Timeline of Amazon.com

Overview

Time periodKey developments at Amazon
1994–1998


Amazon starts off as an online bookstore selling books, primarily competing with local booksellers and Barnes & Noble. It IPOs in 1997.

1998–2004Amazon starts to expand its services beyond books. It also starts offering convenience services, such as Free Super Savers Shipping.
2005–2011Amazon moves into the cloud computing area with Amazon AWS, as well as the crowdsourcing area with Amazon Mechanical Turk. By being an early player, it eventually dominates the cloud computing scene, allowing it to control much of the physical infrastructure of the Internet.[1] Amazon also offers the Amazon Kindle for people to purchase their books as eBooks, and by 2010, more people buy ebooks than physical books off of Amazon.
2011–2015Amazon starts offering streaming services like Amazon Music and Amazon Video. By 2015, its market capitalization surpasses that of Walmart.

Full timeline

YearMonth and dateEvent typeDetails
1994July 5CompanyAmazon founded.[2]
1997May 15CompanyAmazon IPOs at $18.00/share, raising $54 million.[2]
1998April 27AcquisitionsAmazon acquires the Internet Movie Database, a comprehensive repository for movie information on the Internet.[3]
1998August 5Company DirectionAmazon announces that it will move beyond books.[4]
1998DecemberCompetitionJack Ma launches Alibaba in China, which would later grow to dominate the Chinese online retail market, and provide an obstacle to Amazon's attempts to expand in China.[5][6]
2002JanuaryProductAmazon launches Free Super Saver Shipping, which allows customers to get free shipping for orders above $99.[2]
2002MarchLegal, CompetitionAmazon settles its October 1999 patent infringement suit against Barnes & Noble (over its 1-Click checkout system, which it received a patent for in September 1999). It originally charged that Barnes&Noble.com had essentially copied Amazon's 1-Click technology.[7]
2003OctoberProductAmazon launches A9.com, a subsidiary of Amazon.com based in Palo Alto, California that develops search and advertising technology.[8]
2004August 19InternationalAmazon acquires Joyo, an online bookstore in China, for $75 million, which then becomes the 7th regional website of Amazon.com. joyo later becomes Amazon China.[9]
2005FebruaryProductAmazon launches Amazon Prime, a membership offering free two-day shipping within the contiguous United States on all eligible purchases for a flat annual fee of $79.[2]
2005NovemberProductAmazon launches Amazon Mechanical Turk, an application programming interface (API) allowing any Internet user to perform "human-intelligence" tasks such as transcribing podcasts, often at very low wages.[2]
2006August 25ProductAmazon launches Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2), a virtual site farm allowing users to use the Amazon infrastructure to run applications ranging from running simulations to web hosting.[10]
2006September 19ProductAmazon launches Fulfillment by Amazon, giving small businesses the ability to use Amazon.com's own order fulfillment and customer service infrastructure - and customers of Amazon.com shipping offers when buying from 3rd-party sellers.[11]
2006LegalAmazon agrees to settle a legal dispute with Toys R Us (over a partnership that gave Toys R Us exclusive rights to supply some toy products on Amazon's website) and pays $51 million.[12]
2006MarchProductAmazon launches Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3), which allows other websites/developers to store computer files on Amazon's servers.[2]
2007AugustProductCreateSpace announces launch of Books on Demand service, which makes it easy for authors who want to self-publish their books to distribute them on Amazon.com.[13]
2007AugustProductAmazon launches AmazonFresh, a grocery service offering perishable and nonperishable foods.[14]
2007September 25ProductAmazon launches Amazon Music, an online music store and music locker.[15]
2007November 19ProductAmazon launches the Amazon Kindle.[2]
2009July 22Acquisitions, CompetitionAmazon acquires Zappos for $850 million.[16]
2009October 20CompetitionBarnes & Noble announces the Nook, an eReader.[17]
2010JanuaryCompetitionApple introduces its own virtual bookstore, called iBooks, and then partners with five major book publishers.[18] It later convinces them to raise the price of ebooks (using the agency pricing model that gives publishers full control over ebook prices).
2010February 1CompetitionMicrosoft launches Microsoft Azure, a cloud computing platform that will compete with Amazon AWS over cloud services.
2010JulyProductAmazon announced that e-book sales for its Kindle reader outnumbered sales of hardcover books for the first time ever.[19]
2011JanuaryAcquisitions, InternationalAmazon acquires Lovefilm, a DVD rental service known as the Netflix of Europe.[20]
2011February 16CompetitionBorders Group, outcompeted by Amazon, applies for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.[21]
2011February 22ProductAmazon rebrands its Amazon Video service as Amazon Instant Video and adds access to 5,000 movies and TV shows for Amazon Prime members.[22][23]
2011March 22ProductAmazon launches the Amazon Appstore for Android devices and the service was made available in over 200 countries.[24]
2011July 1LegalCalifornia starts collecting sales taxes on Amazon.com purchases.[25]
2011SeptemberProductAmazon launches Amazon Locker, a delivery locker system that allows users to get items delivered at specially-designed lockers.[26]
2011September 28ProductAmazon announces the Kindle Fire, a tablet computer that takes aim at Apple's iPad with a smaller device that sells at $199, compared with the $499 value of Apple's cheapest iPad.[27]
2012AprilLegalThe Department of Justice files suit against Apple Inc and five major publishing houses (the "Big Five"), alleging that they colluded in 2010 to raise the price of ebooks (using the agency pricing model that gives publishers full control over ebook prices).[28] Amazon had originally set the price of ebooks at $9.99 (using the wholesale pricing model giving Amazon full control over ebook prices).
2012March 19AcquisitionsAmazon acquires Kiva Systems for $775 million, a robotics company that creates robots that can move items around warehouses.[29]
2012AprilLegalAmazon agrees to allow collection of sales taxes in both Nevada and Texas (starting on July 1), and agrees to create 2,500 jobs and invest $200 million in new distribution centers in Texas.[30]
2012September 6ProductAmazon announces the Kindle Fire HD series of touchscreen tablet computers.[31]
2013MarchAcquisitionsAmazon acquires social reading and book-review site GoodReads.[32]
2013JuneInternationalAmazon launches in India.[33][34]
2014July 25ProductAmazon launches the Amazon Fire.[35]
2014August 25AcquisitionsAmazon announced its intent to acquire the video game streaming website Twitch for $970 million.[36]
2014OctoberLegalAmazon reaches agreement with Simon & Schuster, allowing the publisher to adopt the agency pricing model and set prices on its books sold on Amazon.[37]
2014November 6 (announcement), actual rollout occurs through 2015ProductAmazon unveils Amazon Echo, a wireless speaker and voice command device that can take commands and queries, and be used to add items to the Amazon.com shopping cart, among other things.[38][39] The Alexa Voice Service that is built into Amazon Echo can also be added to other Amazon devices.[40]
2014NovemberLegalAmazon resolves dispute with Hachette, allowing Hachette to adopt the agency-pricing model and set prices on Hachette books sold on Amazon.[41]
2015JulyCompetition, InternationalAlibaba announces that it will invest $1 billion into its Aliyun cloud computing arm, some of which would go into new Aliyun international data centers. This would allow Aliyun to compete with Amazon Web Services outside of China.[42]
2015August 26ProductAmazon launches Amazon Underground, an Android app through which users can get gaming and other apps for free that they would otherwise have to pay for, and also get in-app purchases for free. App creator participation is voluntary. App creators are paid $0.002 for every minute a user spends in the app.[43][44][45]
2015September 8ProductAmazon launches its Amazon Restaurants service that delivers food from nearby restaurants, for Amazon Prime customers in Seattle.[46][47] The service would subsequently be rolled out to many other cities.
2015November 2ProductAmazon opened its first physical retail store, a bookstore in the University Village shopping center in Seattle. The store, known as Amazon Books, has prices matched to those found on the Amazon website and integrate online reviews into the store's shelves.[48]
2015December 14CompanyAmazon begins moving into their new headquarters campus in the Denny Triangle neighborhood of Seattle, beginning with the 38-story Amazon Tower I (nicknamed "Doppler" after the codename for Amazon Echo).[49] The three towers are scheduled to be completed by 2020.
2016December 7DeliveryAmazon Prime Air (Amazon's drone-based delivery system) makes its first delivery in Cambridge in the United Kingdom. The successful delivery is announced a week later, on December 14, along with video.[50][51]
2017 June 15 Acquisitions Amazon acquires Whole Foods for $13.7 billion, a high end grocery store located throughout the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada.[52]
2017 September 7 Company Amazon began search for Amazon HQ2, a second company headquarters to house up to 50,000 employees.[53][54]
2018 January 18 Company Amazon narrows down the choices of its second headquarters location to 20 cities.[55]
2018 January 22 Company Amazon opens a cashier-less grocery store to the public.[56]
2018 September 19 International Amazon launches in Turkey.[57]
2018 October 2 Company Amazon $15/hr. Amazon announces $15/hr minimum wage for all employees. The 206% pay raise for U.S. workers and 73% pay raise for U.K. workers will effect over 250,000 employees and their families. The pay adjustment could cost Amazon $150,000,000 annually. Under current U.S. Federal law, the minimum wage is $7.25 for U.S. employees. In the U.K. employees earning the 25+ rate of ~$11.03 will also receive a pay increase with the Amazon $15/hr internal minimum wage. In addition to regular wage employees, Amazon will also increases its total costs for all U.S. and U.K. employees, including Whole Foods and seasonal employees through the wage increase. [58][59][60][61]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Amazon and Google are in an epic battle to dominate the cloud—and Amazon may already have won - Quartz". Qz.com. Retrieved January 17, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Stone, Brad (2013). The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon. New York: Little Brown and Co. ISBN 9780316219266. OCLC 856249407.
  3. ↑ "Amazon Media Room: Press Releases". Phx.corporate-ir.net. Retrieved January 17, 2016.
  4. ↑ "Amazon.com Is Expanding Beyond Books". The New York Times. August 5, 1998. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
  5. ↑ "Alibaba chief Jack Ma disappoints investors with London no-show". The Daily Telegraph. September 17, 2014. Retrieved January 17, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Why Amazon Should Fear Alibaba". Forbes. Retrieved January 17, 2016.
  7. ↑ "Amazon, Barnes&Noble settle patent suit - CNET". Cnet.com. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Amazon releases A9 search engine". Macworld.com. Retrieved January 17, 2016.
  9. ↑ "Joyo Amazon was renamed to Amazon China" (in Chinese). NetEase. October 27, 2011. Retrieved October 27, 2011.
  10. ↑ Barr, Jeff (August 25, 2006). "Amazon EC2 Beta". Amazon Web Services Blog. Retrieved May 31, 2013.
  11. ↑ "Amazon.com Investor Relations: Press Release". Phx.corporate-ir.net. Retrieved January 17, 2016.
  12. ↑ "Amazon to pay Toys R Us $51M to settle suit - ABC News". Abcnews.go.com. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
  13. ↑ "CreateSpace: Self Publishing and Free Distribution for Books, CD, DVD". Retrieved January 15, 2016.
  14. ↑ Harris, Craig; Cook, John (2007-08-01). "Amazon starts grocery delivery service". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved 2008-11-26.
  15. ↑ "Amazon.com Launches Public Beta of Amazon MP3". BusinessWire (Press release). September 25, 2007. Archived from the original on January 2, 2013.
  16. ↑ "Here's Why Amazon Bought Zappos". Mashable.com. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
  17. ↑ Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg and Geoffrey A. Fowler (October 20, 2009). "B&N Reader Out Tuesday". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on October 21, 2009. Retrieved October 20, 2009.
  18. ↑ "Apple introduces iBooks store for iPad". Appleinsider.com. Retrieved January 17, 2016.
  19. ↑ "Amazon Says E-Books Now Top Hardcover Sales". The New York Times. July 19, 2010. Retrieved January 17, 2016.
  20. ↑ Tim Bradshaw In London, Jonathan Birchall In New York (January 20, 2011). "Amazon acquires Lovefilm for £200m". Financial Times. Retrieved January 17, 2016.
  21. ↑ "Borders Closing: Why the Bookstore Chain Failed". Ibtimes.com. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
  22. ↑ Christina Warren2011-02-22 12:45:05 UTC (2011-02-22). "HANDS ON: Amazon's Prime Instant Video". Mashable.com. Retrieved 2013-11-27.
  23. ↑ "Amazon Media Room: Press Releases". corporate-ir.net.
  24. ↑ Amazon.com (2013-05-23). "Developers Can Now Distribute Apps in Nearly 200 Countries Worldwide on Amazon - Amazon Mobile App Distribution Blog". Developer.amazon.com. Retrieved 2013-11-27.
  25. ↑ "California Becomes Seventh State to Adopt "Amazon" Tax on Out-of-State Online Sellers". Taxfoundation.org. Retrieved January 17, 2016.
  26. ↑ "Photos: A look at Amazon's new delivery locker at 7-Eleven - GeekWire". Geekwire.com. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
  27. ↑ "Amazon Unveils $199 Kindle Fire Tablet, Taking on Apple IPad - Bloomberg Business". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved January 17, 2016.
  28. ↑ "The Justice Department Just Made Jeff Bezos Dictator-for-Life - The Atlantic". Theatlantic.com. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
  29. ↑ "Amazon Acquires Kiva Systems in Second-Biggest Takeover - Bloomberg Business". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
  30. ↑ "Documents: Amazon risking little in Texas sales tax deal". Statesman.com. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
  31. ↑ "Kobo Announces Their New E-Readers". Wired.com. Retrieved January 17, 2016.
  32. ↑ "Amazon Acquires Social Reading Site Goodreads, Which Gives The Company A Social Advantage Over Apple". TechCrunch. March 28, 2013. Retrieved March 29, 2013.
  33. ↑ "Amazon now in India - The Hindu". Thehindu.com. Retrieved January 17, 2016.
  34. ↑ "Amazon Invades India - Fortune". Fortune.com. Retrieved January 17, 2016.
  35. ↑ "Amazon's Fire Phone to sell exclusively on AT&T for $199.99 starting July 25th". Theverge.com. Retrieved January 17, 2016.
  36. ↑ "Amazon acquires Twitch: World's largest e-tailer buys largest gameplay-livestreaming site". Venturebeat.com. Retrieved January 17, 2016.
  37. ↑ "Amazon Closes Multi-Year Deal With Simon & Schuster - Business Insider". Businessinsider.com. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
  38. ↑ Stone, Brad; Soper, Spencer (2014-11-06). "Amazon Unveils a Listening, Talking, Music-Playing Speaker for Your Home". Bloomberg Businessweek. Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved 2014-11-07.
  39. ↑ "Amazon Echo is now available for everyone to buy for $179.99, shipments start on July 14". Android Central.
  40. ↑ "Amazon Unbundles Alexa Virtual Assistant From Echo With New Dev Tools". TechCrunch. AOL. 25 June 2015.
  41. ↑ "Amazon and Hachette have finally resolved their bitter dispute". The Verge. November 13, 2014. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
  42. ↑ "Alibaba $1 Billion Dollar Cloud Investment - International Competition Mounting »". Cloudtweaks.com. Retrieved January 17, 2016.
  43. ↑ Dillet, Romain (August 26, 2015). "Amazon Underground Features An Android App Store Focused On "Actually Free" Apps". TechCrunch. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  44. ↑ Singleton, Micah (August 26, 2015). "Amazon launches Underground to promote free apps and games. The Free App of the Day program has also come to a close". The Verge. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  45. ↑ Barrett, Brian (August 29, 2015). "Has Amazon Cracked the Problem With In-App Payments?". Wired Magazine. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  46. ↑ Duryee, Tricia (September 8, 2015). "Amazon confirms Prime Now restaurant delivery launch in Seattle area, hints at broader rollout". GeekWire. Retrieved December 21, 2016.
  47. ↑ Jennings, Lisa (September 8, 2015). "Amazon launches restaurant delivery in Seattle. Service is available to Amazon Prime Now customers only". Nation's Restaurant News. Retrieved December 21, 2016.
  48. ↑ "Amazon is opening its first physical bookstore today". The Verge. November 2, 2015. Retrieved January 17, 2016.
  49. ↑ Greene, Jay (December 14, 2015). "Workers move in to the first of Amazon's downtown towers". The Seattle Times. Retrieved January 17, 2016.
  50. ↑ Reisinger, Don (December 14, 2016). "Watch Amazon's Prime Air Complete Its First Drone Delivery". Fortune Magazine. Retrieved December 21, 2016.
  51. ↑ Fierberg, Emma (December 14, 2016). "Watch Amazon make its first drone delivery". Business Insider. Retrieved December 21, 2016.
  52. ↑ "Amazon to Acquire Whole Foods for $13.7 Billion". Bloomberg.com. 2017-06-16. Retrieved 2017-06-19.
  53. ↑ "Amazon HQ2". Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  54. ↑ "8 cities fit for Amazon's second headquarters". CNN. September 11, 2017. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  55. ↑ "Amazon Chooses 20 Finalists for Second Headquarters". Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  56. ↑ "Amazon opens its grocery store without a checkout line to the public". Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  57. ↑ "Amazon launches in Turkey". Reuters. September 19, 2018. Retrieved September 19, 2018.
  58. ↑ Isidore, Danielle Wiener-Bronner and Chris. "Amazon announces $15 minimum wage for all US employees". Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  59. ↑ Partington, Richard (2 October 2018). "Amazon raises minimum wage for US and UK employees". the Guardian. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  60. ↑ https://www.npr.org/2018/10/02/653779983/amazon-becomes-largest-company-to-commit-to-minimum-15-hourly-wage
  61. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_minimum_wages_by_country
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