Amazon reports Q4 revenues up 38.5% to $60.5bn

Amazon has reported that its net sales for the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2107 were $60.5bn, up 38% on last year, while operating income was up 69% at $2.1bn.

For the full year, net sales were up 31% at $177.9bn but operating income dropped 2% to $4.1bn.

In a statement issued yesterday (1 February), Amazon said that more than five billion items shipped with Prime worldwide. The company also said that “more new paid members joined Prime in 2017 than any previous year — both worldwide and in the US” – but declined to give actual numbers on this.

The Amazon statement listed a plethora of “highlights” for 2017, which included:

• the expansion of the Amazon Prime service to Singapore, the Netherlands and Luxembourg
• the launch of the Amazon marketplace in Australia
• the opening of the Amazon Go “checkout-free shopping experience” in Seattle.