Here is the translation of Amazon’s historical stages and business development into English:
Stage 1: Online Bookstore and IPO (1994-1997)
The focus of this stage was on building brand awareness and transitioning from a private startup to a public company.
1994: Jeff Bezos founded the company in a garage, originally named Cadabra.
1995: Amazon.com officially went online, selling only books due to their ease of storage and low unit price.
1997: Listed on Nasdaq (IPO). Revenue reached 147 million USD this year.
- Business Development: Started in a garage and established the 1P (first-party) retail model. Sales reached approximately 15.7 million USD in 1996.
- IPO Milestone: Went public on May 15, 1997, raising about 54 million USD with a market capitalization of approximately 438 million USD at the time.
- Revenue Information: Annual revenue grew to 147 million USD in 1997.
Stage 2: Diversification and the Birth of Membership (1998-2005)
Amazon began its transformation into “The Everything Store.”
1998: Started selling CDs and DVDs, later expanding into toys and electronics.
1999: Launched the Marketplace, allowing third-party sellers to sell on the platform.
2005: Introduced Amazon Prime, offering free shipping for a fixed annual fee, becoming a core competitive advantage. Revenue reached 8.49 billion USD in 2005.
- Business Development: Launched Marketplace in 1999, allowing third-party sellers to join the platform, which became a primary profit driver. In 2005, Amazon Prime was introduced, using a fixed annual fee to drive logistics efficiency and customer loyalty.
- Revenue Information: Revenue exceeded 1.6 billion USD in 1999; by 2004, driven by product expansion, annual revenue reached 6.9 billion USD.
Stage 3: Technology and Cloud Services (2006-2014)
Evolving from a retailer into a technology infrastructure provider.
2006: Officially launched Amazon Web Services (AWS), pioneering the cloud computing era.
2007: Released the Kindle e-reader, transforming the publishing industry.
2012: Acquired Kiva Systems to drive warehouse automation and robotics.
2014: Launched the Echo smart speaker and Alexa voice assistant, entering the AI market. Revenue reached 88.98 billion USD in 2014.
- Business Development: Launched Amazon Web Services (AWS) in 2006, commercializing internal IT capabilities. Released the Kindle in 2007 to build a hardware ecosystem, and launched Echo in 2014 to enter the smart home market.
- Revenue Information: Revenue reached approximately 48 billion USD by 2011. While AWS accounted for a small percentage of revenue at this stage, its high profit margins began to drive the company’s overall profitability.
Stage 4: Ecosystem Deepening and the AI Era (2015-Present)
Achieving OMO (Online-Merge-Offline) integration and shifting focus toward artificial intelligence.
2017: Acquired Whole Foods Market, marking a major entry into physical grocery retail.
2021: Jeff Bezos stepped down as CEO, succeeded by Andy Jassy, the former head of AWS.
2024-2025: Focused on the deep integration of Generative AI (such as Amazon Bedrock) with AWS and continued expanding its proprietary logistics fleet. Revenue reached 637.96 billion USD in 2024.
- Business Development: Acquired Whole Foods in 2017 to enter physical retail. Recent focus shifted to Advertising Services and Generative AI (e.g., Amazon Bedrock).
- Revenue Information: Revenue hit 574.8 billion USD in 2023 and grew further to 638 billion USD in 2024. Current revenue structure: Online stores ~39%, Third-party seller services ~25%, and AWS ~17%.
- Profit Structure: AWS contributed over half of the operating income in 2024, with its annualized revenue surpassing the 100 billion USD milestone.
Sources
- Amazon Revenue 2012-2025: https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/AMZN/amazon/revenue
- Amazon’s IPO after 20 years: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/amazon-ipo-at-20-years-how-you-would-have-profited/
- How Amazon Makes Its Billions: https://www.visualcapitalist.com/how-amazon-makes-its-billions/
- Amazon Strategy Study: https://www.cascade.app/studies/amazon-strategy-study