AWS’s Share of Amazon’s Profit
This drives me mad. I have no idea why Amazon even bothers with the retail side. It barely pays for itself, they are already the biggest player by a mile, and there is no horizon in which economies of scale start paying off (the uptick of demand from Covid probably <i>lost</i> them money!)<p>The only thing that makes sense to me is some political long play. The Amazon retail operation employs a lot more people in a lot more places than just the coast. I think leadership has realized they need to be seen as a job creator by politicians in order to join the "big boy industry" club. Which is why Amazon doesn't mind paying their warehouse workers more than all the other guys.<p>To that end, the Amazon.com is just a giant, self-funded employment program designed to make Amazon a bigger company.