Over seven years, Amazon has grown Prime selection by 15 times from one million to 15 million; added Kindle Owners’ Lending Library with over 180,000 books available to borrow for free; and introduced Prime Instant Video with over 22,000 movies and TV episodes available for instant unlimited streaming – all without changing the price – still only $79 per year

Kindle Fire owners receive one free month of Prime with the purchase of their device

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 27, 2012-- (NASDAQ:AMZN) – In 2005, Amazon launched Amazon Prime, offering customers all-you-can-eat Free Two-Day Shipping on one million items for only $79 per year. Since that time, Amazon has significantly increased the benefits of Prime – adding over 14 million eligible items to reach over 15 million; introducing Prime Instant Video, growing the number of movies and TV episodes from 5,000 at launch to over 22,000; and adding the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, which started with 5,000 books to borrow for free with no due dates and now includes over 180,000 books. With all these new benefits, the price of Prime remains just $79. Today, Amazon announced that it now ships more items with Prime Free Two-Day Shipping than with Free Super Saver Shipping – the program Amazon launched in 2002 that offers free shipping on orders over $25.

“Since Amazon launched in 1995, we’ve been focused on growing selection for our customers. Following the introduction of Amazon Prime in 2005, we’ve worked hard to grow Prime selection as well. We’re incredibly proud to be able to offer more than 15 million Prime items today. We’ve also grown the Prime Instant Video library to more than 22,000 movies and TV episodes, all with unlimited streaming, and Prime members can borrow more than 180,000 books for free, with no due dates, using the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library – that’s up from roughly 5,000 when the program launched less than a year ago,” said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon. “Even seven years later, the price of Prime remains unchanged at $79 a year. Amazon Prime is the best bargain in the history of shopping, and it’s going to keep getting better.”

Amazon Prime Facts:

  • The top two items purchased with Prime Free Two-Day Shipping this year so far are the Kindle Fire and the $79 Kindle. Kindle Touch is number three and “Fifty Shades of Gray: Book One” is number four.
  • Amazon Prime now features more than 15 million unique items, all with Prime Free Two-Day Shipping.
  • Amazon Prime members could order 500 different items with Prime Free Two-Day Shipping every day of their lives and still not order every Prime item.
  • In a given week, 96.4 percent of the Prime Instant Video catalog is viewed.
  • The number of titles available for unlimited streaming through Prime Instant Video has increased from roughly 5,000 titles at launch to over 22,000 today. Just this year alone, the title count has grown from 13,000 to over 22,000, an increase of 70 percent.
  • In addition to hundreds of compatible TVs and Blu-ray players, you can now watch Prime Instant Video on Kindle Fire, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and iPad.
  • The number of titles available through the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library has increased from roughly 5,000 at launch, less than one year ago, to over 180,000 today.
  • The most watched TV show available through Prime Instant Video is Downton Abbey Season 1.
  • The most watched movie available through Prime Instant Video is The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (English Subtitled).
  • All seven Harry Potter titles are now available to check out, for free, with no due dates through the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library.
  • The most borrowed title in the history of Kindle Owners’ Lending Library is The Hunger Games.

“I'm a long-time Amazon customer and when they came up with Prime a few years ago I jumped on it! With Amazon Prime, in many cases I can have something delivered to my doorstep faster than I can find time to go shopping for it. Now with all the other benefits, such as free borrowing of Kindle books and watching instant videos, it has become an even better value.” – Bill Ebersohl, Amazon Prime Member since 2005

“I've been a member of the Amazon Prime program since it launched and I find it a valuable savings for my purchases through Amazon. It especially pays for itself during my holiday shopping...It is a great value for your money to have a membership and I recommend it to everyone!” – John Kelch, Amazon Prime Member since 2005

“We signed up for Prime as soon as it became available, because we immediately saw the value and convenience we would get from it. The fact that the yearly fee for Prime has not increased in seven years is even better, especially when members now get more perks with instant streaming of movies and TV programs and the ebook lending library.” – Mollie Mondoux, Amazon Prime Member since 2005

About Prime

Amazon Prime is an annual membership program for $79 a year that offers customers unlimited Free Two-Day Shipping on millions of items including books, home and garden products, electronics, video games, clothing, and much more. Amazon Prime members also get access to unlimited instant streaming of thousands of movies and TV episodes and access to tens of thousands of books to borrow for free, as frequently as a book a month, with no due dates from a Kindle device. Customers who receive free Prime shipping benefits through our Amazon Student or Amazon Mom programs can upgrade to an annual paid membership to receive Amazon Prime’s digital benefits. Kindle Fire owners receive one free month of Prime with the purchase of their device if they have not received Prime benefits in the past.

About Amazon.com

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle, opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth’s Biggest Selection. Amazon.com, Inc. seeks to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and other sellers offer millions of unique new, refurbished and used items in categories such as Books; Movies, Music & Games; Digital Downloads; Electronics & Computers; Home & Garden; Toys, Kids & Baby; Grocery; Apparel, Shoes & Jewelry; Health & Beauty; Sports & Outdoors; and Tools, Auto & Industrial. Amazon Web Services provides Amazon’s developer customers with access to in-the-cloud infrastructure services based on Amazon’s own back-end technology platform, which developers can use to enable virtually any type of business. The new latest generation Kindle is the lightest, most compact Kindle ever and features the same 6-inch, most advanced electronic ink display that reads like real paper even in bright sunlight. Kindle Touch is a new addition to the Kindle family with an easy-to-use touch screen that makes it easier than ever to turn pages, search, shop, and take notes – still with all the benefits of the most advanced electronic ink display. Kindle Touch 3G is the top of the line e-reader and offers the same new design and features of Kindle Touch, with the unparalleled added convenience of free 3G. Kindle Fire is the Kindle for movies, TV shows, music, books, magazines, apps, games and web browsing with all the content, free storage in the Amazon Cloud, Whispersync, Amazon Silk (Amazon’s new revolutionary cloud-accelerated web browser), vibrant color touch screen, and powerful dual-core processor.

Amazon and its affiliates operate websites, including www.amazon.com, www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de, www.amazon.co.jp, www.amazon.fr, www.amazon.ca, www.amazon.cn, www.amazon.it, and www.amazon.es. As used herein, “Amazon.com,” “we,” “our” and similar terms include Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise.

Forward-Looking Statements

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. Actual results may differ significantly from management's expectations. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, risks related to competition, management of growth, new products, services and technologies, potential fluctuations in operating results, international expansion, outcomes of legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment center optimization, seasonality, commercial agreements, acquisitions and strategic transactions, foreign exchange rates, system interruption, inventory, government regulation and taxation, payments and fraud. 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 most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings.

Source: Amazon.com, Inc.

Amazon.com, Inc.
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