Amazon Web Services is a US$5bn business

24 Apr 2015

Amazon reports Q1 revenues

E-commerce and cloud giant Amazon reported a Q1 loss of US$57m on Q1 revenues of US$22.7bn, despite sales increasing 15pc. The company also revealed that Amazon Web Services is a US$5bn business.

Amazon’s operating income increased 74pc to US$255 million in the first quarter, compared with operating income of US$146 million in first quarter 2014.

Perhaps to deflect from the company swinging into loss, CEO Jeff Bezos gave a rare insight into Amazon Web Services, Amazon’s popular cloud service, which generated US$5.16bn in revenue last year and US$1.57bn during the first quarter.

“Amazon Web Services is a US$5bn business and still growing fast — in fact it’s accelerating,” said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com.

“Born a decade ago, Amazon Web Services is a good example of how we approach ideas and risk-taking at Amazon. We strive to focus relentlessly on the customer, innovate rapidly, and drive operational excellence. We manage by two seemingly contradictory traits: impatience to deliver faster and a willingness to think long term. We are so grateful to our Amazon Web Services customers and remain dedicated to inventing on their behalf.”

Fire and Dash

During the first quarter Amazon launched Dash Button, a small button that Prime customers can place in their home and use to reorder frequently-used household items such as cleaning materials and nappies.

Amazon also announced the Dash Replenishment Service (DRS), a new service that enables connected devices to order goods from Amazon when supplies are running low — like a coffee maker that automatically orders more coffee beans.

It announced new features for Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick, including x-ray support for a captive portal to connect to Wi-Fi at a hotel or dorm room, and new shortcuts. Amazon Fire TV also added expandable USB storage and private listening with support for Bluetooth headphones.

Amazon said that Fire TV apps and games selection has grown 500pc, and now includes Sling TVFox Sports GoFlappy Birds FamilyTEDWSJ LiveCrossy Road, and Game of Thrones – A Telltale Game Series.

Amazon image via Shutterstock

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com