The year 2011 was especially prosperous and successful for Amazon, partly due to the company's popular Kindle ebooks, but also because Amazon introduced its first Android-based tablet, the Kindle Fire.
Just five days after Amazon announced the new tablet in September, customers pre-ordered 250,000 Kindle Fires. The $199 7-inch tablet especially thrived on Black Friday as the best-selling product across Amazon.com that day.
Kindle ebooks did just as well. They became available in 11,000 libraries around the country, and Kindle apps appeared on Windows and Android-based tablets, the Windows Phone 7 and the HP Touchpad.
Amazon also launched a number of services, including AmazonLocal, a daily deals coupon site; GovCloud, cloud services designed for U.S. government agencies; and Silk, a new web browser available on the Kindle Fire and the cloud.
Despite Amazon's accomplishments this year, times weren't always as promising. In April, the company's server experienced technical difficulties, bringing down major sites such as HootSuite, Reddit and Foursquare, which rely on Amazon AWS.
Then in October, a Google engineer who had previously worked for Amazon publicly posted a 5,000-word blog rant criticizing Amazon's inconsistent hiring practices and describing the company's CEO as an obsessive micromanager.
Check out the gallery below to see Amazon's major events of 2011.
January: Amazon launched Amazon Deals, a free iPhone application that provides users with an overview of new daily deals from Amazon's Gold Box service.
The app lets you monitor and purchase Amazon's daily deals directly from your iPhone. You can also share the deals with friends and family via email, Facebook, Twitter or SMS.
January: Amazon bought the remaining shares of LOVEFiLM, a European home entertainment subscription service that operates out of the UK, Germany, Denmark, Norway and Sweden.
LOVEFiLM is a site that lets users rent DVDs and games, as well as stream movies and TV shows online.
Amazon acquired LOVEFiLM for approximately £200 million ($312 million).
March: Amazon joined the online music streaming business with Cloud Player, a music player that allows anyone to upload her music to Amazon's servers and stream them on the web, an Android device, iPad or a Kindle Fire.
The "Save to Amazon Cloud Drive" option allows users to store music purchased from the Amazon MP3 Store onto their Cloud Drive for free without counting against the storage quota.
March: Amazon launched the Android equivalent of Apple's App Store to improve the Google's Android Market shopping experience, the go-to store to purchase Android apps.
What sets the Android App Store apart from Apple's App Store is the "Test Drive" feature, which lets users test apps on a simulated Android phone on their desktops before committing to a purchase.
Similar to Amazon's ebook and music store, shoppers can view customer reviews, browse personalized recommendations and set up one-click payment options on the Android App Store.
May: Amazon hit the runway with MyHabit.com, a membership-only shopping site that offers sales up to 60% off clothes and accessories for men, women and children. The site also offers discounts on toys, beauty and home products.
Most of MyHabit's events begin at 12 p.m. EST and last 72 hours. During this time, members can shop for discounts on a selection of designer brands.
Becoming a MyHabit.com member is easy: Either sign in with your Amazon login information or sign up for free on the site.
May: Amazon added a new member to the Kindle family: a 6-inch Kindle 3G with Special Offers.
Although almost identical to the Wi-Fi Kindle, the 3G costs $164 because it displays occasional advertisements. Users who purchase the 3G receive special offers and a $25 discount on the Kindle 3G, originally priced at $189.
May: Only four years old, Amazon's Kindle ebooks outsold physical books purchased on Amazon. For every 100 print books sold, 105 Kindle ebooks were sold.
Amazon has sold more than three times as many Kindle ebooks in 2011 as it did in 2010.
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, shawn_hempel
May: Amazon launched the Mac Downloads Store, a direct competitor to Apple's Mac App Store.
The Mac Downloads Store is a marketplace where Amazon users can purchase and download Mac applications and games. However, users are more likely to purchase these Mac items from Apple's App Store because they receive updates on new products from Apple's desktop application.
Since Amazon's store is not available as a desktop application, users may forget to visit the store on a regular basis and instead go directly to Apple's App Store.
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, tbradford
June: In another European deal, Amazon acquired The Book Depository, a UK-based online bookseller that offers more than 6 million book titles and free delivery worldwide.
The Book Depository claims to be Europe's fastest-growing bookseller and the UK's largest online bookseller, with more than a million customers in the UK.
July: After signing a deal with CBS to begin streaming online videos from the network, Amazon also signed an agreement to add 1,000 movies and TV shows from NBCUniversal.
Under the agreement, Amazon Prime customers can watch a variety of titles from NBCUniversal, including Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Gosford Park and Babe, among others.
July: Amazon experienced a 51% increase in revenue during the second quarter of 2011, compared to the same time period in 2010. According to CEO Jeff Bezos, the jump was the fastest growth Amazon has seen in a decade.
Revenues for the second quarter, which ended in June, reached $9.9 billion, leading to a 12% jump in Amazon's stock prices.
September: Details about Amazon's Android-based tablet emerged ahead of Amazon's press event in September.
The Kindle Fire has a 7-inch display, weighs 14.6 ounces, offers Wi-Fi connectivity, contains a dual-core processor and includes a new web browser called Amazon Silk.
November: Amazon's Kindle ereaders and tablets sold exceptionally well on Black Friday, especially the Kindle Fire, which was the bestselling product on Amazon.com that day.
In an announcement, Amazon noted the following:
- Customers purchased four times as many Kindles as they did last Black Friday.
- Kindle Fire is the bestselling product across all of Amazon since the device was released in September.
- Many customers bought multiple Kindles.
Kindles also sold well at Best Buy and Target.
January: Amazon launched Amazon Deals, a free iPhone application that provides users with an overview of new daily deals from Amazon's Gold Box service.
The app lets you monitor and purchase Amazon's daily deals directly from your iPhone. You can also share the deals with friends and family via email, Facebook, Twitter or SMS.
January: Amazon bought the remaining shares of LOVEFiLM, a European home entertainment subscription service that operates out of the UK, Germany, Denmark, Norway and Sweden.
LOVEFiLM is a site that lets users rent DVDs and games, as well as stream movies and TV shows online.
Amazon acquired LOVEFiLM for approximately £200 million ($312 million).
March: Amazon joined the online music streaming business with Cloud Player, a music player that allows anyone to upload her music to Amazon's servers and stream them on the web, an Android device, iPad or a Kindle Fire.
The "Save to Amazon Cloud Drive" option allows users to store music purchased from the Amazon MP3 Store onto their Cloud Drive for free without counting against the storage quota.
March: Amazon launched the Android equivalent of Apple's App Store to improve the Google's Android Market shopping experience, the go-to store to purchase Android apps.
What sets the Android App Store apart from Apple's App Store is the "Test Drive" feature, which lets users test apps on a simulated Android phone on their desktops before committing to a purchase.
Similar to Amazon's ebook and music store, shoppers can view customer reviews, browse personalized recommendations and set up one-click payment options on the Android App Store.
May: Amazon hit the runway with MyHabit.com, a membership-only shopping site that offers sales up to 60% off clothes and accessories for men, women and children. The site also offers discounts on toys, beauty and home products.
Most of MyHabit's events begin at 12 p.m. EST and last 72 hours. During this time, members can shop for discounts on a selection of designer brands.
Becoming a MyHabit.com member is easy: Either sign in with your Amazon login information or sign up for free on the site.
May: Amazon added a new member to the Kindle family: a 6-inch Kindle 3G with Special Offers.
Although almost identical to the Wi-Fi Kindle, the 3G costs $164 because it displays occasional advertisements. Users who purchase the 3G receive special offers and a $25 discount on the Kindle 3G, originally priced at $189.
May: Only four years old, Amazon's Kindle ebooks outsold physical books purchased on Amazon. For every 100 print books sold, 105 Kindle ebooks were sold.
Amazon has sold more than three times as many Kindle ebooks in 2011 as it did in 2010.
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, shawn_hempel
May: Amazon launched the Mac Downloads Store, a direct competitor to Apple's Mac App Store.
The Mac Downloads Store is a marketplace where Amazon users can purchase and download Mac applications and games. However, users are more likely to purchase these Mac items from Apple's App Store because they receive updates on new products from Apple's desktop application.
Since Amazon's store is not available as a desktop application, users may forget to visit the store on a regular basis and instead go directly to Apple's App Store.
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, tbradford
June: In another European deal, Amazon acquired The Book Depository, a UK-based online bookseller that offers more than 6 million book titles and free delivery worldwide.
The Book Depository claims to be Europe's fastest-growing bookseller and the UK's largest online bookseller, with more than a million customers in the UK.
July: After signing a deal with CBS to begin streaming online videos from the network, Amazon also signed an agreement to add 1,000 movies and TV shows from NBCUniversal.
Under the agreement, Amazon Prime customers can watch a variety of titles from NBCUniversal, including Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Gosford Park and Babe, among others.
July: Amazon experienced a 51% increase in revenue during the second quarter of 2011, compared to the same time period in 2010. According to CEO Jeff Bezos, the jump was the fastest growth Amazon has seen in a decade.
Revenues for the second quarter, which ended in June, reached $9.9 billion, leading to a 12% jump in Amazon's stock prices.
September: Details about Amazon's Android-based tablet emerged ahead of Amazon's press event in September.
The Kindle Fire has a 7-inch display, weighs 14.6 ounces, offers Wi-Fi connectivity, contains a dual-core processor and includes a new web browser called Amazon Silk.
November: Amazon's Kindle ereaders and tablets sold exceptionally well on Black Friday, especially the Kindle Fire, which was the bestselling product on Amazon.com that day.
In an announcement, Amazon noted the following:
- Customers purchased four times as many Kindles as they did last Black Friday.
- Kindle Fire is the bestselling product across all of Amazon since the device was released in September.
- Many customers bought multiple Kindles.
Kindles also sold well at Best Buy and Target.
Image courtesy of Ken James.
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