Amazon.com 2006 Annual Report Download - page 17

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Board of Directors
Name Age Position
Jeffrey P. Bezos .......... 43 President, Chief Executive Officer, and Chairman of the Board
Tom A. Alberg ........... 67 Managing Director, Madrona Venture Group
John Seely Brown ......... 66 Senior Fellow at the Annenberg Center for Communication at the
University of Southern California
L. John Doerr ............ 55 General Partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
William B. Gordon ........ 57 Executive Vice President and Chief Creative Officer, Electronic Arts, Inc.
Myrtle S. Potter ........... 48 Chief Executive Officer, Chapman Properties, Inc., and Consultant, Myrtle
Potter Consulting, LLC
Thomas O. Ryder ......... 62 Retired, Former Chairman, Reader’s Digest Association, Inc.
Patricia Q. Stonesifer ...... 50 Chief Executive Officer, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Item 1A. Risk Factors
Please carefully consider the following risk factors. If any of the following risks occur, our business,
financial condition, operating results, and cash flows could be materially adversely affected. In addition, these
risks are not the only ones we face.
We Face Intense Competition
Our market segments are rapidly evolving and intensely competitive, and we have many competitors in
different industries, including retail, e-commerce services, digital and web services. Many of our current and
potential competitors have greater resources, longer histories, more customers, and greater brand recognition.
They may secure better terms from vendors, adopt more aggressive pricing and devote more resources to
technology, fulfillment, and marketing.
Competition may intensify as our competitors enter into business combinations or alliances and established
companies in other market segments expand into our market segments. In addition, new and enhanced
technologies, including search, web services, and digital, may increase our competition. The Internet facilitates
competitive entry and comparison shopping and renders e-commerce inherently more competitive than other
retail. Increased competition may reduce our sales and profits.
Our Expansion Places a Significant Strain on our Management, Operational, Financial and Other
Resources
We are rapidly and significantly expanding our global operations, including increasing our product and
service offerings. This expansion increases the complexity of our business and places significant strain on our
management, personnel, operations, systems, technical performance, financial resources, and internal financial
control and reporting functions. We may not be able to manage growth effectively, which could damage our
reputation, limit our growth and negatively affect our operating results.
Our Expansion into New Products, Services, Technologies and Geographic Regions Subjects Us to
Additional Business, Legal and Competitive Risks
We do not expect to benefit in our newer market segments, whether products, services, technologies or
geographic areas, from any first-to-market advantages. We may have limited or no experience in these new
activities, and our customers may not adopt them. Our newer service offerings, including merchant services,
digital and web services, may present new and difficult technology challenges, and we may be subject to claims
if customers of these offerings experience service disruptions or failures. In addition, our gross profits in our
newer activities may be lower than in our older activities, and we may not be successful enough in these newer
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