zondag, januari 05, 2014

Amazon's innovations in 2013

The Amazon innvation factory is spinning at full speed. Just take a look at the sheer number of 2013 press releases. They can be ordered in this fashion:
  • New stores:
    • US: Entertainment Collectibles, 50+ Active and Healthy Living, Art, AmazonSmile (dedicated store where portion of purchase price goes to charity)
    • Canada: Beauty, Health & Personal Care, Toys & Games, Groceries, Auto, 
  • Delivery:
    • Physical:
      • opening several large fulfillment centers across the US (1 in NJ, 2 in Cal, 3 in Texas, 2 in Florida, 1 in Maryland, 1 in Wisconsin, 1 in Connecticut, 1 in Poland)
      • AmazonFresh (grocery delivery) trial in the US; expands to San Francisco
      • plans Prime Air (aerial 30 minute delivery by drone)
      • pop-up stores in malls
      • Sunday delivery in selected cities for Prime members
    • Combining physical and digital delivery:
      • AutoRip (free MP3 versions of CDs and LPs bought from Amazon)
      • Kindle MatchBook (low-cost Kindle editions of books bought on Amazon)
  • Payments:
    • launches 1c shipping for wine in the US (direct-to-consumer)
    • credit card patent
    • expands Amazon Coins to UK, Germany
    • Amazon Coins can now be gifted
    • Fire tablets can now be paid in installments
  • Membership, subscriptions:
    • Prime adds 1m subs in 3rd week of December
  • Print:
    • licensing deals with Valiant
    • own imprints (Jet City Comics, Kindle Singles Interview, StoryFront)
    • Day One (weekly digital magazine, 20 $/yr)
  • Streaming music:
    • Cloud Player for Ford cars; and for BMW and Mini
    • for iPad
  • Streaming video:
    • content deals for Prime Instant Video members (A+E, PBS, CBS, FX, Scripps, MGM, NBCUniversal, Viacom, Disney, Warner Bros, Oceanhouse, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, A24)
    • distribution deals (Nintendo Wii); Lovefilm for Xbox One
    • original content production
    • launches Prime Instant Video in Japan
    • all original content to be shot in 4K from 2014
    • launches Storybuilder (digital notecards and virtual corkboard for writers)
  • Games:
    • licensing deals with EA
  • Devices (Kindle):
    • Paperwhite (gen 6 r-reader)
    • Fire HD and Fire HDX (tablets).
    • OS: Fire OS 3.0 (Mojito); Fire OS 3.1 for tablets
  • Other:
    • Amazon Coins (virtual currency for apps, games, in-app purchases)
    • Login with Amazon (single sign-in)
    • Amazon Storyteller (turns script into storyboard)
    • Second screen: X-Ray for Movies (based on IMDb)
    • Kindle Worlds (UGC based on licensed characters and stories)
    • Mayday Button (free live, on-device tech support for Kindle Fire users)
    • Login and Pay with Amazon (for partners sites)
    • Amazon Source (wholesale for book stores)
  • Amazon Web Services (AWS):
    • many developer services
    • launches WorkSpaces (virtual desktop)
    • expands to China
  • Acquisitions:
    • IVONA Software
    • Goodreads (books social net)
    • TenMarks (web-based math programs)
    • Liquavista (screen tech)
    • Evi (speech recognition)
    • GoPago (partly: tech and team only)
The unsurprising conclusions:
  • Innovation at break-neck speed. For physical and digital goods: print, music, video and games. Focus is on e-books and streaming video. So, expect more streaming audio (music subscription) and games?
  • Infrastructure provider for its own but also wholesale (developers, 3rd-party sellers).
  • Growing list of services and subscription-based services, many around Amazon Prime. On last count, there were 215 mln active Amazon customers and 10 mln Prime subs.
  • Devices are limited now, possible additions: smartphone (project Smith), STB (code name Cinnamon), gaming console, etc.
  • Expansion focuses on existing markets (Canada, Australia, Mexico). When will a new market be added?
  • More acquisitions coming?
    • Streaming audio service?
    • Intel's connected STB unit Intel Media?
    • Non-US e-commerce company?