Amazon released their fourth quarter results today and, well, it’s easy to see why they waited to announce the news until the day was about over. The e-commerce company’s net income dropped despite revenue increasing.

The company has been expanding and growing which is one of the reasons for the dip. With that said though, they’re still not doing too bad and remain the most popular and flocked to e-commerce site on the planet.

Sales of the Kindle Fire have been very impressive and is carving a nice place for itself in the tablet market. Whether it can keep up with the iPad and the soon to be released iPad 3, that’s another story.

Via Yahoo News:

“Seattle-based Amazon.com Inc. said Tuesday that its net income was $177 million, or 38 cents per share, in the three months that ended Dec. 31. That’s down 57 percent from $416 million, or 91 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue grew 35 percent to $17.4 billion. Though it was buoyed by solid holiday sales, the figure fell below the $18.3 billion that analysts polled by FactSet had expected.”

“Amazon’s operating expenses, meanwhile, grew 38 percent to $17.2 billion. The company has been investing heavily in new sales-fulfillment centers so it can grow its business. That has cut into profits all of last year.”

For this quarter, they’re estimating anywhere from $12 Billion to 13.4 Billion in revenue. They also may suffer an operating loss this quarter as well. As with any company that expands, losses are to be had. It’s also said that they’re losing money on each Kindle Fire sold which, even with that the case, they’ll make money back in the long term due to purchases of digital products that earns them 30% of all profits.

How often do you shop at Amazon?

Amazon Net Income Dropped In Fourth Quarter, Stock Down is a post from: The Inquisitr

Amazon is the World’s largest e-commerce site with thousands and thousands of sellers from all across the globe. What makes the site such a great place to shop is, for one, they have really great customer service which has pushed them to be one of the top online retailers.

Secondly, their ratings and review system allows customers to shop the site and buy in confidence. Unfortunately, as reviews become more and more important when shopping, that means more merchants are trying to game the system in order for more people to buy their products.

A seller by the name of VIP Deals is one of those.

Via The New York Times:

“VIP Deals, which specializes in leather tablet cases and stun guns, denied it was quietly offering the deals. “You are totally off base,” a representative named Monica wrote in an e-mail.”

“But three customers said in interviews that the offer was straightforward. Searching for a protective case for their new Kindle Fire, they came upon the VIP page selling a cover for under $10 plus shipping (the official list price was $59.99). When the package arrived it included a letter extending an invitation “to write a product review for the Amazon community.”

“In return for writing the review, we will refund your order so you will have received the product for free,” it said. Anne Marie Logan, a Georgia pharmacist, was suspicious. “I was like, ‘Is this for real?’ ” she said. “But they credited my account. You think it’s unethical?” While the letter did not specifically demand a five-star review, it broadly hinted. “We strive to earn 100 percent perfect ‘FIVE-STAR’ scores from you!” it said.

Very fishy indeed.

How often do you buy from Amazon?

Amazon Merchant Caught Refunding Buyers In Exchange For Great Reviews is a post from: The Inquisitr

Amazon.com announced that Kindle and Kindle app customers can now borrow Kindle books from more than 11,000 local libraries in the U.S..

Jay Marine, Director for Amazon Kindle, said:

“Starting today, millions of Kindle customers can borrow Kindle books from their local libraries. Libraries are a critical part of our communities and we’re excited to be making Kindle books available at more than 11,000 local libraries around the country. We’re even doing a little extra here– normally, making margin notes in library books is a big no-no. But we’re fixing this by extending our Whispersync technology to library books, so your notes, highlights and bookmarks are always backed up and available the next time you check out the book or if you decide to buy the book.”

If you want to borrow Kindle books, all you have to do is to visit your local library’s website where you can search and select a book. No need to go physically to the library. After choosing a book, you may choose to “Send to Kindle” and it will be delivered to your device via Wi-Fi or USB. You can check out a Kindle book from your local library and start reading on any generation Kindle device or free Kindle app for Android, iPad, iPod touch, iPhone, PC, Mac, BlackBerry or Windows Phone, as well as in their web browser with Kindle Cloud Reader.

Marcellus Turner, city librarian for The Seattle Public Library, welcomed this development:

“This is a welcome day for Kindle users in libraries everywhere and especially our Kindle users here at The Seattle Public Library. We’re thrilled that Amazon is offering such a new approach to library ebooks that enhances the reader experience.”

By the way, you still need a valid library card.

You Can Now Borrow Kindle Books in Over 11,000 U.S. Libraries is a post from: The Inquisitr

Saturday, Amazon took on a small segment of the third-party market with a new line of electronics called “Amazon Basics.”

Gadget fans don’t need to get all a-twitter yet- the line is mostly cables, blank CDs and blank DVDs, but they’re offered at a cost lower than most competition on Amazon. Some of the items, like USB cables, are “available for pre-order,” which I found perplexing. I thought a cable was something you ordered in frustration when you stepped on the end of it with your motorcycle boots rendering it unusable, not something you acquired in the vague notion of receiving it someday.

Looked at as a harbinger of things to come, though, the line certainly has promise. Amazon has indicated they don’t plan to branch off into the more exciting stuff- this appears to be more of a True Value Hardware for your computer and other electronics. Even though the pricing isn’t always necessarily the lowest- this 100 pack of blank CDs scoops the new Amazon ones by 49 cents and is Prime Eligible- Amazon’s status as a trusted brand for online shopping means buyers may flock to the new offerings. As someone who ends up renewing my Prime membership grudgingly every Christmas to avoid the high shipping costs and the toy store crush, I’ll certainly look there before I go to a seller with whom I have no experience.

[Amazon Basics]

Watch out Amazon Marketplace, Amazon Basics launches is a post from: The Inquisitr

Overall, Amazon.com sold more than 6.3 million items on December 15, which is considered the peak holiday sales day. More interestingly, though, the Groom Mate Platinum XL nose and ear hair trimmer topped the charts within health and personal care products. (It’s apparently guaranteed to “never dull and to never pull or yank out nostril hairs.”)

Coming in second, by the way, was the Anti-Snore nose clippy thing that keeps you quiet at night. Is there some sort of nasal fixation that I missed out on this winter?

In any event, some other hot sellers by category included:

• Toys: Eyeclops night vision stealth goggles, Blokus classic board game, Wild Planet’s Hyper Dash

• Consumer electronics: Samsung’s 52-inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV with RED Touch of Color, Apple iPod touch 8 GB (2nd Generation), Acer Aspire One 8.9-inch netbook (1.6 GHz Intel Atom N270 processor, 1 GB RAM, 160 GB hard drive, XP Home, 6 cell battery) in sapphire blue

• Video games: Nintendo Wii console, Wii remote controller, Wii nunchuk controller

• DVDs/Blu-ray: “Wall-E,” “The Dark Knight”

Amazon Reports Record Sales, Including Lots of Nose Hair Trimmers is a post from: The Inquisitr

During the midst of the downtime, Amazon posted this at the Amazon Services Seller Forums:

“We are currently investigating an issue that has impacted the availability of the Amazon.com website. As a part of this resolution, some customers may experience error messages that indicate that their access to the Amazon web site has been blocked for various reasons. These reasons my not be directly related to the customer’s account. Access to the website will return when this technical issue is resolved.”

Earlier, rumors circulated among security professionals that Amazon.com’s load-balancing system was hit with distributed denial-of-service attack.

Amazon.com Goes Down (Now Up) is a post from: The Inquisitr