Amazon started as an online book retailer and has grown to become the world's largest online retailer, offering a vast array of products. It also provides cloud computing and artificial intelligence services. Amazon is headquartered in Seattle and has operations around the world. It has acquired companies in various sectors such as healthcare, entertainment, and smart home technology to expand its business offerings.

1. AMAZON
Prepared by supervised by:
Aras Abdulla Salem Dr. Brwa
Qala University College

2. What is Amazon?
Amazon (Amazon.com) is the world's largest online retailer and a prominent cloud service provider.
Originally started as an online bookselling company, Amazon has morphed into an internet-based
business enterprise that is largely focused on providing e-commerce, cloud computing, digital
streaming and artificial intelligence (AI) services.
Following an Amazon-to-buyer sales approach, the company offers a monumental product range and
inventory, enabling consumers to buy just about anything, including clothing, beauty supplies,
gourmet food, jewelry, books, movies, electronics, pet supplies, furniture, toys, garden supplies and
household goods.
Headquartered in Seattle, Amazon has individual websites, software development centers, customer
service centers, data centers and fulfillment centers around the world.

3. History and timeline of Amazon
Amazon has come a long way since it was founded by Jeff Bezos in his garage in Bellevue, Wash., on July 5,
1994.
The following is a brief history and timeline of events that have evolved Amazon from its humble beginnings
to a multinational business empire.
• The 1990s
Amazon officially opened for business as an online bookseller on July 16, 1995. Originally, Bezos had
incorporated the company as Cadabra but later changed the name to Amazon. Bezos is said to have browsed a
dictionary for a word beginning with A for the value of alphabetic placement. He selected the name Amazon
because it was exotic and different and as a reference to his plan for the company's size to reflect that of the
Amazon River, one of the largest rivers in the world. Since its inception, the company's motto has always been
"get big fast."

4. History and timeline of Amazon
• The 2000s
In 2005, Amazon Prime This membership-based service for Amazon customers offers free two-day shipping
within the contiguous U.S., as well as streaming, shopping and reading benefits. According to Amazon's
website, current Amazon Prime membership rates are $14.99 a month or $139 per year.

5. Amazon Web Services
This comprehensive and evolving cloud computing platform was also born in the 2000s. The first
Amazon Web Services (AWS) offerings were launched in 2006 to provide online services for websites
and client-side applications. Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) and Simple Storage Service (S3)
are the backbones of the company's growing collection of web services. The same year, Amazon also
launched a cloud computing and video-on-demand service known at the time as Unbox.
By changing the way people bought books, Amazon also shaped how they read them with the launch
of its first Kindle e-reader in 2007. This device helps users browse, buy and read e-books, magazines
and newspapers from the Kindle Store.

6. From the 2010s to present
Amazon debuted its first tablet computer, the Kindle Fire, in 2011 and the Amazon Fire TV Stick,
which is part of Amazon's extensive line of streaming media devices, in 2014.
Amazon also started an online Amazon Art marketplace for fine arts in 2013, which has featured
original works by famous artists such as Claude Monet and Norman Rockwell.
The popular in-home virtual assistant Amazon Alexa was rolled out to consumers in 2015 and was
followed by the Alexa-equipped Echo Dot in 2016.
Amazon acquired the organic grocery store Whole Foods in 2017 and launched Amazon Go, a
chain of cashier less grocery stores in 2018.
The rise of in-home shopping during the COVID-19 pandemic made consumers rely on Amazon
even more, and the trend is likely to keep growing.

7. Notable Amazon products and
services
• Retail
• Consumer technology
• Subscription services
• Digital content
• AWS

8. Amazon AI services
• Amazon Sage Maker. A fully managed cloud machine learning platform, Amazon Sage Maker enables developers and data
scientists to build, train and deploy machine learning models for predictive analytics applications.
• Amazon Lex. This service for building conversational interfaces into any application using voice and text is powered by the
same technology as Alexa.
• Amazon Polly. A text-to-speech service, Amazon Polly uses deep learning technology to convert text into spoken audio. It
includes 60 voices across 29 languages.
• Amazon Recognition. This software-as-a-service facial recognition and analysis platform uses a deep learning algorithm to
process images and extract information from them.
• AWS Deep Lens. This programmable video camera enables developers to easily experiment with machine learning, AI and
the internet of things.
• Alexa Voice Service. This programming interface provides developers with a set of C++ libraries to add Amazon Alexa's
speech and other capabilities into their applications and devices.
• Amazon Transcribe. This service converts speech to text quickly and accurately by using a deep learning process
called automatic speech recognition.
• Amazon Translate. Amazon Translate is a cloud service that can convert large amounts of text written in one language to
another language.
• Alexa Skills Kit. This software development kit enables developers to build skills or conversational applications on Amazon
Alexa.

9. Amazon privately owned brands
AmazonBasics. This is Amazon's privately labeled, low-budget brand that mainly sells kitchen, tech and household
products.
Amazon Elements. This line of domestic products includes health and personal care items, as well as nutritional
supplements.
Mama Bear. This private label of Amazon sells baby wipes, newborn through size 6 diapers, baby food, diaper pail
refills and baby laundry detergent.
Presto!. This brand started as a laundry detergent in 2016 but has added household paper towels and toilet paper to its
product line.
Amazon Essentials. A Prime-exclusive program, this clothing line offers basic wear for men, women, babies and kids,
with additional options for family, big and tall, and athletic activity.
Happy Belly. This private label of Amazon was introduced in 2016 and sells snack food items. In February 2019, the
brand also began offering milk delivery services.
Goodthreads. This menswear apparel line is available exclusively to Amazon Prime members. The label offers both
casual and professional pieces and is deemed a bit higher quality and more stylish than the Amazon Essentials brand.

11. Notable Amazon subsidiaries and
acquisitions
From healthcare to entertainment, Amazon has acquired multiple companies by tapping into a variety of sectors
over time.
Following is a list of Amazon's notable acquisitions and subsidiary companies:
IMDb. The world's most popular database for movies, TV, celebrity, video games and streaming online content
was acquired by Amazon in 1998.
Audible. Audible, a book and spoken audio content provider, was acquired by Amazon in 2008 for $300 million.
Zappos. Amazon acquired this online shoe and clothing retailer in an all-stock deal worth $1.2 billion in 2009.
Twitch. A social media and video game streaming platform, Twitch was purchased by Amazon for $970 million
in 2014.
Whole Foods. Food, beverage and organic grocery store chain Whole Foods was acquired by Amazon for $13.7
billion in 2017.
Ring. Amazon took ownership of this home security and smart home company in 2018 for $1 billion.
Zoox. An autonomous vehicles, robotics and transportation company was acquired as a wholly owned
subsidiary by Amazon for $1.2 billion in 2020.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Amazon acquired this film and TV studio for $8.5 billion in March 2022.

12. Amazon finances
According to a news release posted on Amazon's investor relations website, Amazon experienced a significant increase
in net sales but a decrease in operating income in the first quarter of 2022.
Following are some notable statistics from the release:
Net sales increased 7% to $116.4 billion in the first quarter, compared with $108.5 billion in the first quarter of 2021.
Excluding the $1.8 billion unfavorable impacts from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the
quarter, net sales increased 9% compared with the first quarter of 2021.
Operating income decreased to $3.7 billion in the first quarter, compared with $8.9 billion in the first quarter of 2021.
Net loss was $3.8 billion in the first quarter compared with net income of $8.1 billion in the first quarter of 2021.
Besides being recognized as a company with business interests in e-commerce, cloud computing and AI services,
Amazon also offers an extensive list of subscription services. Learn about these services and the perks they offer.

13. Reference
• https://www.ordermentum.com/blog/what-is-amazon
• https://www.amazon.com/
• https://www.globaldata.com/company-profile/amazoncom-inc/
• https://www.aboutamazon.com/
• https://www.aboutamazon.com/about-us
• https://fortune.com/company/amazon-com/
• https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/Amazon
• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jeff-Bezos