Tag - Steve Yegge

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Amazon’s Assault
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Amazon’s Asian Expansion

Amazon’s Assault

Amazon emerged victorious from the ‘Ebook Wars’, their fleet of multi-attack Kindles establishing virtual air dominance, decimating Barnes and Nobles’s woefully under-equipped Nook to such an extent that the company announced in June that they would no longer be manufacturing them.

The world is now being ravaged by ‘The Pricing Wars’.  Recent battles have included vigilante book retailer Overstock counter-attacking Amazon with a massive bestselling hardcover title discounting offensive, the likes of which the world has never before witnessed.

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One suspects that this kamikaze act by Overstock is nothing more than a courageous but futile last stand that will result in inevitable surrender.  Amazon’s victorious army could soon be marching vast lines of defeated Overstock foot soldiers to what some have made out to be the gulags of the 21st Century, Amazon warehouses.  There have been accusations that poor treatment and tortuous work conditions are endemic in these tax avoidance enclaves.  Others have argued that Amazon has provided a valuable boost to the economy by bringing employment to these former desolate areas, an example being the erection of an Amazon work camp warehouse in remote Chattanooga, Tennessee, where President Obama recently gave a speech.

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This is not an isolated incident of defiance from the publishing industry in the face of Amazon’s prolonged assault.  From the smoking rubble of their bricks and mortar business, two former foes, Penguin and Random House have formed an alliance to fight the Axis under their new flag, Penguin Random House.

The rhetoric from the the publishing industry and anti-Amazon consumers alike is that Amazon’s attack on their holy city of literature is personal, but in reality it is anything but.  Amazon’s autocrat Jeff Bezos is by many accounts not the personal type.  Former Amazon subordinate Steve Yegge described Bezos as being a;

“hyper-intelligent alien with a tangential interest in human affairs.”

Amazon6(Courtesy of www.commerce.wa.gov.au)

Whatever Bezos’s true nature it can appear to the neutral observer that Bezos has a particular disliking for bricks and mortar; the shattered  remnants of the high street bears testimony to this.  Many would no doubt not be  surprised if Bezos’s disdain for bricks and mortar extended to him rejecting housing in favour of living in a pod.

Amazon may well have waged war against the publishing industry, but it is no different to what they have done with the music and film industries.  Pricing wars are the order of the day with these too, with discounts of up to 69% on many popular film and television series DVDs.

It is generally considered to be ill-advisable to bite the hand that feeds you and with Amazon’s food delivery service, Amazon Fresh, extending their venture from Seattle to Los Angeles it appears only a matter of time before they will be doing exactly that.

(Click to read Amazon Part 1 and Part 2)

Amazon’s Asian Expansion

“The empire on which the sun never sets” was a phrase often used to describe the British Empire of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, but it would be just as apt to describe surging retailing super-power Amazon’s global empire.  The Amazon land grab continues to gather pace with the recent announcement of further invasion plans, including the expansion of the Android based Appstore into nearly 200 countries (previously was only the USA, UK, Germany, Italy, Spain and Japan).  Heavily armoured versions of the all conquering super-sonic Amazon Kindle, the Kindle Fire HD and Kindle Fire HD 8.9 are set to be deployed in a further 170 countries.

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With America and Europe close to submission, Amazon has its long range ballistic missiles pointed eastwards towards Asia.  It is apparent that Amazon has very different strategies to gain control of the two continental power-houses, China and India.

With regards India Amazon has utilised a siege mentality.  They have sat back and waited patiently whilst India’s own domestic online retailers (e.g. Myntra, Flipkart & Jabong) have fought hard to win over the country’s reluctant online consumers.  It appears only a matter of time before Amazon commences a full ground assault, their tanks running roughshod over the gains made by these guerrilla armies.  Amazon’s recent launch of Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing in India can be viewed as a strategic base from which total subjugation of the country appears inevitable.

China will be hoping that they are buffered from Amazon’s global expansion by Tibet (a word you won’t find on Amazon.cn).  At present Amazon controls less than 1% of the Chinese e-commerce market and many strategists are of the opinion that it will be prove to be very difficult for Amazon to penetrate the Great Wall of China and expand their empire eastwards.  Neutral observers have pointed out that Amazon’s efforts may be curtailed by their deal to provide $600m worth of cloud computing services to the CIA, something which one suspects has not exactly endeared them to the Chinese authorities.

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Whilst China’s rapidly expanding navy has been accused of being aggressive in regional maritime disputes with its smaller neighbours, they will find the Amazon fleet a very different proposition.

There is no doubt that Amazon’s autocrat Jeff Bezos, a man described by google engineer Steve Yegge as having a ‘giant brain’, will have carefully planned his empire’s expansion eastwards.  Not only are China and India the most populace nations on the planet with fast growing economies, but Indians are currently the world’s most avid readers, averaging 10.42 hours a week, with China in third place with 8 hours.  Amazon has a history of using literature as a decoy to lure its unsuspecting victims into purchasing other consumer items such as televisions and washing machines.  It seems inevitable that this strategy will be deployed once again.

To be continued.

Click here to read Part 1.

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