Since it first started a little over 26 years ago, Amazon has grown from a small online book store to become one of the biggest and most profitable companies globally and has made founder Jeff Bezos the richest man in the world (note – Bezos frequently swaps places with Tesla/Space X’s Elon Musk for this title).
Amazon company diversification
While the Amazon name is most readily associated with its massive online retail operations (Amazon is the world’s biggest online retailer), over the years the company has branched into a wide range of other areas – everything from cloud computing services (Amazon Web Services) to online advertising, media streaming (Amazon Prime Video) as well as producing its own range of digital products (the Kindle e-book, Fire TV, etc.).
Amazon’s unstoppable growth and income
As a whole, Amazon is valued at an incredible $1.7 trillion with income still increasing at a remarkable pace. For example, in the quarter ending 30th June 2021, the company reported a net income of $7.8 billion – a rise of 48.4% on the same quarter the previous year.
While online retail still accounts for the largest percentage of its revenue (87%), the company’s Amazon Web Services is growing rapidly and brings the highest percentage of the firm’s operating income (54%).
Many products split into just three company divisions
The Amazon firm is split into three different divisions – North America, International, and Amazon Web Services. The geographic locations represent the retail side of the company and encompass everything from online sales to subscriptions, real-world store sales, Amazon Prime Video, etc.
Amazon Web Services: Amazon Web Services (AWS) is one of the fastest-growing parts of the overall company and, as mentioned, brings the highest operating income. AWS has control of one-third of the total cloud sector globally, far ahead of its nearest rivals Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud. This exponential growth has made students the world over rush to get AWS cloud certification realizing that knowledge of the Amazon platform offers a sure-fire guarantee for long-term assured employment.
North America: The North American sector remains the most important for the firm and encompasses the services Amazon distributes in this geographic region. Recent figures suggest this sector accounts for 60% of Amazon’s revenue and 41% of its operating income. The Amazon Prime service, which offers free shipping and the company’s streaming video and movies service, performs particularly well in the North American sector.
International: As you might expect, Amazon’s International division focuses on the stores held outside North America, including export sales from those stores. Somewhat surprisingly, the international sector of the firm only accounts for 27% of Amazon’s total revenue and just 5% of its operating income.
The future for the world’s biggest online retailer
Amazon seems to have no limit to its ambitions and the firm is actively developing a raft of new tech that will only continue to see it grow. From cashier-free stores to biometric payment systems, AI-powered home robots, streaming game services, and fleets of delivery drones, it appears the company has set its sights on transforming far more than just the retail landscape.
