News
BackDate:30 January 2013
Amazon reports record sales over Christmas
Amazon has revealed sales over the Christmas period reached a record $21bn (£13bn), up 22% compared with the same period in 2011. The online retail giant continued to gain market share from both high street and online rivals during the fourth quarter, with its product range of films, music, books, apps and games having grown to 23m titles.
Seattle-based Amazon reported operating income soared 56% to $405m in the fourth quarter of 2012, compared with $260m in the same period in 2011. At the end of December the company’s cash savings reached $8bn, up from $3bn at the beginning of Q4, boosted by $3bn fundraising in November. Funds held in short term investments rose to $3.4bn.
In the year ended 31st December Amazon reported net sales grew 27.1% to $61.09bn (£38.8bn), with North American sales accounting for 57% of revenues ($34.8bn). International sales, including the UK, reached $26.3bn (£16.7bn) and accounted for 43% of sales in 2012.
“We’re now seeing the transition we’ve been expecting,” says CEO Jeff Bezos. “After five years, e-books is a multibillion dollar category for us and growing fast–up approximately 70% last year. In contrast, our physical book sales experienced the lowest December growth rate in our 17 years as a bookseller, up just 5%.”