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Amazon.com, Inc.

6/19/2013, 10:33 PM ET

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Wednesday, June 19, 1:15 PM While Amazon plots a big expansion of its U.S. grocery delivery business, eBay's (EBAY) Indian site has begun selling food/grocery items through a section called eBay Daily. 1,600 products, generally packaged goods, are available for sale. eBay's move comes a couple months after it led a $50M funding round for local e-commerce marketplace Snapdeal, and a year after it announced plans to invest heavily in the Indian market, where e-commerce penetration is still low and Amazon (AMZN), which just launched an Indian marketplace site, has been slowed by foreign investment rules. 2 Comments [Tech]
Tuesday, June 18, 10:49 AM Amazon (AMZN +1.2%) tries to profit from the growing use of Facebook (FB +2.8%) as a "social gifting" platform by launching Amazon Birthday Gift, a solution that allows Facebook users to send a friend Amazon credit for his/her birthday, and then lets other friends to add to the pot. The product is separate from Facebook's Gifts platform. Also: 1) Leveraging existing content deals, Amazon is adding videos and games from Disney, Viacom, Warner Bros., and Electronic Arts to its Kindle Freetime kids' platform. The move comes shortly after a major deal was reached with Viacom for kids' shows. 2) AdAge reports Facebook's video ads will be delayed until fall. The magazine reported in April Facebook plans to charge up to $1M per daily ad slot. 1 Comment [Tech, Consumer]
Monday, June 17, 5:57 PM U.S. online retail sales rose 14.6% Y/Y in May, says comScore. That sits well with Cantor, which is reiterating a Buy on Amazon (AMZN) and eBay (EBAY). Though May's rate is down from April 16.9%, it's above Q1 13.3%. Mobile activity is providing a lift - comScore estimates mobile made up 48% of time spent on U.S. retail e-commerce activity in Q1 (34% from smartphones, 14% from tablets). Meanwhile, eBay CEO John Donahoe predicts China will give PayPal a license, thus allowing it to take on Alibaba's dominant AliPay service. eBay currently handles $6B/year worth of Chinese transactions, much of it from local merchants selling abroad. Analysys predicts the Chinese online payments market will soon top CNY1T ($163B). Comment! [Tech, Consumer]
Monday, June 17, 8:09 AM Amazon (AMZN) adds Disney Pixar titles to its LoveFilm streaming service in the U.K. Current subscribers will have access to the children's hits from the studio at no extra cost. (Related: Netflix and DreamWorks Animation strike a deal for an original kids series) Comment! [Tech, Consumer]
Friday, June 14, 4:09 PM Florida is set to be the latest state to receive Amazon (AMZN -0.6%) distribution centers ... and with them, sales tax payments. In a deal with the state government, Jeff Bezos & Co. promise to invest $300M in the Sunshine State by 2016 to build several warehouses, and create up to 3K jobs along the way. No word on when sales tax collections will start. While Congress mulls an online sales tax bill, Amazon has already begun collecting in states containing ~1/3 of the U.S. population, and is due to begin collecting from others in 2013 (New Jersey, Virginia) and 2014 (Nevada, Indiana). 1 Comment [Tech, Consumer]
Thursday, June 13, 2:37 PM Apple (AAPL +0.4%) roundup: 1) Suppliers are shipping a "large number" of parts for a cheaper iPhone, says Taiwan's Commercial Times. A 28nm app processor made by TSMC (TSM) is said to be among them. 2) iBookstore chief Keith Moerer says Apple's e-book sales doubled last year, and thinks its e-book share is at ~20%. John Paczkowski notes Amazon (AMZN) and Barnes & Noble (BKS) have been assigned shares of 65% and 25% in the past. 3) The minimum purchase needed for an iAd campaign is now only $50. It once stood at $1M. 4) Reuters' report about Apple mulling a $99 price for its low-cost iPhone is raising eyebrows, given the cheapest iPhone now goes for $450 unsubsidized. Was a subsidized price being discussed? 15 Comments [Tech]
Thursday, June 13, 7:10 AM Amazon (AMZN) launches a dedicated portion of its website to 3-D printers in a move that could help the burgeoning technology (DDD, SSYS, XONE) hit the mainstream. The company lists 3-D printers and accessories from major brands in the section. 21 Comments [Consumer, Tech]
Tuesday, June 11, 9:21 AM Amazon (AMZN) -1.9% and eBay (EBAY) -2%, following markets lower, after ChannelAdvisor reports same-store-sales growth declines for clients relying on the companies in May. Amazon's growth rate fell to 25.8% (its lowest over the last 12 months) from 30.6% in April, and eBay's fell to 16% from 20.5% (auctions -18%, fixed-price +16%, Motors +30%). The numbers also aren't great for Google (GOOG), which is seeing rising e-commerce ad competition and has been tweaking its strategy: sales from search ads -0.8%, and comparison shopping (e.g. Google Shopping) +0.3%. comScore puts total U.S. e-commerce growth in the 14%-15% range. 2 Comments [Tech, Consumer]
Monday, June 10, 12:31 PM More on Amazon: The AmazonFresh site indicates the new $299/year Prime tier, called Prime Fresh, will be available in areas where AmazonFresh has launched, and (on top of regular Prime service) will provide free same-day and early-morning deliveries on $35+ orders. Amazon (AMZN +1.6%) is giving L.A. Prime subs in certain zip codes a 90-day free trial to Prime Fresh, after which they'll have to pay $299 to hold onto it. 1 Comment [Tech, Consumer]
Monday, June 10, 11:13 AM Amazon (AMZN +1.5%) is launching a $299/year same-day shipping tier for Amazon Prime, says Bloomberg's Brad Stone. The news follows a strings of remarks from Amazon in which it downplayed its same-day ambitions. eBay (EBAY +2.8%), by contrast, has been quite vocal about wanting to create a national same-day infrastructure; Google is also targeting this space. Also: As expected, Amazon is expanding its grocery delivery business to L.A.. AmazonFresh, available in Seattle since '07, will (for now) be available for free on a trial basis to Prime subs in several L.A. zip codes; its offerings include local gourmet items. 17 Comments [Tech, Consumer]
Friday, June 7, 6:49 PM "Netflix (NFLX) has exploded the old broadcast television format," says Tero Kuittinen, discussing the implications of Arrested Development's use of a unique/complex episode structure. "Entire 10-episode cycles can be created in a way that makes them far more elaborate and tightly plotted than anything network television can handle." There could also be implications here for Amazon. Though reviews weren't great, one study pegged AD's opening weekend viewing at 3x that of the acclaimed House of Cards. Also: NPD estimates Netflix had an 89% share of Q1 U.S. subscription TV show streaming activity; Hulu had 10%, and Amazon Prime (AMZN) just 2%. 10 Comments [Tech, Consumer]
Friday, June 7, 12:10 PM IBM has successfully protested a $600M, 10-year deal granted by the CIA to Amazon Web Services (AMZN +3.6%) to develop a private cloud infrastructure: the GAO says the CIA didn't properly evaluate prices and waived a contract requirement. This means IBM, now set to acquire AWS rival SoftLayer, will have another chance to win the deal. Meanwhile, Forrester's James Staten argues IBM/SoftLayer will face integration challenges, due to their use of rival cloud platforms (IBM uses OpenStack, SoftLayer uses Citrix's (CTXS) CloudStack) and other issues. "SoftLayer ... has two separate portals and a mix of API sets ... IBM has long been accused of being well integrated only so long as you ask IBM Global Services to do the integration work." Comment! [Tech]
Friday, June 7, 9:07 AM Amazon (AMZN) confirms the Kindle Fire HD and Kindle Paperwhite are on sale in China. Though the news at its face value sounds tantalizing, the company has a small brand recognition in China and faces formidable competition. Comment! [Consumer]
Thursday, June 6, 8:58 AM Though food is generally a low-margin business, AmazonFresh might have some profit potential: 1) Amazon's (AMZN) push into grocery delivery could help it sell more general merchandise as consumers bundle orders, according to Wells Fargo analyst Matt Nemer. 2) The company charges customers in the Seatttle area about $8 to $10 for most deliveries to help it cover costs, although orders over $100 can be free. 3) An anecdotal report from a pie maker in Seattle suggests Amazon slices off $2 for every $9 pie sold through AmazonFresh. 4) A buzz-worthy rewards program could also help the company boost overall sales and ratchet up margins. 7 Comments [Consumer]
Thursday, June 6, 7:08 AM The DOJ vs. Apple case: Amazon (AMZN) exec Russell Grandinetti testifed the company was delivered an ultimatum by publishers that they would withhold books if it didn't abandon its pricing structure. After some tense negotiations, Amazon relinquished control of its pricing and went to the model the DOJ maintains Apple helped force upon the e-book industry. Comment! [Tech, Consumer]
Wednesday, June 5, 2:05 PM Retail Geeks thinks it's a worthwhile venture to track which brands are attracting the most new Facebook fans, more as a backdrop to help provide context and comparative peer data than to assume a linear relationship to sales trends. In the hunt for Facebook relevance - Amazon (AMZN), Nautica (VFC), and Fanta (KO) are three hot brands - while OfficeMax (OMX), Hanes (HBI), and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts (KKD) are barely moving the Facebook meter. 1 Comment [Consumer]

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