Amazon.com 2002 Annual Report Download - page 10

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PART I
Item 1. Business
This Annual Report on Form 10-K and the documents incorporated herein by reference contain
forward-looking statements based on expectations, estimates and projections as of the date of this Ñling.
Actual results may diÅer materially from those expressed in forward-looking statements. See Item 7 of
Part II Ì ""Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations Ì
Forward-Looking Statements.''
General
Amazon.com, Inc., a Fortune 500 company, commenced operations on the World Wide Web in July
1995. We seek to oÅer Earth's Biggest Selection and to be Earth's most customer-centric company, where
customers can Ñnd and discover anything they may want to buy online. We endeavor to oÅer our
customers the lowest possible prices. We and our sellers list millions of unique new, used and collectible
items in categories such as apparel and accessories, electronics, computers, kitchen and housewares, books,
music, DVDs, videos, cameras and photo items, oÇce products, toys, baby items and baby registry,
software, computer and video games, cell phones and service, tools and hardware, travel services, magazine
subscriptions and outdoor living items. Through our Merchants@ and Amazon Marketplace programs,
zShops and Auctions, any business or individual can sell virtually anything to Amazon.com's millions of
customers.
We operate six global Web sites: www.amazon.com, www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de,
www.amazon.fr, www.amazon.co.jp and www.amazon.ca. We also own and operate the Internet Movie
Database at www.imdb.com (""IMDb''), which is a comprehensive and authoritative source of information
on movie and entertainment titles and cast and crew members. IMDb oÅers IMDb Pro, a subscription
service designed for the entertainment industry.
Amazon.com was incorporated in 1994 in the state of Washington and reincorporated in 1996 in the
state of Delaware. Our principal corporate oÇces are located in Seattle, Washington. We completed our
initial public oÅering in May 1997 and our common stock is listed on the Nasdaq National Market under
the symbol ""AMZN.''
As used herein, ""Amazon.com,'' ""we,'' ""our'' and similar terms include Amazon.com, Inc. and its
subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise.
Business Strategy
We seek to oÅer Earth's Biggest Selection and to be Earth's most customer-centric company, where
customers can Ñnd and discover anything they might want to buy online. We have designed our Web sites
to allow millions of new, used and collectible products to be sold by us and by other businesses and
individuals worldwide. A product on our Web sites may be listed for sale simultaneously by several
diÅerent sellers. For instance, a product may be oÅered by us, by a participant in our Merchants@
program and by a business or individual selling a new, used or collectible version of the product through
Amazon Marketplace, zShops or Auctions. We also oÅer certain e-commerce services to other businesses
through our Merchant.com and Syndicated Stores programs.
Lowering Prices
We endeavor to oÅer our customers the lowest possible prices. We strive to improve our operating
eÇciencies and to leverage our Ñxed costs so that we can aÅord to pass along these savings to our
customers in the form of lower prices. We believe this strategy of lowering prices will, over time, increase
unit growth and lead to further eÇciencies.
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