Timeline of Amazon.com - wikipedia Timeline of Amazon.com `` Timeline of Amazon '' redirects here. For the history of events surrounding the Amazon River, see timeline of Amazon history. This is a timeline of Amazon.com, American electronic commerce and cloud computing company with headquarters in Seattle, Washington. Contents 1 Overview 2 Full timeline 3 See also 4 References Overview Time period Key developments at Amazon 1994 -- 1998 Amazon starts off as an online bookstore selling books, primarily competing with local booksellers and Barnes & Noble. It IPOs in 1997. 1998 -- 2004 Amazon starts to expand its services beyond books. It also starts offering convenience services, such as Free Super Savers Shipping. 2005 -- 2011 Amazon moves into the cloud computing area with Amazon AWS, as well as the crowdsourcing area with Amazon Mechanical Turk. By being an early player, it eventually dominates the cloud computing scene, allowing it to control much of the physical infrastructure of the Internet. Amazon also offers the Amazon Kindle for people to purchase their books as eBooks, and by 2010, more people buy ebooks than physical books off of Amazon. 2011 -- 2015 Amazon starts offering streaming services like Amazon Music and Amazon Video. By 2015, its market capitalization surpasses that of Walmart. Full timeline Year Month and date Event type Details July 5 Company Amazon founded. May 15 Company Amazon IPOs at $18.00 / share, raising $54 million. 1998 April 27 Acquisitions Amazon acquires the Internet Movie Database, a comprehensive repository for movie information on the Internet. 1998 August 5 Company Direction Amazon announces that it will move beyond books. 1998 December Competition Jack Ma launches Alibaba in China, which would later grow to dominate the Chinese online retail market, and provide an obstacle to Amazon 's attempts to expand in China. 2002 January Product Amazon launches Free Super Saver Shipping, which allows customers to get free shipping for orders above $99. 2002 March Legal, Competition Amazon settles its October 1999 patent infringement suit against Barnes & Noble ( over its 1 - Click checkout system, which it received a patent for in September 1999 ). It originally charged that Barnes&Noble.com had essentially copied Amazon 's 1 - Click technology. 2003 October Product Amazon launches A9.com, a subsidiary of Amazon.com based in Palo Alto, California that develops search and advertising technology. August 19 International Amazon acquires Joyo, an online bookstore in China, for $75 million, which then becomes the 7th regional website of Amazon.com. joyo later becomes Amazon China. 2005 February Product Amazon launches Amazon Prime, a membership offering free two - day shipping within the contiguous United States on all eligible purchases for a flat annual fee of $79. 2005 November Product Amazon launches Amazon Mechanical Turk, an application programming interface ( API ) allowing any Internet user to perform `` human - intelligence '' tasks such as transcribing podcasts, often at very low wages. 2006 August 25 Product Amazon launches Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud ( Amazon EC2 ), a virtual site farm allowing users to use the Amazon infrastructure to run applications ranging from running simulations to web hosting. 2006 September 19 Product Amazon launches Fulfillment by Amazon, giving small businesses to use Amazon. com 's own order fulfillment and customer service infrastructure - and customers of Amazon.com shipping offers when buying from 3rd - party sellers. 2006 Legal Amazon agrees to settle a legal dispute with Toys R Us ( over a partnership that gave Toys R Us exclusive rights to supply some toy products on Amazon 's website ) and pays $51 million. 2006 March Product Amazon launches Amazon Simple Storage Service ( Amazon S3 ), which allows other websites / developers to store computer files on Amazon 's servers. 2007 August Product CreateSpace announces launch of Books on Demand service, which makes it easy for authors who want to self - publish their books to distribute them on Amazon.com. 2007 August Product Amazon launches AmazonFresh, a grocery service offering perishable and nonperishable foods. 2007 September 25 Products Amazon launches Amazon Music, an online music store and music locker. 2007 November 19 Products Amazon launches the Amazon Kindle. 2009 July 22 Acquisitions, Competition Amazon acquires Zappos for $850 million. 2009 October 20 Competition Barnes & Noble announces the Nook, an eReader. January Competition Apple introduces its own virtual bookstore, called iBooks, and then partners with five major book publishers. It later convinces them to raise the price of ebooks ( using the agency pricing model that gives publishers full control over ebook prices ). February 1 Competition Microsoft launches Microsoft Azure, a cloud computing platform that will compete with Amazon AWS over cloud services. July Product Amazon announced that e-book sales for its Kindle reader outnumbered sales of hardcover books for the first time ever. 2011 January Acquisitions, International Amazon acquires Lovefilm, a DVD rental service known as the Netflix of Europe. 2011 February 16 Competition Borders Group, outcompeted by Amazon, applies for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. 2011 February 22 Product Amazon rebrands its Amazon Video service as Amazon Instant Video and adds access to 5,000 movies and TV shows for Amazon Prime members. 2011 March 22 Product Amazon launches the Amazon Appstore for Android devices and the service was made available in over 200 countries. 2011 July 1 Legal California starts collecting sales taxes on Amazon.com purchases. 2011 September Product Amazon launches Amazon Locker, a delivery locker system that allows users to get items delivered at specially - designed lockers. 2011 September 28 Product Amazon announces the Kindle Fire, a tablet computer that takes aim at Apple 's iPad with a smaller device that sells at $199, compared with the $499 value of Apple 's cheapest iPad. 2012 April Legal The Department of Justice files suit against Apple Inc and five major publishing houses ( the `` Big Five '' ), alleging that they colluded in 2010 to raise the price of ebooks ( using the agency pricing model that gives publishers full control over ebook prices ). Amazon had originally set the price of ebooks at $9.99 ( using the wholescale pricing model giving Amazon full control over ebook prices ). 2012 March 19 Acquisitions Amazon acquires Kiva Systems for $775 million, a robotics company that creates robots that can move items around warehouses. 2012 April Legal Amazon agrees to allow collection of sales taxes in both Nevada and Texas ( starting on July 1 ), and agrees to create 2,500 jobs and invest $200 million in new distribution centers in Texas. 2012 September 6 Products Amazon announces the Kindle Fire HD series of touchscreen tablet computers. 2013 March Acquisitions Amazon acquires social reading and book - review site GoodReads. 2013 June International Amazon launches in India. 2014 July 25 Products Amazon launches the Amazon Fire. 2014 August 25 Acquisitions Amazon announced its intent to acquire the video game streaming website Twitch for $970 million. 2014 October Legal Amazon reaches agreement with Simon & Schuster, allowing the publisher to adopt the agency pricing model and set prices on its books sold on Amazon. 2014 November 6 ( announcement ), actual rollout occurs through 2015 Products Amazon unveils Amazon Echo, a wireless speaker and voice command device that can take commands and queries, and be used to add items to the Amazon.com shopping cart, among other things. The Alexa Voice Service that is built into Amazon Echo can also be added to other Amazon devices. 2014 November Legal Amazon resolves dispute with Hachette, allowing Hachette to adopt the agency - pricing model and set prices on Hachette books sold on Amazon. 2015 July Competition, International Alibaba announces that it will invest $1 billion into its Aliyun cloud computing arm, some of which would go into new Aliyun international data centers. This would allow Aliyun to compete with Amazon Web Services outside of China. 2015 August 26 Products Amazon launches Amazon Underground, an Android app through which users can get gaming and other apps for free that they would otherwise have to pay for, and also get in - app purchases for free. App creator participation is voluntary. App creators are paid $0.002 for every minute a user spends in the app. 2015 September 8 Products Amazon launches its Amazon Restaurants service that delivers food from nearby restaurants, for Amazon Prime customers in Seattle. The service would subsequently be roled out to many other cities. 2015 November 2 Products Amazon opened its first physical retail store, a bookstore in the University Village shopping center in Seattle. The store, known as Amazon Books, has prices matched to those found on the Amazon website and integrate online reviews into the store 's shelves. 2015 December 14 Company Amazon begins moving into their new headquarters campus in the Denny Triangle neighborhood of Seattle, beginning with the 38 - story Amazon Tower I ( nicknamed `` Doppler '' after the codename for Amazon Echo ). The three towers are scheduled to be completed by 2020. 2016 December 7 Delivery Amazon Prime Air ( Amazon 's drone - based delivery system ) makes its first delivery in Cambridge in the United Kingdom. The successful delivery is announced a week later, on December 14, along with video. 2017 June 15 Acquisitions Amazon acquires Whole Foods for $13.7 billion, a high end grocery store located throughout the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada. 2017 September 7 Company Amazon began search for Amazon HQ2, a second company headquarters to house up to 50,000 employees. See also Timeline of Amazon Web Services Business and economics portal Companies portal History portal References Jump up ^ `` Amazon and Google are in an epic battle to dominate the cloud -- and Amazon may already have won - Quartz ''. Qz.com. Retrieved January 17, 2016. ^ Jump up to : Stone, Brad ( 2013 ). The Everything Store : Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon. New York : Little Brown and Co. ISBN 9780316219266. OCLC 856249407. Jump up ^ `` Amazon Media Room : Press Releases ''. Phx.corporate-ir.net. Retrieved January 17, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Amazon.com Is Expanding Beyond Books ''. The New York Times. August 5, 1998. Retrieved January 10, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Alibaba chief Jack Ma disappoints investors with London no - show ''. The Daily Telegraph. September 17, 2014. Retrieved January 17, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Why Amazon Should Fear Alibaba ''. Forbes. Retrieved January 17, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Amazon, Barnes&Noble settle patent suit - CNET ''. Cnet.com. Retrieved January 15, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Amazon releases A9 search engine ''. Macworld.com. Retrieved January 17, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Joyo Amazon was renamed to Amazon China '' ( in Chinese ). NetEase. October 27, 2011. Retrieved October 27, 2011. Jump up ^ Barr, Jeff ( August 25, 2006 ). `` Amazon EC2 Beta ''. Amazon Web Services Blog. Retrieved May 31, 2013. Jump up ^ `` Amazon.com Investor Relations : Press Release ''. Phx.corporate-ir.net. Retrieved January 17, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Amazon to pay Toys R Us $51 M to settle suit - ABC News ''. Abcnews.go.com. Retrieved January 15, 2016. Jump up ^ `` CreateSpace : Self Publishing and Free Distribution for Books, CD, DVD ''. Retrieved January 15, 2016. Jump up ^ Harris, Craig ; Cook, John ( 2007 - 08 - 01 ). `` Amazon starts grocery delivery service ''. Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved 2008 - 11 - 26. Jump up ^ Amazon.com Launches Public Beta of Amazon MP3 Jump up ^ `` Here 's Why Amazon Bought Zappos ''. Mashable.com. Retrieved January 10, 2016. Jump up ^ Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg and Geoffrey A. Fowler ( October 20, 2009 ). `` B&N Reader Out Tuesday ''. The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on October 21, 2009. Retrieved October 20, 2009. Jump up ^ `` Apple introduces iBooks store for iPad ''. Appleinsider.com. Retrieved January 17, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Amazon Says E-Books Now Top Hardcover Sales ''. The New York Times. July 19, 2010. Retrieved January 17, 2016. Jump up ^ Tim Bradshaw In London, Jonathan Birchall In New York ( January 20, 2011 ). `` Amazon acquires Lovefilm for £ 200m ''. Financial Times. Retrieved January 17, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Borders Closing : Why the Bookstore Chain Failed ''. Ibtimes.com. Retrieved January 15, 2016. Jump up ^ Christina Warren2011 - 02 - 22 12 : 45 : 05 UTC ( 2011 - 02 - 22 ). `` HANDS ON : Amazon 's Prime Instant Video ''. Mashable.com. Retrieved 2013 - 11 - 27. Jump up ^ `` Amazon Media Room : Press Releases ''. corporate-ir.net. Jump up ^ Amazon.com ( 2013 - 05 - 23 ). `` Developers Can Now Distribute Apps in Nearly 200 Countries Worldwide on Amazon - Amazon Mobile App Distribution Blog ''. Developer.amazon.com. Retrieved 2013 - 11 - 27. Jump up ^ `` California Becomes Seventh State to Adopt `` Amazon '' Tax on Out - of - State Online Sellers ``. Taxfoundation.org. Retrieved January 17, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Photos : A look at Amazon 's new delivery locker at 7 - Eleven - GeekWire ''. Geekwire.com. Retrieved January 15, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Amazon Unveils $199 Kindle Fire Tablet, Taking on Apple IPad - Bloomberg Business ''. Bloomberg.com. Retrieved January 17, 2016. Jump up ^ `` The Justice Department Just Made Jeff Bezos Dictator - for - Life - The Atlantic ''. Theatlantic.com. Retrieved January 15, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Amazon Acquires Kiva Systems in Second - Biggest Takeover - Bloomberg Business ''. Bloomberg.com. Retrieved January 10, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Documents : Amazon risking little in Texas sales tax deal ''. Statesman.com. Retrieved January 10, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Kobo Announces Their New E-Readers ''. Wired.com. Retrieved January 17, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Amazon Acquires Social Reading Site Goodreads, Which Gives The Company A Social Advantage Over Apple ''. TechCrunch. March 28, 2013. Retrieved March 29, 2013. Jump up ^ `` Amazon now in India - The Hindu ''. Thehindu.com. Retrieved January 17, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Amazon Invades India - Fortune ''. Fortune.com. Retrieved January 17, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Amazon 's Fire Phone to sell exclusively on AT&T for $199.99 starting July 25th ''. Theverge.com. Retrieved January 17, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Amazon acquires Twitch : World 's largest e-tailer buys largest gameplay - livestreaming site ''. Venturebeat.com. Retrieved January 17, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Amazon Closes Multi-Year Deal With Simon & Schuster - Business Insider ''. Businessinsider.com. Retrieved January 15, 2016. Jump up ^ Stone, Brad ; Soper, Spencer ( 2014 - 11 - 06 ). `` Amazon Unveils a Listening, Talking, Music - Playing Speaker for Your Home ''. Bloomberg Businessweek. Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved 2014 - 11 - 07. Jump up ^ `` Amazon Echo is now available for everyone to buy for $179.99, shipments start on July 14 ''. Android Central. Jump up ^ `` Amazon Unbundles Alexa Virtual Assistant From Echo With New Dev Tools ''. TechCrunch. AOL. 25 June 2015. Jump up ^ `` Amazon and Hachette have finally resolved their bitter dispute ''. The Verge. November 13, 2014. Retrieved January 15, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Alibaba $1 Billion Dollar Cloud Investment - International Competition Mounting '' ``. Cloudtweaks.com. Retrieved January 17, 2016. Jump up ^ Dillet, Romain ( August 26, 2015 ). `` Amazon Underground Features An Android App Store Focused On `` Actually Free '' Apps ``. TechCrunch. Retrieved April 26, 2016. Jump up ^ Singleton, Micah ( August 26, 2015 ). `` Amazon launches Underground to promote free apps and games. The Free App of the Day program has also come to a close ''. The Verge. Retrieved April 26, 2016. Jump up ^ Barrett, Brian ( August 29, 2015 ). `` Has Amazon Cracked the Problem With In - App Payments ? ''. Wired Magazine. Retrieved April 26, 2016. Jump up ^ Duryee, Tricia ( September 8, 2015 ). `` Amazon confirms Prime Now restaurant delivery launch in Seattle area, hints at broader rollout ''. GeekWire. Retrieved December 21, 2016. Jump up ^ Jennings, Lisa ( September 8, 2015 ). `` Amazon launches restaurant delivery in Seattle. Service is available to Amazon Prime Now customers only ''. Nation 's Restaurant News. Retrieved December 21, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Amazon is opening its first physical bookstore today ''. The Verge. November 2, 2015. Retrieved January 17, 2016. Jump up ^ Greene, Jay ( December 14, 2015 ). `` Workers move in to the first of Amazon 's downtown towers ''. The Seattle Times. Retrieved January 17, 2016. Jump up ^ Reisinger, Don ( December 14, 2016 ). `` Watch Amazon 's Prime Air Complete Its First Drone Delivery ''. Fortune Magazine. Retrieved December 21, 2016. Jump up ^ Fierberg, Emma ( December 14, 2016 ). `` Watch Amazon make its first drone delivery ''. Business Insider. Retrieved December 21, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Amazon to Acquire Whole Foods for $13.7 Billion ''. Bloomberg.com. 2017 - 06 - 16. Retrieved 2017 - 06 - 19. Jump up ^ `` Amazon HQ2 ''. Retrieved September 14, 2017. Jump up ^ `` 8 cities fit for Amazon 's second headquarters ''. CNN. September 11, 2017. Retrieved September 14, 2017. 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Amazon.com, Inc. Statistically improbable phrase Vine List of Amazon.com locations List of mergers and acquisitions by Amazon.com List of Amazon.com products and services LibraryThing Technology company timelines Amazon.com Amazon Web Services Dropbox Facebook LinkedIn Lyft Microsoft Netflix Nortel PayPal Pinterest Reddit Snapchat Square Instagram Intel Twitch.tv Twitter Uber WhatsApp Xiaomi Yahoo ! Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Timeline_of_Amazon.com&oldid=800978622 '' Categories : Technology company timelines Amazon.com Hidden categories : CS1 Chinese - language sources ( zh ) Talk Contents About Wikipedia Add links This page was last edited on 16 September 2017, at 22 : 43. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. 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Question: when did amazon start selling things other than books
Answer: 1998