Amazon reports climbing revenues, falling profits in Q1
Online retailer's digital media revenue up 17 per cent in first quarter, Kindle Fire sales still a secret
The online retail giant Amazon saw its first quarter revenues climb, though its profits are moving in the opposite direction.
For the quarter ending March 31 2012, the company reported revenues of £13.18 billion, up 34 per cent year-on-year from $9.68 billion.
However, net income dropped by almost the same percentage, from $201 million in the first quarter of 2011 to $130 million this year.
The company's revenue from digital media, which includes app store sales and video-on-demand services, climbed 19 per cent to $4.71 billion.
Amazon didn't offer sales figures for its Kindle Fire tablet - and CEO Jeff Bezos avoided requests for more information in the subsequent investor call - but it has been the top-selling product on Amazon.com since launch, and 9 out of the top 10 products sold in the first quarter were either Kindles or digital products for the device.
The company is placing more and more emphasis on its digital business; it has introduced one-click in-app purchasing and launched Instant Video streaming on PlayStation 3 in April alone.
In addition, recent reports from Flurry and the developer TinyCo have highlighted the growing profitability of its app store for game developers.