As Jeff Bezos bids goodbye and literally blasts outs of the Amazon CEO spot, we look at the Amazon the new boss Andy Jassy inherits with all the changes and challenges facing the world’s most valuable company.
Amazon by Numbers
Originally just a bookseller it may have taken the longest to enter the group of Big Tech but Amazon sits firmly with view of the top with a market-cap of $1.7 trillion and a brand value of over $680 billion.
The revenue engine is churning faster than ever with the tech giant clocking in $400 billion a year in revenue. To put that in perspective that’s more than the revenues of RIL + Tata Motors + TCS + Tata Steel + Infosys put together.
And the pace isn’t slowing down, with 30% revenue growth Amazon will become the largest U.S. company by annual sales next year outstripping legacy leader Walmart.
Changing face of Amazon
It is no longer just the e-commerce platform that took off in 1994, diapers to sofas, pharmacy to movie production, from the morning newspaper to the midnight OTT binge, Amazon offers it all.
The biggest game changer for the company has been Amazon Web Services (AWS) the division that Andy Jassy has led since its inception now accounts for nearly 15% of Amazon’s revenue. Clocking in as a $54 billion annual sales run rate business, AWS as per WSJ now eclipses corporate software titans Oracle Corp. and Salesforce. Analysts currently expect AWS’s revenue to roughly equal IBM’s next year. Reports also indicate that AWS with a 32% share of the cloud infrastructure services market is way ahead of Microsoft (19%) and Google (7%).
But it’s not all ‘boring tech’ for Amazon either. It also makes videogames, runs a music streaming service and produces blockbuster-sized movies and TV shows. Which is set to roar into its next phase with the acquisition of legendary MGM holding the James Bond franchise.
Amazon makes money even of its competitors. Netflix—the largest competitor to Amazon’s Prime Video service—uses AWS to run the “vast majority" of its computing needs
There is also a whopping $24 billion tucked away in revenues in ‘others’ category signifying a growing chunk of Amazon’s advertising business revenue that does not get a category mention of its own yet.
Challenges ahead for Jassy
Big Tech, Bigger Scrutiny: Increasing antitrust scrutiny on Big Tech companies increasing globally with cases lined up against Google and Facebook so Amazon can’t be far behind that is already facing resistance on its takeover of MGM. Shortly after Amazon announced Jassy would be the new CEO, Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., a member of the House Subcommittee on Antitrust, tweeted that he’d like to question Jassy. This is the same House subcommittee that released report last year laying out alleged antitrust violations by Amazon, Apple, Google and Facebook. Bezos’ parting gift or leadership direction has been the addition of another Amazon principle “Success and Scale Bring Broad Responsibility” Bezos reminds those now holding the reins stating “We started in a garage, but we're not there anymore. We are big, we impact the world, and we are far from perfect."
India Headwind: Embroiled in various legal standoffs, Jassy will have to navigate carefully to hold onto gains in the world’s largest democracy. Facing a probe from the local anti-trust body CCI on a complaint that Amazon promotes its own products via the in-search results and placement on the site. Amazon has repeatedly denied it favors its own products over others. Indian retailers have long alleged that Amazon's platform largely benefits a few big sellers, and that the e-commerce company engages in predatory pricing that harms their businesses. Reports have also alleged Amazon uses data from third-party sellers to develop its own products and then market them prominently.
Worker unrest: As the second largest private employer in the US with a workforce that now tops 1.3 million, managing labour issues will be on top of the domestic agenda for Jassy. The pandemic exposed the substandard working condition for warehouse workers which overshadowed the fact that Amazon continued to pay workers double of the minimum wage. To counter this Amazon has added to its leadership principles “Strive to be Earth’s Best Employer,” a tall order for Jassy as he takes over.
So as Andy Jassy steps in he definitely has his work cut out for him, but as 57 billionaire whose shoes he steps into says, at Amazon it is “Always Day One”.