Amazon swung to a $3.8 billon loss in the first quarter with CEO Andy Jassy telling shareholders the pandemic and subsequent war in Ukraine have brought unusual growth and challenges.
It was a disappointment to the analysts, who saw online sales slip by 3%, as the benefits of the pandemic’s stay at home society began to ebb away. Internationally sales fell by 6%.
However, other areas including cloud computing, entertainment and devices enjoyed more growth.
AWS has grown by 34% in two years and by 37% year-on-year in the first quarter. The web services segment has significant contracts with T-Systems, Verizon, Telefonica and the Bundesliga. “AWS has been integral in helping companies weather the pandemic and move more of their workloads into the cloud,” said Jassy.
In Entertainment, Prime Video has debuted 30 local originals internationally, including new seasons of the unscripted franchise LOL in Canada, France, Germany, and Italy, as well as Luxe Listings (Australia), Mahaan (India), Bang Bang Baby (Italy), and HOMESTAY (Japan). New locally produced series and movies launched in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Spain, and the UK.
A partnership with Sling TV has added new on demand content to US owners of the Echo Show 15, while a new smart TV developed in partnership with Yamada Holdings will shortly launch in Japan.
