Difference between revisions of "Timeline of Amazon"

{{redirect|Timeline of Amazon|the history of events surrounding the [[Amazon River]]|timeline of Amazon history}}

This is a timeline of [[Amazon.com]], American [[e-commerce|electronic commerce]] and [[cloud computing]] company with headquarters in [[Seattle]], [[Washington (state)|Washington]].

| 1994–1998|| Amazon starts off as an online bookstore selling books, primarily competing with local booksellers and [[Barnes & Noble]]. It [[Initial public offering|IPOs]] in 1997.

| 2005–2011|| Amazon moves into the [[cloud computing]] area with [[Amazon AWS]], as well as the crowdsourcing area with [[Amazon Mechanical Turk]]. By being an early player, it eventually dominates the [[cloud computing]] scene, allowing it to control much of the physical infrastructure of the Internet.<ref name="MyUser_Qz.com_January_17_2016c">{{cite web |url=http://qz.com/196819/how-amazon-beat-google-attempt-to-dominate-the-cloud-before-it-even-got-started/ |title=Amazon and Google are in an epic battle to dominate the cloud—and Amazon may already have won - Quartz |newspaper=Qz.com |date=  |author= |accessdate= January 17, 2016}}</ref> Amazon also offers the [[Amazon Kindle]] for people to purchase their books as [[eBooks]], and by 2010, more people buy ebooks than physical books off of Amazon.

| 1998 || April 27 || Acquisitions || Amazon acquires the [[Internet Movie Database]], a comprehensive repository for movie information on the Internet.<ref name="IMDB_Acquisition">{{cite web |url=http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=176060&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=502989 |title=Amazon Media Room: Press Releases |newspaper=Phx.corporate-ir.net |date=  |author= |accessdate= January 17, 2016}}</ref>

| 1998 || December || Competition || [[Jack Ma]] launches [[Alibaba Group|Alibaba]] in [[China]], which would later grow to dominate the Chinese online retail market, and provide an obstacle to Amazon's attempts to expand in China.<ref name="MyUser_The_Daily_Telegraph_January_17_2016c">{{cite web |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/telecoms/11102766/Alibaba-chief-Jack-Ma-disappoints-investors-with-London-no-show.html |title=Alibaba chief Jack Ma disappoints investors with London no-show |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date= September 17, 2014 |author= |accessdate= January 17, 2016}}</ref><ref name="MyUser_Forbes_January_17_2016c">{{cite web |url=http://www.forbes.com/sites/helenwang/2015/07/08/why-amazon-should-fear-alibaba/#2715e4857a0b48a6b5d91bde |title=Why Amazon Should Fear Alibaba |newspaper=Forbes |date=  |author= |accessdate= January 17, 2016}}</ref>

|2002 || March || Legal, Competition || Amazon settles its October 1999 patent infringement suit against [[Barnes & Noble]] (over its [[1-Click]] checkout system, which it received a patent for in September 1999). It originally charged that Barnes&Noble.com had essentially copied Amazon's 1-Click technology.<ref name="MyUser_Cnet.com_January_15_2016c">{{cite web |url=http://www.cnet.com/news/amazon-barnes-noble-settle-patent-suit/ |title=Amazon, Barnes&Noble settle patent suit - CNET |newspaper=Cnet.com |date=  |author= |accessdate= January 15, 2016}}</ref>

|2003 ||October || Product || Amazon launches [[A9.com]], a subsidiary of Amazon.com based in Palo Alto, California that develops search and advertising technology.<ref name="MyUser_Macworld.com_January_17_2016c">{{cite web |url=http://www.macworld.com/article/1039079/a9.html |title=Amazon releases A9 search engine |newspaper=Macworld.com |date=  |author= |accessdate= January 17, 2016}}</ref>

|2004 || August 19 || International || Amazon acquires Joyo, an online bookstore in China, for $75 million, which then becomes the 7th regional website of Amazon.com. joyo later becomes [[Amazon China]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tech.163.com/11/1027/11/7HCCBB17000915BF.html|title=Joyo Amazon was renamed to Amazon China|publisher=[[NetEase]]|date=October 27, 2011|accessdate=October 27, 2011|language=Chinese}}</ref>

|2005 || February || Product || Amazon launches [[Amazon Prime]], a membership offering free two-day shipping within the contiguous United States on all eligible purchases for a flat annual fee of $79.<ref name=everything></ref>

|2005 || November || Product || Amazon launches [[Amazon Mechanical Turk]], an application programming interface (API) allowing any Internet user to perform "human-intelligence" tasks such as transcribing podcasts, often at very low wages.<ref name=everything></ref>

|2006 || August 25 || Product || Amazon launches [[Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud]] (Amazon EC2), a virtual site farm allowing users to use the Amazon infrastructure to run applications ranging from running simulations to web hosting.<ref>{{cite web

| 2006 || ||Legal || Amazon agrees to settle a legal dispute with [[Toys R Us]] (over a partnership that gave Toys R Us exclusive rights to supply some toy products on Amazon's website) and pays $51 million.<ref name="MyUser_Abcnews.go.com_January_15_2016c">{{cite web |url=http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=7830608&page=1 |title=Amazon to pay Toys R Us $51M to settle suit - ABC News |newspaper=Abcnews.go.com |date=  |author= |accessdate= January 15, 2016}}</ref>

| 2006 ||March || Product || Amazon launches [[Amazon Simple Storage Service]] (Amazon S3), which allows other websites/developers to store computer files on Amazon's servers.<ref name=everything>{{cite book |last=Stone |first=Brad |title=The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon |year=2013 |publisher=Little Brown and Co |location=New York |isbn=9780316219266 |oclc=856249407 |url=http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/brad-stone/the-everything-store/9780316219266/}}</ref>

| 2007 || August || Product || [[CreateSpace]] announces launch of Books on Demand service, which makes it easy for authors who want to self-publish their books to distribute them on Amazon.com.<ref name="MyUser_Https:_January_15_2016c">{{cite web |url=https://www.createspace.com/Special/AboutUs/PR/20070808_Books.jsp |title=CreateSpace: Self Publishing and Free Distribution for Books, CD, DVD |newspaper= |date=  |author= |accessdate= January 15, 2016}}</ref>

| 2007 || August || Product || Amazon launches [[AmazonFresh]], a grocery service offering perishable and nonperishable foods.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.seattlepi.com/business/326044_amazonfresh02.html|title= Amazon starts grocery delivery service|accessdate=2008-11-26 | work=Seattle Post-Intelligencer|first1=Craig|last1=Harris|first2=John|last2=Cook|date=2007-08-01}}</ref>

| 2007 ||September 25 || Products || Amazon launches [[Amazon Music]], an online music store and music locker.<ref name="launch-pr">[http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20070925005710&newsLang=en Amazon.com Launches Public Beta of Amazon MP3]</ref>

| 2007 || November 19 || Products || Amazon launches the [[Amazon Kindle]].<ref name="everything"></ref>

| 2009 ||July 22 || Acquisitions, Competition || Amazon acquires [[Zappos]] for $850 million.<ref name="MyUser_Mashable.com_January_10_2016c">{{cite web |url=http://mashable.com/2009/07/22/amazon-bought-zappos/#bE4yFYNtAqqg |title=Here's Why Amazon Bought Zappos |newspaper=Mashable.com |date=  |author= |accessdate= January 10, 2016}}</ref>

|2009 || October 20 ||Competition || [[Barnes & Noble]] announces the [[Nook]], an eReader.<ref>{{cite news |author=Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg and Geoffrey A. Fowler|title=B&N Reader Out Tuesday|url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703816204574483790552304348.html|work=|publisher=The Wall Street Journal|date=October 20, 2009|accessdate=October 20, 2009| archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20091021225827/http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703816204574483790552304348.html| archivedate=October 21, 2009 | deadurl=no}}</ref>

| 2010 || January || Competition || Apple introduces its own virtual bookstore, called [[iBooks]], and then partners with five major book publishers.<ref name="MyUser_Appleinsider.com_January_17_2016c">{{cite web |url=http://appleinsider.com/articles/10/01/27/apple_introduces_ibooks_store_for_ipad |title=Apple introduces iBooks store for iPad |newspaper=Appleinsider.com |date=  |author= |accessdate= January 17, 2016}}</ref> It later convinces them to raise the price of ebooks (using the agency pricing model that gives publishers full control over ebook prices).  

|2010 || February 1 || Competition || [[Microsoft]] launches [[Microsoft Azure]], a [[cloud computing]] platform that will compete with [[Amazon AWS]] over cloud services.  

|2011 || January || Acquisitions, International || Amazon acquires [[Lovefilm]], a DVD rental service known as the [[Netflix]] of Europe.<ref name="MyUser_Financial_Times_January_17_2016c">{{cite web |url=http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/9aa7315e-2482-11e0-8c0e-00144feab49a.html#axzz3xWMGAEZZ |title=Amazon acquires Lovefilm for £200m |newspaper=Financial Times |date= January 20, 2011 |author=Tim Bradshaw In London, Jonathan Birchall In New York |accessdate= January 17, 2016}}</ref>

|2011 || February 16 || Competition || [[Borders Group]], outcompeted by Amazon, applies for [[Chapter 11 bankruptcy]].<ref name="MyUser_Ibtimes.com_January_15_2016c">{{cite web |url=http://www.ibtimes.com/borders-closing-why-bookstore-chain-failed-300009 |title=Borders Closing: Why the Bookstore Chain Failed |newspaper=Ibtimes.com |date=  |author= |accessdate= January 15, 2016}}</ref>

|2011 ||February 22 || Product || Amazon rebrands its [[Amazon Video]] service as Amazon Instant Video and adds access to 5,000 movies and TV shows for Amazon Prime members.<ref>{{cite web|author=Christina Warren2011-02-22 12:45:05 UTC |url=http://mashable.com/2011/02/22/amazon-prime-instant-video/ |title=HANDS ON: Amazon's Prime Instant Video |publisher=Mashable.com |date=2011-02-22 |accessdate=2013-11-27}}</ref><ref name="primevideoslaunch">{{cite web|url=http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=176060&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1531234|title=Amazon Media Room: Press Releases|work=corporate-ir.net}}</ref>

|2011 || March 22 || Product || Amazon launches the [[Amazon Appstore]] for Android devices and the service was made available in over 200 countries.<ref>{{cite web|author=Amazon.com |url=https://developer.amazon.com/post/Tx3IJP9TKDQOXS5/Developers-Can-Now-Distribute-Apps-in-Nearly-200-Countries-Worldwide-on-Amazon.html |title=Developers Can Now Distribute Apps in Nearly 200 Countries Worldwide on Amazon - Amazon Mobile App Distribution Blog |publisher=Developer.amazon.com |date=2013-05-23 |accessdate=2013-11-27}}</ref>

|2011 ||July 1 || Legal || California starts collecting [[sales tax]]es on Amazon.com purchases.<ref name="MyUser_Taxfoundation.org_January_17_2016c">{{cite web |url=http://taxfoundation.org/article/california-becomes-seventh-state-adopt-amazon-tax-out-state-online-sellers |title=California Becomes Seventh State to Adopt "Amazon" Tax on Out-of-State Online Sellers |newspaper=Taxfoundation.org |date=  |author= |accessdate= January 17, 2016}}</ref>

|2011 || September || Product || Amazon launches [[Amazon Locker]], a delivery locker system that allows users to get items delivered at specially-designed lockers.<ref name="MyUser_Geekwire.com_January_15_2016c">{{cite web |url=http://www.geekwire.com/2011/confirmed-amazons-delivery-locker-7eleven/ |title=Photos: A look at Amazon's new delivery locker at 7-Eleven - GeekWire |newspaper=Geekwire.com |date=  |author= |accessdate= January 15, 2016}}</ref>

|2011 || September 28 || Product || Amazon announces the [[Kindle Fire]], a [[tablet computer]] that takes aim at Apple's [[iPad]] with a smaller device that sells at $199, compared with the $499 value of Apple's cheapest [[iPad]].<ref name="MyUser_Bloomberg.com_January_17_2016c">{{cite web |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2011-09-28/amazon-unveils-199-kindle-fire-tablet |title=Amazon Unveils $199 Kindle Fire Tablet, Taking on Apple IPad - Bloomberg Business |newspaper=Bloomberg.com |date=  |author= |accessdate= January 17, 2016}}</ref>

| 2012 || April || Legal || The [[United States Department of Justice|Department of Justice]] files suit against [[Apple Inc]] and five major publishing houses (the "Big Five"), alleging that they colluded in 2010 to raise the price of ebooks (using the agency pricing model that gives publishers full control over ebook prices).<ref name="MyUser_Theatlantic.com_January_15_2016c">{{cite web |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/04/the-justice-department-just-made-jeff-bezos-dictator-for-life/255811/ |title=The Justice Department Just Made Jeff Bezos Dictator-for-Life - The Atlantic |newspaper=Theatlantic.com |date=  |author= |accessdate= January 15, 2016}}</ref> Amazon had originally set the price of ebooks at $9.99 (using the wholescale pricing model giving Amazon full control over ebook prices).

| 2012 || March 19 || Acquisitions || Amazon acquires [[Kiva Systems]] for $775 million, a robotics company that creates robots that can move items around warehouses.<ref name="MyUser_Bloomberg.com_January_10_2016c">{{cite web |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-03-19/amazon-acquires-kiva-systems-in-second-biggest-takeover |title=Amazon Acquires Kiva Systems in Second-Biggest Takeover - Bloomberg Business |newspaper=Bloomberg.com |date=  |author= |accessdate= January 10, 2016}}</ref>

| 2012 || April || Legal || Amazon agrees to allow collection of [[sales tax]]es in both Nevada and Texas (starting on July 1), and agrees to create 2,500 jobs and invest $200 million in new distribution centers in Texas.<ref name="MyUser_Statesman.com_January_10_2016c">{{cite web |url=http://www.statesman.com/news/business/documents-amazon-risking-little-in-texas-sales-tax/nRqFH/ |title=Documents: Amazon risking little in Texas sales tax deal |newspaper=Statesman.com |date=  |author= |accessdate= January 10, 2016}}</ref>

|2012 || September 6 || Products || Amazon announces the Kindle [[Fire HD]] series of touchscreen tablet computers.<ref name="MyUser_Wired.com_January_17_2016c">{{cite web |url=https://www.wired.com/2012/09/kobo-new-ereaders/ |title=Kobo Announces Their New E-Readers |newspaper=Wired.com |date=  |author= |accessdate= January 17, 2016}}</ref>

| 2013 || March || Acquisitions || Amazon acquires social reading and book-review site [[GoodReads]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://techcrunch.com/2013/03/28/amazon-acquires-social-reading-site-goodreads|title=Amazon Acquires Social Reading Site Goodreads, Which Gives The Company A Social Advantage Over Apple|work=TechCrunch|date=March 28, 2013|accessdate=March 29, 2013}}</ref>  

| 2014 || July 25 || Products || Amazon launches the [[Amazon Fire]].<ref name="MyUser_Theverge.com_January_17_20VergeFire16c">{{cite web |url=http://www.theverge.com/2014/6/18/5821490/amazon-fire-phone-to-sell-on-ATT-for-199-on-contract |title=Amazon's Fire Phone to sell exclusively on AT&T for $199.99 starting July 25th |newspaper=Theverge.com |date=  |author= |accessdate= January 17, 2016}}</ref>

| 2014 || August 25 || Acquisitions || Amazon announced its intent to acquire the video game streaming website [[Twitch.tv|Twitch]] for $970 million.<ref name="MyUser_Venturebeat.com_January_17_2016c">{{cite web |url=http://venturebeat.com/2014/08/25/amazon-acquires-twitch-worlds-largest-e-tailer-buys-largest-gameplay-livestreaming-site/ |title=Amazon acquires Twitch: World's largest e-tailer buys largest gameplay-livestreaming site |newspaper=Venturebeat.com |date=  |author= |accessdate= January 17, 2016}}</ref>

|2014 || October ||Legal || Amazon reaches agreement with [[Simon & Schuster]], allowing the publisher to adopt the agency pricing model and set prices on its books sold on Amazon.<ref name="MyUser_Businessinsider.com_January_15_2016c">{{cite web |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-closes-multi-year-deal-with-simon-and-schuster-2014-10 |title=Amazon Closes Multi-Year Deal With Simon & Schuster - Business Insider |newspaper=Businessinsider.com |date=  |author= |accessdate= January 15, 2016}}</ref>

| 2014 || November 6 (announcement), actual rollout occurs through 2015 || Products || Amazon unveils [[Amazon Echo]], a wireless speaker and [[voice command device]] that can take commands and queries, and be used to add items to the Amazon.com shopping cart, among other things.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-11-06/amazon-echo-is-a-listening-talking-music-playing-speaker-for-your-home |title=Amazon Unveils a Listening, Talking, Music-Playing Speaker for Your Home |last1=Stone |first1=Brad |last2=Soper |first2=Spencer |date=2014-11-06 |website=[[Bloomberg Businessweek]] |publisher=Bloomberg L.P. |accessdate=2014-11-07}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.androidcentral.com/amazon-echo-now-available-everyone-buy-17999-shipments-start-july-14|title=Amazon Echo is now available for everyone to buy for $179.99, shipments start on July 14|work=Android Central}}</ref> The Alexa Voice Service that is built into Amazon Echo can also be added to other Amazon devices.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://techcrunch.com/2015/06/25/amazon-unbundles-alexa-virtual-assistant-from-echo-with-new-dev-tools/|title=Amazon Unbundles Alexa Virtual Assistant From Echo With New Dev Tools|date=25 June 2015|publisher=AOL|work=TechCrunch}}</ref>

|2014 || November || Legal || Amazon resolves dispute with [[Hachette (publisher)|Hachette]], allowing Hachette to adopt the agency-pricing model and set prices on Hachette books sold on Amazon.<ref name="MyUser_Theverge.com_January_15_2016c">{{cite web |url=http://www.theverge.com/2014/11/13/7214703/amazon-hachette-resolve-ebooks-dispute |title=Amazon and Hachette have finally resolved their bitter dispute |work=[[The Verge]] |date=November 13, 2014 |author= |accessdate= January 15, 2016}}</ref>

| 2015 || July || Competition, International || [[Alibaba Group|Alibaba]] announces that it will invest $1 billion into its Aliyun cloud computing arm, some of which would go into new Aliyun international data centers. This would allow Aliyun to compete with [[Amazon Web Services]] outside of China.<ref name="MyUser_Cloudtweaks.com_January_17_2016c">{{cite web |url=http://cloudtweaks.com/2015/07/alibaba-1-billion-dollar-cloud-investment-international-competition-mounting/ |title=Alibaba $1 Billion Dollar Cloud Investment - International Competition Mounting » |newspaper=Cloudtweaks.com |date=  |author= |accessdate= January 17, 2016}}</ref>

| 2015 || August 26 || Products || Amazon launches [[Amazon Underground]], an [[Android (operating system)|Android]] app through which users can get gaming and other apps for free that they would otherwise have to pay for, and also get in-app purchases for free. App creator participation is voluntary. App creators are paid $0.002 for every minute a user spends in the app.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://techcrunch.com/2015/08/26/amazon-underground-is-an-android-app-store-with-only-actually-free-apps/|title = Amazon Underground Features An Android App Store Focused On “Actually Free” Apps|last = Dillet|first=  Romain|date = August 26, 2015|accessdate = April 26, 2016|publisher = ''[[TechCrunch]]''}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.theverge.com/2015/8/26/9210071/amazon-underground-free-apps|title = Amazon launches Underground to promote free apps and games. The Free App of the Day program has also come to a close|last = Singleton|first = Micah|date = August 26, 2015|accessdate = April 26, 2016|publisher = ''[[The Verge]]''}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.wired.com/2015/08/amazon-underground-in-app-payment/|title = Has Amazon Cracked the Problem With In-App Payments?|last = Barrett|first = Brian|date = August 29, 2015|accessdate = April 26, 2016|publisher = ''[[Wired Magazine]]''}}</ref>

| 2015 || September 8 || Products || Amazon launches its Amazon Restaurants service that delivers food from nearby restaurants, for [[Amazon Prime]] customers in [[Seattle]].<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.geekwire.com/2015/amazon-launches-prime-now-restaurant-delivery-in-seattle-area-to-compete-against-grubhub-and-others/|title = Amazon confirms Prime Now restaurant delivery launch in Seattle area, hints at broader rollout|last = Duryee|first = Tricia|date = September 8, 2015|accessdate = December 21, 2016|publisher = GeekWire}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.nrn.com/technology/amazon-launches-restaurant-delivery-seattle|title = Amazon launches restaurant delivery in Seattle. Service is available to Amazon Prime Now customers only|publisher = Nation's Restaurant News|last = Jennings|first = Lisa|date = September 8, 2015|accessdate = December 21, 2016}}</ref> The service would subsequently be roled out to many other cities.

| 2015 || November 2 || Products || Amazon opened its first physical [[retail store]], a bookstore in the [[University Village, Seattle|University Village]] shopping center in Seattle. The store, known as Amazon Books, has prices matched to those found on the Amazon website and integrate online reviews into the store's shelves.<ref name="MyUser_Theverge.com_January_17_2016c">{{cite web |url=http://www.theverge.com/2015/11/2/9661556/amazon-books-first-physical-bookstore-opening-seattle |title=Amazon is opening its first physical bookstore today |work=The Verge |date=November 2, 2015  |author= |accessdate= January 17, 2016}}</ref>

| 2015 || December 14 ||  || Amazon begins moving into their [[Amazon.com headquarters|new headquarters campus]] in the [[Denny Triangle, Seattle|Denny Triangle]] neighborhood of Seattle, beginning with the 38-story [[Amazon Tower I]] (nicknamed "Doppler" after the codename for [[Amazon Echo]]).<ref>{{cite news |last=Greene |first=Jay |date=December 14, 2015 |title=Workers move in to the first of Amazon’s downtown towers |url=http://www.seattletimes.com/business/amazon/workers-move-in-to-the-first-of-amazons-downtown-towers/ |newspaper=The Seattle Times |accessdate=January 17, 2016}}</ref> The three towers are scheduled to be completed by 2020.

| 2016 || December 7 || Delivery || [[Amazon Prime Air]] (Amazon's drone-based delivery system) makes its first delivery in [[Cambridge]] in the [[United Kingdom]]. The successful delivery is announced a week later, on December 14, along with video.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://fortune.com/2016/12/14/amazon-prime-air-delivery/|title = Watch Amazon's Prime Air Complete Its First Drone Delivery|last = Reisinger|first = Don|date = December 14, 2016|accessdate = December 21, 2016|publisher = ''[[Fortune Magazine]]''}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-prime-air-drone-delivery-service-completes-first-transaction-uk-england-2016-12|title = Watch Amazon make its first drone delivery|last = Fierberg|first = Emma|date = December 14, 2016|accessdate = December 21, 2016|publisher = ''[[Business Insider]]''}}</ref>

* [[Timeline of Amazon Web Services]]

[[Category:Technology company timelines|Amazon.com]]

[[Category:Amazon.com]]