WebProNews » Kindle http://www.webpronews.com Breaking News in Tech, Search, Social, & Business Sun, 12 Feb 2012 23:11:34 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Amazon Commercial Takes Shots At iPad’s Price http://www.webpronews.com/amazon-commercial-ipad-price-2012-02 http://www.webpronews.com/amazon-commercial-ipad-price-2012-02#comments Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:31:48 +0000 Shaylin Clark http://www.webpronews.com/?p=97421 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.

]]> http://www.webpronews.com/amazon-commercial-ipad-price-2012-02/feed 1 Kindle: Best Selling Product Across Europe and US http://www.webpronews.com/kindle-best-selling-product-across-europe-and-us-2012-02 http://www.webpronews.com/kindle-best-selling-product-across-europe-and-us-2012-02#comments Wed, 01 Feb 2012 19:19:55 +0000 Shawn Hess http://www.webpronews.com/?p=94468 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.

]]> http://www.webpronews.com/kindle-best-selling-product-across-europe-and-us-2012-02/feed 1 Amazon Q4 Earnings Report Released, Net Income Plummets, Kindle Unit Sales Up 177% http://www.webpronews.com/amazon-q4-earnings-report-released-kindle-unit-sales-up-177-yoy-2012-01 http://www.webpronews.com/amazon-q4-earnings-report-released-kindle-unit-sales-up-177-yoy-2012-01#comments Tue, 31 Jan 2012 21:24:20 +0000 Chris Crum http://www.webpronews.com/?p=94161 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,

]]> http://www.webpronews.com/amazon-q4-earnings-report-released-kindle-unit-sales-up-177-yoy-2012-01/feed 0 Barnes & Noble Preparing New Nook http://www.webpronews.com/barnes-noble-preparing-new-nook-2012-01 http://www.webpronews.com/barnes-noble-preparing-new-nook-2012-01#comments Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:14:46 +0000 Shaylin Clark http://www.webpronews.com/?p=93534 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.

]]> http://www.webpronews.com/barnes-noble-preparing-new-nook-2012-01/feed 0 Viral Video: Joy of Books http://www.webpronews.com/viral-video-joy-books-2012-01 http://www.webpronews.com/viral-video-joy-books-2012-01#comments Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:35:15 +0000 Mike Tuttle http://www.webpronews.com/?p=93538 In a world of iPads, Kindles, Nooks and laptops, the classic book is slipping. But, a pair of book aficionados in Toronto were willing to recruit friends and put in tireless nights of stop motion photography work to fan the low embers of book support. The result was this gorgeous video that has so far been viewed 2.5 million times on YouTube.

]]> http://www.webpronews.com/viral-video-joy-books-2012-01/feed 0 Coliloquy Brings Interactive Reading To Kindle http://www.webpronews.com/coliloquy-brings-interactive-reading-to-kindle-2012-01 http://www.webpronews.com/coliloquy-brings-interactive-reading-to-kindle-2012-01#comments Tue, 17 Jan 2012 17:32:57 +0000 Drew Bowling http://www.webpronews.com/?p=89867 Ever find yourself reading a book wherein you are disappointed with the decisions of the characters? Wish something had gone down a little differently? It’s frustrating, it’s rewarding, it’s depressing, it’s memorable, but one thing is universal – that’s just the way it is because that’s how the writer wanted it.

Whether you regularly fit the description above or are just jonesing for something different, there’s a new service that can give the development of a book more pliability by involving you, dear reader, more actively with what happens in the book. It’s not a novel idea but it’s new again thanks to Coliloquy, a publisher of “active fiction,” which is roughly defined as books in which readers affect the course of characters or plots by selecting from possible choices based on what you’d like to happen. Wish Barry had taken a left than a right at that fatal intersection? You can do it. Think Veronica should’ve shot that hostage instead of letting the bad guys get away? You can do that, too. (Well, I have no idea if you can do these specific things – they’re just examples. You can’t go bananas with your directorial control as you’ll have to stick with pre-determined choices set within the book.)

The best comparison to this method of reading – and I swear to God, I wish there was a better way to describe it because everybody else that’s covered this story has been using this very same comparison but it really is the best way to make you understand – is to recall those “Choose Your Own Adventure” books from the 1980s and 90s. Coliloquy has built off of that idea and brought it to Kindle devices. Their press release goes into detail:

Coliloquy’s new publishing format enables multiple story lines, serial and episodic story-telling, personalized content, in-book engagement mechanics and the delivery of prompts and special or exclusive extras to create a more fluid and immersive story-telling experience.

Coliloquy comes out of the Kindle Developer Program for Active Content and will be available immediately on Kindle, Kindle Touch, Kindle DX and Kindle Keyboard devices. By delivering titles as active content applications, rather than static publishing files, Coliloquy enables new kinds of engagement made possible by advances in electronic book distribution. Multiple “what if” story lines let authors and readers explore different permutations of character relationships.

(And in case their name makes your butt itch, the odd spelling is intentional. They explain: “We created ‘coliloquy’ as a portmanteau of soliloquy and colloquy.”)

The selling point of Coliloquy is that you can literally re-read a book and have it be different each time you go through it (given you don’t exhaust the amount of scenarios available for readers to choose from). What’s more is that they’re taking the choice-based platform one step further beyond the traditional Choose your Own Adventure series and involving the books’ authors for future installments of a series. As readers forge their own paths in the books offered by Coliloquy, feedback is sent to the authors who may “test and refine new ideas based on insights of the readers.”

As of today, Coliloquy has four book titles in their interactive offerings:

  • Heidi R. Kling, Witch’s Brew (The Spellspinners of Melas County)
  • Kira Snyder, Dead Letter Office (Parish Mail)
  • Liz Maverick, Arcania, Trial by Fire #1 (Arcania)
  • Tawna Fenske, Getting Dumped

    • No word yet if these will be available in other ebook markets like Nook later. If you’re a Kindler out there and you happen to give these books the old college try, let us know what you think in the comments below.

    ]]>     http://www.webpronews.com/coliloquy-brings-interactive-reading-to-kindle-2012-01/feed 0     Amazon Boosts Payouts To Kindle Direct Publishing Authors http://www.webpronews.com/kdp-payouts-up-2012-01 http://www.webpronews.com/kdp-payouts-up-2012-01#comments Thu, 12 Jan 2012 19:51:53 +0000 Mike Tuttle http://www.webpronews.com/?p=88922 Amazon launched the Kindle Owners Lending Library back in November, 2011. Available to Amazon Prime members to borrow for free, the library is a huge boon for self-published authors, or as Amazon styles them, “Kindle Direct Publishing” (KDP) authors.

    Basically, independent “self-published” authors sign the digital rights to their book for a contract period with Amazon. They keep the paper publishing rights, but cannot distribute their book electronically anywhere else – not even their own website – for the duration of the contract. But, the benefits from Amazon’s KDP program are handsome nowadays.

    From Amazon’s KDP Select FAQ:

    “Your share of the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library Fund is calculated based on a share of the total number of qualified borrows of all participating KDP titles. For example, if the monthly fund amount is $500,000, the total qualified borrows of all participating KDP titles is 100,000, and your book was borrowed 1,500 times, you will earn 1.5% (1,500/100,000 = 1.5%), or $7,500 for that month.”

    Amazon announced today that the library has over 75,000 books, and that they have increased the fund pool total from $500,000 to $700,000.

    For those authors who rank in the top tier of borrowed books, those numbers can be sweet. Amazon announced these examples of KDP author earnings from the program:

    * Carolyn McCray, a writer of paranormal romance novels, historical thrillers and mysteries, earned $8,250 from the KDP Select fund in December.

    * Rachel Yu is a 16-year-old author of children’s books, and she earned $6,200 from the KDP Select fund in the month of December.

    * The Grabarchuk family earned $6,300 from the KDP Select fund in December from their puzzle books.

    * Amber Scott is a romance writer and earned $7,650 from the KDP Select fund in December.

    Amazon says it will add at least $6 million to the KDP fund in 2010.

    ]]>     http://www.webpronews.com/kdp-payouts-up-2012-01/feed 1     CES 2012: E Ink Shows Off New Color Display http://www.webpronews.com/ces-2012-e-ink-triton-color-2012-01 http://www.webpronews.com/ces-2012-e-ink-triton-color-2012-01#comments Thu, 12 Jan 2012 15:03:08 +0000 Shaylin Clark http://www.webpronews.com/?p=88771 Ever since Amazon brought E Ink displays to the world’s attention with the first Kindle reader, e-reader users have been clamoring for color displays on their devices. Now it seems that they might soon get their wish. E Ink has been showcasing their new Triton color display at CES this week.

    E Ink displays can be found in pretty much every e-reader you’ve ever heard of, most notably in Amazon’s Kindle and Barnes and Noble’s NOOK (though not, of course, the Kindle Fire or the NOOK Tablet). The display works by moving charged, pigmented pellets around inside the display. The pellets are suspended between two electrodes (one transparent) and are arranged into words and images by charging the electrodes in a particular pattern. The new Triton display works in exactly the same way, except it is overlayed with a filter that colorizes the images. Here’s a video from E Ink showing how the technology works:

    E Ink Triton Imaging Film from E Ink Corporation on Vimeo.

    Just as with previous E Ink displays, the Triton screen is easy to read in bright sunlight, and draws a minimal amount of power, allowing for the same remarkable battery life enjoyed by the NOOK, Kindle, and other E Ink readers. The technology behind Triton is slightly more complicated, however, which will likely lead to an increase in device price.

    Requests for comment sent to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and E Ink about when we might expect to see the Triton display in the Kindle and the NOOK have not yet been answered. Considering that a color display has been pretty much at the top of every e-reader user’s wish list for several years now, it’s likely to be sooner than later.

    Digital Trends caught up with E Ink at CES, and got a look the display in action. The video is embedded below. Check it out and let us know what you think in the comments.

    ]]>     http://www.webpronews.com/ces-2012-e-ink-triton-color-2012-01/feed 0     Amazon Set To Republish Old, Out Of Print Books http://www.webpronews.com/amazon-publish-books-2012-01 http://www.webpronews.com/amazon-publish-books-2012-01#comments Wed, 11 Jan 2012 16:07:29 +0000 Zach Walton http://www.webpronews.com/?p=88564 Digital formats have given books a new home and Amazon is using it to give old books a new lease on life.

    Amazon today announced Nancy Pearl’s Book Lust Rediscoveries series. The program will take a line of Pearl’s favorite out-of-print books and republish them in physical print editions, audiobook form and as eBooks in the Kindle store.

    Nancy Pearl, a famous librarian, wrote a best-selling book titled “Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment and Reason.” The book contained approximately 1800 book recommendations. Unfortunately, a large portion of the books that Pearl recommended were out of print or hard to find. She received letters from readers asking where to find these books which led her to the idea of partnering with Amazon for this new venture.

    The Book Lust Rediscoveries series will publish six books a year. It will allow a whole new generation of readers to discover classic books that were so hard to find before.

    Pearl is a celebrity among librarians and book lovers across the country. She may also be the only librarian to have an action figure made in her likeness. She is known around the country for her intimate knowledge on books thanks to her television and book club programs.

    “I’m thrilled that Book Lust Rediscoveries makes it possible to republish many of my all-time favorite novels, all of which have long been out of print,” Nancy Pearl said. “Helping these wonderful books find new readers is, for me, a joy and a delight. I was blown away by Amazon Publishing’s enthusiasm for the project and the extent to which they really understood what I wanted to do.”

    The first two books to be published in the series are “A Gay and Melancholy Sound” by Merle Miller and “After Life” by Rhian Ellis.

    Pearl is donating a portion of the proceeds from the sales to her foundation at the Nancy Pearl Endowment for Public Librarianship at the University of Washington’s Information School.

    “A Gay and Melancholy Sound” is scheduled to be published on April 3 this year and “After Life” is set to release on June 5.

    Both books will be published by AmazonEncore, a subsidiary of Amazon Publishing.

    ]]>     http://www.webpronews.com/amazon-publish-books-2012-01/feed 0     SolarKindle: Solar-Powered Kindle Cover, CES 2012 http://www.webpronews.com/ces-2012-solarkindle-2012-01 http://www.webpronews.com/ces-2012-solarkindle-2012-01#comments Mon, 09 Jan 2012 15:03:43 +0000 Shaylin Clark http://www.webpronews.com/?p=87797 When the first iPad debuted in 2010 it caught the fledgling e-reader market off guard. The iPad was a device that allowed users to do everything they could do on their Kindles or NOOKs, and a whole lot more. As Amazon suddenly found itself playing catch-up, one of the selling points they hit hardest when advertising the Kindle was the fact that the e-ink display was easier to read in bright sunlight (which, to be fair, is absolutely true).

    Now, SolarFocus wants to bring a whole new dimension to Amazon’s argument. The new SolarKindle, just unveiled at CES in Las Vegas, is the first solar powered e-reader cover. Designed for the Amazon Kindle, the folio-style cover sports a large solar panel, a high-powered (up to 800 lux) LED reading light, and a reserve battery. Able to function in a variety of lighting conditions, the solar panel charges both the Kindle and the cover’s built-in reserve battery. The reserve battery charges the Kindle when necessary, as well as the LED reading light. The cover also includes an external port that matches the one on the bottom of the Kindle, allowing users to charge both the Kindle and the reserve battery via USB, if they want or need to. The reserve battery requires 8 hours of sunlight to charge fully, but once charged nearly doubles the battery of the Kindle.

    SolarKindleSpecs

    The SolarKindle is available for preorder on SolarFocus’s website. It costs $79.99 and will be available on January 14th. Also, the SolarKindle earned SolarFocus recognition as a 2012 Design and Engineering Award Honoree at the Consumer Electronics Show, which is going on now.

    [Source: SolarFocus Press Release]

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