Annual Report There Are Several Sections to Essay

Annual Report

There are several sections to the 2012 Amazon Annual Report. The first five pages after the cover page consist of a letter to the shareholders, followed by a reprint of the 1997 letter to the shareholders. The rest of the annual report consists of the 10-K. The main sections of the 10-K are the descriptive Part I (business description, risk factors, etc.), the financial Part II (financial statements, notes, and accounting disclosures) and Part III, which is the governance section. There is also Part IV, which consists of the exhibits for the report.

Amazon enjoyed strong financial performance for the year. In his letter, CEO Jeff Bezos noted that the company's customer-driven focus, automated systems and its different investments are all key contributors to growth at the company. In particular, the Kindle, Amazon Prime and digital media are elements to which the company's performance is attributed. There is no real discussion of the general business conditions, and while Amazon makes most of its money from its retailing, Bezos does not talk much about that other than the emphasize the customer focus.

While the CEO does not discuss the main business, it is that main business that has driven so much of Amazon's growth. The company gained nearly $10 billion in product sales and three more billion in service sales.This growth come on the heels of similar growth figures for 2011, indicating that Amazon's financial performance can be mainly attributed to the company's strong growth thus far. As its business grows -- a combination of it having tremendous reach in the marketplace and the online shopping industry growing organically as well -- Amazon is in a position to grow its revenues substantially.

Furthermore, the company lost money in 2012., and its net income declined in 2011 as well. These losses were not related to the cost of sales, but rather to the other expenses. It appears that Amazon held its gross margin steady in 2012, though it should be noted that its business model relies on slender margins that put the company at risk for losses. There was a significant increase in fulfillment expenses, which should not be too surprising, given that fulfillment reflects that discount offered in the form of free shipping -- a discount used to entice shoppers and thereby increase the company's revenues. There was also a significant increase in technology and content investment, since Amazon has made significant investments in research and development. The multiple new ventures that Bezos outlined in his letter probably fall into this category. He had to write about the glowingly because investment in these things was dragging.....