/A
    WW net sales — TTM $ 34,204 $ 36,931 $ 40,278 $ 43,594 $ 48,077 41 %
    WW net sales — TTM Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 40 % 39 % 39 % 39 % 37 % N/A
    Operating income $ 474 $ 322 $ 201 $ 79 $ 260 (45 %)
    Operating income — Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 3 % (20 )% (36 %) (77 %) (48 %) N/A
    Operating margin — % of WW net sales 3.7 % 3.3 % 2.0 % 0.7 % 1.5 % N/A
    Operating income — TTM $ 1,406 $ 1,334 $ 1,265 $ 1,076 $ 862 (39 %)
    Operating income — TTM Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 27 % 7 % (7 %) (25 %) (44 %) N/A
    Operating margin — TTM % of WW net sales 4.1 % 3.6 % 3.1 % 2.5 % 1.8 % N/A
    Net income $ 416 $ 201 $ 191 $ 63 $ 177 (58 %)
    Net income per diluted share $ 0.91 $ 0.44 $ 0.41 $ 0.14 $ 0.38 (58 %)
    Net income — TTM $ 1,152 $ 1,054 $ 1,038 $ 871 $ 631 (45 %)
    Net income per diluted share — TTM $ 2.53 $ 2.30 $ 2.26 $ 1.89 $ 1.37 (46 %)
    Segments
    North America Segment:
    Net sales $ 7,211 $ 5,465 $ 5,406 $ 5,932 $ 9,902 37 %
    Net sales — Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 45 % 45 % 50 % 44 % 37 % N/A
    Net sales — TTM $ 18,707 $ 20,392 $ 22,208 $ 24,014 $ 26,705 43 %
    Operating income $ 295 $ 290 $ 214 $ 144 $ 285 (4 %)
    Operating margin — % of North America net sales 4.1 % 5.3 % 4.0 % 2.4 % 2.9 % N/A
    Operating income — TTM $ 955 $ 972 $ 986 $ 943 $ 933 (2 %)
    Operating income — TTM Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 35 % 17 % 9 % 1 % (2 %) N/A
    Operating margin — TTM % of North America net sales 5.1 % 4.8 % 4.4 % 3.9 % 3.5 % N/A
    International Segment:
    Net sales $ 5,737 $ 4,392 $ 4,507 $ 4,944 $ 7,529 31 %
    Net sales — Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 29 % 27 % 36 % 33 % 29 % N/A
    Net sales — TTM $ 15,497 $ 16,539 $ 18,070 $ 19,580 $ 21,372 38 %
    Net sales — TTM % of WW net sales 45 % 45 % 45 % 45 % 44 % N/A
    Operating income $ 327 $ 175 $ 172 $ 116 $ 177 (46 %)
    Operating margin — % of International net sales 5.7 % 4.0 % 3.8 % 2.4 % 2.4 % N/A
    Operating income — TTM $ 981 $ 922 $ 888 $ 790 $ 640 (35 %)
    Operating income — TTM Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 20 % 4 % (7 %) (23 %) (41 %) N/A
    Operating margin — TTM % of International net sales 6.3 % 5.6 % 4.9 % 4.0 % 3.0 % N/A
    Consolidated Segments:
    Operating expenses (3) $ 12,326 $ 9,392 $ 9,527 $ 10,616 $ 16,969 38 %
    Operating expenses — TTM (3) $ 32,268 $ 35,037 $ 38,404 $ 41,860 $ 46,504 44 %
    Operating income $ 622 $ 465 $ 386 $ 260 $ 462 (26 %)
    Operating margin — % of Consolidated sales 4.8 % 4.7 % 3.9 % 2.4 % 2.7 % N/A
    Operating income — TTM $ 1,936 $ 1,894 $ 1,874 $ 1,734 $ 1,573 (19 %)
    Operating income — TTM Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 25 % 10 % 1 % (11 %) (21 %) N/A
    Operating margin — TTM % of Consolidated net sales 5.7 % 5.1 % 4.7 % 4.0 % 3.3 % 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 %
    Q4 2010 Q1 2011 Q2 2011 Q3 2011 Q4 2011 Change
    Supplemental
    Supplemental North America Segment Net Sales:
    Media $ 2,370 $ 1,885 $ 1,585 $ 1,927 $ 2,562 8 %
    Media — Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 13 % 18 % 19 % 21 % 8 % N/A
    Media — TTM $ 6,881 $ 7,170 $ 7,430 $ 7,767 $ 7,959 16 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise $ 4,558 $ 3,303 $ 3,496 $ 3,635 $ 6,881 51 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise — Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 71 % 63 % 67 % 56 % 51 % N/A
    Electronics and other general merchandise — TTM $ 10,998 $ 12,277 $ 13,683 $ 14,992 $ 17,315 57 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise — TTM % of North America net sales 59 % 60 % 62 % 62 % 65 % N/A
    Other $ 283 $ 277 $ 325 $ 370 $ 459 62 %
    Other — TTM $ 828 $ 945 $ 1,095 $ 1,255 $ 1,431 73 %
    Supplemental International Segment Net Sales:
    Media $ 2,865 $ 2,073 $ 2,075 $ 2,226 $ 3,447 20 %
    Media — Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 13 % 9 % 20 % 17 % 18 % N/A
    Media — TTM $ 8,007 $ 8,247 $ 8,772 $ 9,238 $ 9,820 23 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise $ 2,834 $ 2,285 $ 2,398 $ 2,681 $ 4,032 42 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise — Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 50 % 49 % 53 % 51 % 41 % N/A
    Electronics and other general merchandise — TTM $ 7,365 $ 8,162 $ 9,162 $ 10,199 $ 11,397 55 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise — TTM % of International net sales 48 % 49 % 51 % 52 % 53 % N/A
    Other $ 38 $ 34 $ 34 $ 37 $ 50 32 %
    Other — TTM $ 125 $ 130 $ 136 $ 143 $ 155 24 %
    Supplemental Worldwide Net Sales:
    Media $ 5,235 $ 3,958 $ 3,660 $ 4,153 $ 6,009 15 %
    Media — Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 13 % 13 % 20 % 19 % 14 % N/A
    Media — TTM $ 14,888 $ 15,417 $ 16,202 $ 17,005 $ 17,779 19 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise $ 7,392 $ 5,588 $ 5,894 $ 6,316 $ 10,913 48 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise — Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 62 % 57 % 62 % 54 % 47 % N/A
    Electronics and other general merchandise — TTM $ 18,363 $ 20,439 $ 22,845 $ 25,191 $ 28,712 56 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise — TTM % of WW net sales 54 % 55 % 57 % 58 % 60 % N/A
    Other $ 321 $ 311 $ 359 $ 407 $ 509 58 %
    Other — TTM $ 953 $ 1,075 $ 1,231 $ 1,398 $ 1,586 66 %
    Balance Sheet
    Cash and marketable securities $ 8,762 $ 6,881 $ 6,355 $ 6,326 $ 9,576 9 %
    Inventory, net — ending $ 3,202 $ 2,888 $ 3,229 $ 3,770 $ 4,992 56 %
    Inventory turnover, average — TTM 11.4 11.6 11.3 10.8 10.3 (10 %)
    Fixed assets, net $ 2,414 $ 2,902 $ 3,470 $ 3,999 $ 4,417 83 %
    Accounts payable — ending $ 8,051 $ 5,540 $ 5,721 $ 6,552 $ 11,145 38 %
    Accounts payable days — ending 72 66 69 72 74 3 %
    Other
    WW shipping revenue $ 437 $ 330 $ 331 $ 360 $ 531 21 %
    WW shipping costs $ 999 $ 786 $ 820 $ 918 $ 1,466 47 %
    WW net shipping costs $ 562 $ 456 $ 489 $ 558 $ 935 66 %
    WW net shipping costs — % of WW net sales 4.3 % 4.6 % 4.9 % 5.1 % 5.4 % N/A
    Employees (full-time and part-time; excludes contractors & temporary personnel) 33,700 37,900 43,200 51,300 56,200 67 %
    (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 Enterprise Solutions program customers, Amazon.com 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. Seller accounts exclude Amazon Enterprise Solutions sellers. 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…

      – 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,

  • Barnes & Noble Preparing New Nook

    Barnes & Noble Preparing New Nook

    In its bid to stay competitive with Amazon, Barnes and Noble appears to be preparing a new addition to their line of Nook readers and tablets. According to a recent report, the company’s engineers are preparing the new device for a release sometime this spring.

    There are almost no details on the device, which was mentioned in a piece in the New York Times on the company’s bid to keep itself alive as the last nationwide brick-and-mortar book retailer. In all likelihood it is either an update to the Nook Tablet or a new e-ink reader, possibly featuring a color display like the one featured at CES earlier this month.

    The financial collapse of Borders this year left Barnes and Noble standing alone – though not necessarily triumphant – as the last of the great brick-and-mortar bookstores. The company has remained competitive thanks in large part to its entrance into the e-reader market with the Nook line of devices. The original Nook launched a few months after Amazon released their second generation Kindle e-reader. It featured an e-ink book display and a touch screen navigation interface, seen by many as superior to the Kindle’s physical keyboard. Later they beat Amazon into the tablet market by a considerable margin with the launch of the Nook Color and then the Nook Tablet. Despite generally positive reviews and a significant head start, the Nook Tablet has not managed the same level of popularity as Amazon’s own tablet, the Kindle Fire, which released late last year.

    It will be interesting to see what Barnes and Noble has in store with its next Nook device. Stay tuned for more details as they become available.

  • College Student Finds Cocaine In Used Textbook From Amazon

    When you order a used book online, you probably wouldn’t be surprised if when it arrives, it contains an old bookmark or perhaps a couple of pages of notes inside. After all, it is “used.” But I’m sure you would be a little shocked if you opened the book and a bag of coke fell out.

    According to WPTV Kansas, that’s what happened to Sophia Stockton, a junior at Mid-America Nazarene University in Olathe.

    Apparently, Stockton purchased the book through Amazon’s Warehouse Deals program, where shoppers can “get deep discounts on open-box, like-new, refurbished, or used products that are in good condition but do not meet Amazon.com’s rigorous standards as ‘new.’” When she opened it up and a baggie of white powder fell out, she initially thought it might be anthrax.

    Ironically enough, the textbook that contained the cocaine was called “Understanding Terrorism: Challenges, Perspectives, and Issues.”

    She notified the local police department, who ran an analysis on the substance:

    Warehouse Deals was created by Amazon to easily move products that aren’t quite showroom quality. It functions like any other “Fulfilled by Amazon” merchant. Amazon specifically says that items that come through Warehouse Deals are inspected carefully:

    Prior to offering an item for sale on Warehouse Deals, we verify physical and functional condition.

    Amazon says that any product that customers find unsatisfactory can be returned within 30 days for a full refund. I doubt Miss Stockton is unsatisfied with her textbook once she found out it wasn’t full of a biological warfare agent.

    She told GardnerEdge: “I have ordered many times from Amazon and this is the first time I’ve seen anything like this. I don’t think that Amazon is at fault in this case. They can’t check every book that goes through their warehouse. I’m guessing that it (the cocaine) was just left in there by the previous owner of the book.”

    Or some inspector is really bummed out. I wonder, how many other college students would have called the police?

  • Internet Dating: Who’s Really Out There?

    Internet Dating: Who’s Really Out There?

    We see the commercials all the time, I found my mate on Match.com or E-harmony, or whatever services their advertising these days. Everybody is so happy and their significant other is everything they aways wanted.

    It all starts with your customizable personality profile! How exciting!!!!! I can’t wait. If you’ve ever read any of these profiles, they are almost all the same: loves dogs, loves cats, likes to have a good time, loves honesty….whatever! These things would be more accurate if they were written by a panel of strangers who scrutinized user’s pictures and made-up a personality for them.

    According to some guy named Brian Bowman, who used to work for Match.com, there’s a solution to all this B.S. people post about themselves on these dating sites. He uses the word “authenticity” to describe his revolutionary idea about internet dating.

    According to Bowman, the concept stems from sites like Amazon.com and Netflix who use preference information to bring valid recommendations to their users. He believes this is the innovation that sites like Match.com lack. His vision is that Facebook pages, Twitter posts, Netflix choices, and other internet preferences will become transparent to prospective mates and that they will see a truer picture of who’s on the other side of the site.

    While his ideal version of a dating site may leave some feeling like they’ve had their privacy invaded, Bowman feels that this evolution will become excepted as times change.

    At the very least it will cut down on users who regularly misrepresent their identity to take advantage of others. It might also rid people of the tedious task of trying to accurately describe themselves to a stranger. We can only hope.

  • Who Are Google’s Biggest Advertisers?

    Who Are Google’s Biggest Advertisers?

    What’s popping up as we use our Google search? Business Insider ranked the top spenders by category. I’ll share the top five and we’ll see what’s been washed into our brains over the past year.

    Well not shocking for us who use the search engine, finance and insurance rank tops.
    $40 billion was spent in this category. Remember these names: Geico, Progressive, State Farm. like we can forget. These companies and their slogans are brainwashed into our sub-conscience forever.

    The next highest spending group came from retailers. Amazon.com is on top, spending over 55 million dollars, which for some people seems strange. This is because there is evidence suggesting the site is stealing traffic from Google. Logical enough though, if I were Ford Motors, I would love the opportunity to advertise in Chevrolets showroom.

    The third highest spenders were from the travel and tourism industry. You’ve seen the ads; Priceline, Expedia, Marriott. Makes sense, we all love to travel and we need to know where to go for the deals.

    Fourth highest spending category? Education. University of Phoenix, ITT Tech., and DeVry. We all know these names, there’s nothing new here. We have to get an education for all those jobs that aren’t available.

    Finally the fifth highest spending Google advertising campaigns came from Home and Garden. Lowe’s and Home depot. Do they really even need to advertise? Are they not on every street corner? Sears also fell in with home and garden. I guess they were fighting one last fight before they decided to start closing down a whole bunch of locations in January of this year.

    There you have it. These should have been the most frequently brainwashed brands and categories for 2011 if you use the Google search engine. Hope it was refreshing!