Amazon.com,Inc.(NASDAQ:AMZN) is an American electronic commerce company based in Seattle,Washington.It was one of the first major companies to sell goods over the Internet and was one of the iconic stocks of the late 1990s dot-com bubble.After the bubble burst Amazon faced skepticism about its business model,but it made its first annual profit in 2003.Amazon also owns Alexa Internet,A9.com,and the Internet Movie Database (IMDb).
Founded as Cadabra.com by Jeff Bezos in 1994 and launched in 1995,Amazon.com began as an online bookstore,though it soon diversified its product lines,adding DVDs,music CDs,computer software,video games,electronics,apparel,furniture,food,and more.Amazon has established separate websites in Canada,the United Kingdom,Germany,France,China and Japan and it ships globally on selected products.
Amazon offers web services for access to its catalog as well as for integration with retailers like Target and Marks & Spencer.A9.com provides search engine services directly on the Amazon.com site.Since November 2005,the company has been testing Amazon Mechanical Turk,an application programming interface (API) allowing programs to dispatch tasks to human processors.
Business model
Screenshot of Amazon.com Home PageThe company began as an online bookstore.Founder Bezos saw the potential of the World Wide Web; while the largest brick-and-mortar bookstores and mail-order catalogs for books might offer 200,000 titles,an online bookstore could offer many times more.Bezos renamed his company "Amazon" after the world's most voluminous river.The company was incorporated in 1994 in the state of Washington,began service in July 1995,and was reincorporated in 1996 in Delaware.Amazon.com had its initial public offering on May 15,1997,trading on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the symbol AMZN at an IPO price of $18.00 per share (equivalent to $1.50 after three stock splits during the late 1990s).
Amazon's initial business plan was unusual:the company did not expect to turn a profit for four to five years.In retrospect,the strategy was effective.Amazon grew at a steady pace in the late 1990s while many other Internet companies grew at a blindingly fast pace.Amazon's "slow" growth caused a number of its stockholders to complain,saying that the company was not reaching profitability fast enough.When the Dot-com bubble burst and many e-companies went out of business,Amazon persevered and finally turned its first profit in the fourth quarter of 2002:a meager $5 million,just 1 cent per share,on revenues of over $1 billion,but it was important symbolically.The firm has since remained profitable:net profits were $35 million in 2003,$588 million in 2004 and $359 million in 2005.Revenue kept growing thanks to product diversification and international presence:$3.9 billion in 2002,$5.3 billion in 2003,$6.9 billion in 2004 and $8.5 billion in 2005.On November 21,2005,Amazon entered the S&P 500 index,replacing the venerable AT&T after it merged with SBC Communications.
Time Magazine named Bezos its 1999 Man of the Year in recognition of the company's success in popularizing online shopping.
Partnerships and locations
The Web sites of Borders.com,Borders.co.uk,Waldenbooks.com,Virginmega.com,Waterstones.co.uk,CDNOW.com,and HMV.com automatically redirect users to Amazon's site for the country in question.Until June 30,2006,typing ToysRUs.com into one's browser would similarly bring up Amazon.com's Toys & Games tab; however,this relationship was terminated as the result of a lawsuit.
Amazon.com powers and operates retail web sites for Target,the NBA,Sears Canada and Bombay Company.
It also powers,although does not operate,AOL's Shop@AOL service.It achieves this via Web services technology.
[edit] Headquarters
The company's global headquarters resides on Seattle,Washington's Beacon Hill.It has offices throughout other parts of greater Seattle including the International District,Rainier Valley,and Downtown's Columbia Center.
In Europe,Amazon has country-specific headquarters in locations that include Munich,Germany; Paris,France; Slough,England.
Country-specific headquarters in the Far East are located in Tokyo,Japan; Beijing,China.
[edit] Software development centers
The company employs software developers in modest- to large-sized centers across the globe.Centers include Slough,England; Edinburgh,Scotland; Bangalore Chennai and Hyderabad,India; Kennewick,Washington; Cape Town,South Africa; Iaşi,Romania; and Shibuya,Tokyo,Japan,Beijing,China.
[edit] Fulfillment and warehousing
Fulfillment centers are located in the following cities,often near airports:
North America:
Phoenix,Arizona
New Castle,Delaware
Coffeyville,Kansas
Kentucky:Campbellsville,Hebron (near CVG),and Lexington
Nevada:Fernley and Red Rock (near 4SD)
Tacoma,Washington
Pennsylvania:Chambersburg,Carlisle,and Lewisberry
Dallas/Fort Worth,Texas
Canada:Mississauga,Ontario
Europe:
Cork,Republic of Ireland
Marston Gate,(Bedfordshire),England
Gourock,Scotland
Glenrothes,Scotland
Orl茅ans,France
Bad Hersfeld,Germany
Leipzig,Germany
Asia:
Chiba,Japan
Guangzhou,China
Shanghai,China
Beijing,China