Amazon was profitable in 2021. The company generated over $33 billion in net income, primarily driven by the Amazon AWS business, which contributed to over 55% of its operating margins and other profitable parts like Amazon Prime and Ads. The Amazon e-commerce platform runs at tight operating margins since it’s built for scale.
Amazon aggressive growth
Since its inception, Amazon has been aggressively focusing on growth.
While it managed to survive the dot-com bubble Amazon also hat to tweak its business playbook throughout those years:
Source: Amazon S-1
Amazon’s business model today has several moving parts:
- Amazon e-commerce.
- Amazon platform business (Amazon hosts third-party sellers on the platform since the early 2000s).
- Amazon AWS.
- Amazon Prime.
- Advertising.
- And more.
Below you can appreciate the Amazon business model in full:

As of 2021, Amazon AWS is a major contributor to Amazon’s operating and net income.
That is because AWS has different unit economics logic:
To understand more about the Amazon business model consult the resources below:Â
- Amazon Business ModelÂ
- Receivables Turnover Ratio? How Amazon Receivables Management Helps Its Explosive Growth
- Amazon Case Study: Why from Product to Subscription You Need to “Swallow the Fish”
- Amazon Cash Machine Business Model
- Amazon Flywheel
- Amazon Value Proposition
- The Economics Of The Amazon Seller Business
- How Much Is Amazon Advertising Business Worth?
- What Is the Cost per First Stream Metric?
- Jeff Bezos Teaches You When Judgment Is Better Than Math And Data
- Alibaba vs. Amazon
- Amazon Mission Statement and Vision Statement In
- The Amazon Leadership Principles Crafted By Jeff Bezos
For more business resources: