Amazon have announced their latest performance figures to Wall Street, but despite a 36% rise in revenues with profits up around 8% their shares took a 9.9% dip in after hours trading.
Despite sales which rose about $10bn for the first time, (smashing through the barrier to $12.95bn), the 36% increase was a disappointment to analysts who had predicted a higher figure.
The drop in the share price could also be due to Amazon expecting earnings to drop this quarter due to investment in technology. Amazon are also on the acquisition trail with Diapers.com and LOVEFiLM added to the Amazon portfolio as well as building new distribution centres one of which will be in Scotland.
Kindles are doing well on Amazon, excluding free books for every 100 paperbacks they sold they 115 eBooks. Sales of eBooks had already surpassed sales of hard back books by July 2010. The future of publishing is definitely moving towards electronic rather than print versions.
Amazon have opened up the Kindle to more platforms including mobile handsets so you no longer even have to have a Kindle reader with you to access your library. The Kindle was Amazon’s best selling product for the last quarter followed by the Toy Story 3 DVD.
7 Responses
The Kindle is great for £111 but £50 for the case is ridiculous, that is where the profit is.
A few years ago when VHS Video was all the rage we in Printed Books were regularly told that Video was the future and Printed Books on Paper was Obsolete. Today VHS Video is for Car Boot Sale or Jumble Sale while every years many thousands of Books printed on paper are being Published. “The future of publishing is definitely moving towards electronic rather than print versions”. May I as somebody who has been selling books for at least 30 years make a point. Whizz-Bang Electronic Books will be in all the best Jumble Sales and Car Boot Sales in a few years as further technological advances render them obsolete yet Printed Books on Paper will still be being published in 100 years time. There are certainly changes going on in publishing but Books on Paper are the quality end of the market while the “Whizz-Bang” Electronic Books are the rubbish end of the market.