Infographic: Just how big is Amazon?

[Jos]

Taking on the behemoth that is Apple in the tablet space is no small challenge, but at least one company is looking fit for the job. Amazon's Kindle Fire has a big shot at shaking up the market and become the first real threat to Cupertino's dominion, not only because it undercuts the iPad by $300, but because it can compete with a broad ecosystem of services and content including apps, books, music and movies.

But beyond their latest venture Amazon is undoubtedly already among the most important technology companies in the world. Its other Kindle hardware is selling at incredible rates and has led a successful transition to digital content sales, their AWS cloud computing platform powers a good chunk of the Internet, and they remain unrivaled as far as online retail sales are concerned -- among other things.

It's hard to believe how far the company has come since its humble beginnings 17 years ago as a bookseller operating from a garage in Bellevue, Washington. Frugal Dad's infographic below provides a few comparisons and contrasts to highlight Amazon's depth as a business and explain its size 'in human terms'.

Source: Frugaldad.com

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/46327-infographic-just-how-big-is-amazon.html

 

[Greg S]

After reading the article, its really not that shocking. I've ordered several things of amazon over the past few years, and nothing has ever been lost or messed up. You put in your credit card number, and boom, about seven days from when your order is placed, you've got a package at your door that had free shipping (well, included in the cost anyway)>

 

[howzz1854]

i've been having better shopping experience over the years at amazon than at Ebay. i think mostly because people now-a-days just don't have the time to bid on things, for something that'll possibly be cheaper on amazon. but most of the time, the prices usually end up to be the same as if you were to buy it on amazon. a recent visit to ebay, i've also noticed that they changed their layout to reflect that of the amazon.

 

[dotVezz]

I really like Amazon. I mean, really, Amazon is by far my favorite company. Their EC2 cloud is a thing of beauty, not to mention the slew of other web services they offer.

As a retail outlet, they almost always have the best price, and they always have the best service.

The Kindle platform is fantastic!

I'm just waiting for them to become an ISP so I can get my internet from them too, because I'm convinced that it'll be the fastest and most reasonably priced broadband connection you can get in the US, with lots of great extras, and it'll somehow be tied into all of their other services.

 

[bexwhitt]

Amazon have got the E experience spot on that's why they do so well.

You need some support put in your telephone number and they ring you straight back.

You need to send some thing back print a label stick it on the box and send it back, if you are due a replacement it will be with you before your parcel gets to you.

Choice, just amazing
Price, all over the place but strike it right and you get a really good deal.

 

[Butch]

I buy from Amazon more than I do anywhere else (even locally). With Prime I get everything with 48 hrs with no shipping cost and no tax. It's a beautiful thing.

 

[Guest]

And this seems to only count Amazon.com figures - let's not forget it has the same business (although not to the same extent I assume) in many other countries, including Japan, Canada, the UK...

 

[Nima304]

Not to mention there are a ton of other companies who work under Amazon (THINK: Alexa).

 

[Guest]

For the people here who say amazon has the best prices you are not doing your home work. If you think it then keep spending more. Open your eyes and compare prices. Amazon is not the cheapest on the web. Wake up.

 

[MilwaukeeMike]

Cool graphic and done well. However... I'd like to know how much stuff is sold by Amazon, and how much is sold by a company partnering with them. Many times it says 'Sold by .... under the product and it's not Amazon. They're a retailer and a site for others to use to sell.

Here's a cool story from WIRED about the psychology of online buying and how companies get you to spend more (techniques, not scams). The first example is Amazon, and one of their tricks was already mentioned as a benefit by a comment above.

http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/06/ff_gamed/all/1

 

[DanUK]

This was pretty interesting, nice find!

 

[Zecias]

Guest said:
For the people here who say amazon has the best prices you are not doing your home work. If you think it then keep spending more. Open your eyes and compare prices. Amazon is not the cheapest on the web. Wake up.

overall it is. obviously you can get stuff cheaper in sales, but if you need stuff right away, amazon is the place to go

 

[captaincranky]

It's sort of inconsiderate and perhaps condescending to include Sierra Leone in the "Amazon's bigger than the GDP of many third world countries stats (17X). Most of the Fortune 500 companies likely have higher yearly gross earnings than Sierra Leone, which also has one of the shortest, if not the shortest, human life expectancy on the planet. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12498341 Bill Gates himself probably has a greater net yearly income than Sierra Leone's GDP.

 

[Arris]

Guest said:
For the people here who say amazon has the best prices you are not doing your home work. If you think it then keep spending more. Open your eyes and compare prices. Amazon is not the cheapest on the web. Wake up.

Depends on what you want. I never blindly buy from Amazon but more often than not I do find that it's cheaper or around the same price as others. Might as well get it from Amazon since I know what their service is like and that the items usually turn up without much delay. I sincerely doubt that the majority of people just log on and buy stuff without searching for the best price on the web. I have standard computer etailers that I check prices on first, but usually do google shopping search and Amazon. I buy from one of the sources I know and trust. Just so happens that on a large number of different things it happens that Amazon have the best price, or close enough to the best price that it's not worth risking buying direct from an unknown/unrated site just to save a couple of $/£.

 

[PandoraProxy]

I work as a Tech Support Specialist for Amazon.com


Boy am I grateful for that.

 

[Guest]

Amazon is by far the only company that I order from. and I love amazon prime! you get so many things! like unlimited video streaming and so much more. I just wrote an essay about amazon and I think im gonna make the contest.(y)