SEATTLE & BERKELEY, Calif.— October 4, 2000—Leading online retailer Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) today launched its new Camera & Photo store (www.amazon.com/photo) and announced an alliance with Ofoto, Inc., a premiere online photography service. A one-stop solution for all photo needs, the new store provides a full range of photo-related products and innovative online photo services for both digital and film camera users.
The Amazon Camera & Photo store will help customers find and discover the right cameras, optical gear, and accessories. Customers can browse product categories such as digital cameras, film cameras, camcorders, printers and scanners, binoculars and telescopes, frames and albums, and photo books. In addition, customers can shop for accessories including digital memory cards, film, batteries, cases and bags, lenses and filters, tripods, and photo editing software.
Beyond products and expert information, Amazon.com Photo Services, provided by Ofoto, will offer premium online photo processing. Through Amazon.com Photo Services, customers can get high-quality prints delivered straight to their door for both digital and film images. And with a few clicks of the mouse, customers can store their digital or film photographs online, organize and enhance them in online photo albums, and share the albums with friends and family. Customers can even preview their photos online in a wide selection of frames before buying just the right framed photo.
“We're thrilled to be such an integral part of Amazon.com's new Camera & Photo store. This is the first time that a leading online retailer and the leading online photo service have been so tightly linked together,” said James Joaquin, president and CEO of Ofoto, Inc. “It's a huge win for Amazon.com's more than 23 million customers to have access to the very best photo equipment, premiere content, and high-quality photography services all in one place.”
“Whether you take the occasional snapshot or are an avid shutterbug, the Amazon Camera & Photo store will have something for you,” said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. “Where else can you find everything from a pocket-sized Lomo Soviet spy camera to a fisheye lens to fuzzy cow frames with hooves?”
Cameras have been a very popular product category since Amazon.com launched the Electronics store last year. In fact, two digital cameras made Amazon.com's list of top 10 sales volume items for all retail stores in holiday 1999.
The Amazon Camera & Photo store will offer the same helpful information and expertise of other Amazon.com stores: detailed product information and specifications, customer reviews, expert editor reviews, tips from renowned photographers such as Art Wolfe, product comparison tools, and buying guides to help customers find the right products.
About Ofoto, Inc.
Founded in July 1999, Ofoto, Inc., (www.ofoto.com) is the premier online photography service offering a way for millions of people to use the Internet to transform photography into the fastest, easiest and most enjoyable experience possible. Ofoto delivers a world-class service to its customers and partners by providing secure online photo storage, film and digital processing, the highest quality silver-halide prints, and photo display and storage merchandise. Ofoto online photography services are available from www.ofoto.com or through the Ofoto partner sites, including Amazon.com, Corbis, Excite@Home, Getty Images, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, PhotosToGo and Sony. A team of fotogenic business veterans run Ofoto, Inc., with experience from companies such as America Online, Apple Computer, Critical Path, CyberCash, Williams-Sonoma, Polaroid and StarMedia. Ofoto is privately funded by The Barksdale Group, Benchmark Capital Partners and a small group of nearly angelic investors.
About Amazon.com
Amazon.com (Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries) is the Internet's No. 1 music, No. 1 DVD and video, and No. 1 book retailer. Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) opened its virtual doors on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth's Biggest Selection, along with online auctions and free electronic greeting cards. Amazon.com seeks to be the world's most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online. Amazon.com lists more than 18 million unique items in categories including books, CDs, toys, electronics, videos, DVDs, tools and hardware, lawn and patio items, kitchen products, software, and video games. Through Amazon.com zShops, any business or individual can sell virtually anything to Amazon.com's more than 23 million customers, and with Amazon.com Payments, sellers can accept credit card transactions, avoiding the hassles of offline payments. The company also participates in sothebys.amazon.com, the leading auction site for guaranteed art, jewelry and collectibles, at www.sothebys.amazon.com.
Amazon.com operates three international Web sites: www.amazon.fr, www.amazon.co.uk and www.amazon.de. It also operates the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com), the Web's comprehensive and authoritative source of information on more than 220,000 movies and entertainment programs and 800,000 cast and crew members dating from the birth of film in 1892 to 2003.
Amazon Anywhere is the leader in mobile e-commerce, providing access from anywhere in the world to Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.de on personal digital assistants (PDAs) and through handheld wireless Internet devices that use HDML or the Wireless Application Protocol.
Amazon.com has invested in leading Internet retailers that are improving the lives of customers by making shopping easier and more convenient: Greenlight.com, the only company that offers car buyers the control of auto purchasing online with ongoing service and support from local dealerships, at www.greenlight.com; drugstore.com, an online retail and information source for health, beauty, wellness, personal care and pharmacy, at www.drugstore.com; Pets.com, the online leader for pet products, expert information, and services, at www.pets.com; Gear.com, which offers brand-name sporting goods at prices from 20 to 90 percent off retail, at www.gear.com; Ashford.com, the leading Internet retailer of luxury and premium products and the Web's No. 1 retailer of watches and jewelry, at www.ashford.com; Audible, Inc., the leader in Internet-delivered spoken audio for PC-based listening or playback on AudibleReady portable digital audio devices, at www.audible.com; and eZiba.com, a leading online retailer of handcrafted products from around the world, at www.eziba.com.
Amazon.com also has a minority interest in NextCard, Inc., considered the industry's leading issuer of consumer credit on the Internet, at www.nextcard.com; and Kozmo.com, the world's leading “e-mmediate” Internet-to-door delivery service, at www.kozmo.com.
This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, Amazon.com's limited operating history, anticipated losses, significant amount of indebtedness, unpredictability of future revenues, potential fluctuations in quarterly operating results, seasonality, consumer trends, competition, risk of distribution center expansion, risks related to fourth quarter performance, risks of system interruption, management of potential growth, inventory risks, risks related to auction and zShops services, risks related to fraud and Amazon.com Payments, and risks of new business areas, international expansion, business combinations, strategic alliances and the Amazon Commerce Network. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com's financial results is included in Amazon.com's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1999, and its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2000, and June 30, 2000.