Amazon reports 20pc increase in sales to US$20.5bn, but losses widen in Q3

23 Oct 2014

Web retail and cloud giant Amazon reported a 20pc increase in revenue for the third quarter to US$20.5bn. However, increased investments contributed to net losses increasing to US$437m.

Amazon reported an operating loss of US$544m during the quarter, compared with an operating loss of US$25m during the third quarter of last year.

Net loss amounted to US$437m, compared with a loss of US$41m last year.

The quarter had been punctuated by new highs, such as the launch of an ultra-thin reader called the Kindle Voyage, as well as the new Fire HD tablet device, which sells for less than US$100.

The company also claimed its Fire TV set-top box is now the best-selling streaming box on its sites for the US, UK and Germany.

“As we get ready for this upcoming holiday season, we are focused on making the customer experience easier and more stress-free than ever,” said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com.

“In addition to our already low prices, we will offer more than 15,000 Lightning Deals with early access to select deals for Prime members, hundreds of millions of products across dozens of categories, curated gift lists like Holiday Toy List and Electronics Holiday Gift Guide, new features like #AmazonWishList, and a great new line-up of products like Kindle Voyage and Fire HD Kids Edition. And if you order your gifts on AmazonSmile, we’ll donate a percentage of your purchase price to your favourite charity.”

Amazon image via Shutterstock

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

editorial@siliconrepublic.com