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This is worded somewhat awkwardly. Nobody that has really thought of it ever thought that AWS was solely what funded Retail. Indeed, Retail was known to seed
by taeric 3y ago
This is worded somewhat awkwardly. Nobody that has really thought of it ever thought that AWS was solely what funded Retail. Indeed, Retail was known to seed AWS, such that that view would have difficulty explaining how Amazon grew before AWS existed.
Rather, Amazon has famously spent money on growth. And a distribution network is not at all cheap. You can check openstreet/google maps and see the sheer size of their buildings. I remember the absurd effort to make prime now back when they had to gut some Manhattan buildings to make that work. Could be I was mislead, as I do not claim to be an expert on this, but it did not seem at all outside the pale.
- ecshafer 3y agoAmazon built a 3.8M sqft warehouse around Syracuse https://www.google.com/maps/@43.119355,-76.2052336,3a,75y,295.96h,85.72t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sjrJUhnHjSPUTFmp-qE1cPw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu https://www.google.com/maps/@43.119355,-76.2052336,3a,75y,29... Its a massive building.
- hef19898 3y agoSome of the problems people have when it comes to Amazons financials, or any other companies at that, is the (in)ability to differenciate between cash flow (Amazon retail) and profits (AWS, marketplace and FBA). Once you grasp that, all of things make a lot more sense.
- taeric 3y agoIndeed, I forgot to put that up there. The big difference between Retail and AWS is that Retail has obviously expensive ways to grow. And has to have an absurd float in the form of inventory to work. I think datacenters have a bit of that, as well. But I would be shocked if it was to the same level. AWS, on the other hand, seems to genuinely have trouble finding ways to spend all of the margin they pull in.