How Amazon Makes Its MoneyHere's a breakdown of Amazon's revenue from across its e-commerce and retail ecosystem, cloud infrastructure, streaming services, consumer devices, advertising business and beyond.

ByRob Marvin

This story originally appeared onPCMag

Ina Fassbender | Getty Images

亚马逊是相对独特的巨头之一U.S. tech corporations. It's not just ane-commerceand shopping giant,cloud provider, device-maker or software-and-services platform — it's also a money-making leviathan with tentacles stretching into new industries and markets, which makes it tough to define.

The most accurate way to figure Amazon out is to follow the money.Statistacompared Amazon's Q2 2018 and 2019 results to break down how the various segments of Amazon's business are growing. In every sector except physical stores such asWhole Foods(which remained flat), Amazon's revenue grew year over year.

Online-store revenue remains the foundation of Amazon's business, with $31.1 billion in net revenue in Q2 2019. It's also the company's slowest-growing segment, though it's up a very respectable 14 percent.

Aside from its online and physical store sales, Amazon also made $12 billion on third-party seller services in Q2 2019, up 23 percent from a year ago. These include commissions, shippping, fulfillment fees, and other seller services tangentially related to the corporation's online shopping empire. So while sales themselves may not be growing as substantially, Amazon's ecosystem-related revenue still seems to be booming.

The fastest-growing sectors are theAmazon Web Services(AWS) cloud, and subscription services, including Amazon Prime, Amazon Music andPrime Video. Prime memberships gotanother price hikelast year from $99 to $119 annually, and it shows: Subscription revenue is up 37 percent year over year to $4.7 billion.

It's still comparatively small compared to Amazon's mammoth e-commerce revenue, but as withApple, Amazon's prolonged investment in its services business is paying off.

The company spends billions each year financing new original films and series (as well as licensed content) through both Prime Video and its Amazon Studios arm. Theescalating war for original streaming contentis ramping up as Amazon competes with not only Netflix and Hulu but also Apple TV+, Disney+, HBO Max and more. But if any company can afford the competition, it's likely Amazon.

Then there's AWS. According to recent estimates fromSynergy Research Group, Amazon's cloud infrastructure market share sits at 33 percent as of Q2 2019. That's more than double its closest competitor, Microsoft Azure.

AWS revenue also jumped a whopping 37 percent year over year to $8.4 billion as Amazon serves as the cloud hosting and storage platform for an increasingly large percentage of the internet.

Finally, there was a 37 percent growth for the "other" category, which includes Amazon's fast-growing advertising business that, along with Facebook and Google, more or lessmonopolizes the online ad market. Amazon doesn't break out device sales numbers in its earnings releases, but included within the overall revenue are sales of Alexa-enabledEcho devices, Kindle tablets and e-readers, and other Amazon-branded consumer tech products.

的触角进一步扩展。亚马逊还拥有押尾学e game-streaming platform Twitch, audiobook company Audible, film website IMDb, and scores of other companies — e-commerce and retail, software and services, pharmaceuticals, and beyond.

Another company Amazon owns issmart home securityprovider Ring. AsMotherboardhas reported, the video surveillance company is marketing its tech not only to consumers but also to local governments and police departments across the country to advertise, distribute and use Ring products. The company is alsoequipping police with facial recognition techthrough its Rekognition service, further extending its reach into government and law enforcement services.

Rob Marvin

Associate Features Editor

Rob Marvin is the Associate Features Editor at PCMag.

Related Topics

Business News

'Earth Shaking News': Fans Rejoice Over the Return of 'Retired' McDonald's Cult-Favorite Item

The McRib last appeared on menus in 2022 during the company's self-proclaimed "farewell tour" for the sandwich.

Business Culture

Running a Family Business Means You Need to Prepare Your Kids to Take Over — Here's How to Do It Right.

Planning to pass on your business to your kids? Preparing them for the next phase of your business is a complex and multifaceted process — so here's what you need to do.

Business News

75,000 Kaiser Permanente Unionized Employees Launch Historic Strike Over Pay and Staffing Concerns

It's the largest healthcare worker strike in the United States, affecting 40% of Kaiser Permanente's workforce across multiple states and the District of Columbia.

Business News

'Not Much Financial Education' — Yet Millennials Have Boomers and Gen X Beat When It Comes to Retirement Savings. Here's Why.

Millennials might own fewer homes and make less money — but they're on track for a better retirement.

Business News

These 11 Retailers Are Most Likely to File For Bankruptcy in 2023, According to a New Report

Several well-known retailers already filed for bankruptcy in 2023 — now, a new report is highlighting the retailers most likely to follow suit.

Business News

Two of Amazon's Most Popular Prime Features Might Actually Be Illegal

Among the practices under scrutiny by the FTC are Amazon's "Buy Now" button and the shipping component of Prime.