Consolidated Statements Of Operations - USD ($) shares in Millions, $ in Millions |
12 Months Ended | ||
|---|---|---|---|
Dec. 31, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
Dec. 31, 2017 |
|
| Total net sales | $ 280,522 | $ 232,887 | $ 177,866 |
| Operating expenses: | |||
| Cost of sales | 165,536 | 139,156 | 111,934 |
| Fulfillment | 40,232 | 34,027 | 25,249 |
| Technology and content | 35,931 | 28,837 | 22,620 |
| Marketing | 18,878 | 13,814 | 10,069 |
| General and administrative | 5,203 | 4,336 | 3,674 |
| Other operating expense (income), net | 201 | 296 | 214 |
| Total operating expenses | 265,981 | 220,466 | 173,760 |
| Operating income | 14,541 | 12,421 | 4,106 |
| Interest income | 832 | 440 | 202 |
| Interest expense | (1,600) | (1,417) | (848) |
| Other income (expense), net | 203 | (183) | 346 |
| Total non-operating income (expense) | (565) | (1,160) | (300) |
| Income before income taxes | 13,976 | 11,261 | 3,806 |
| Provision for income taxes | (2,374) | (1,197) | (769) |
| Equity-method investment activity, net of tax | (14) | 9 | (4) |
| Net income | $ 11,588 | $ 10,073 | $ 3,033 |
| Basic earnings per share | $ 23.46 | $ 20.68 | $ 6.32 |
| Diluted earnings per share | $ 23.01 | $ 20.14 | $ 6.15 |
| Weighted-average shares used in computation of earnings per share: | |||
| Basic (in shares) | 494 | 487 | 480 |
| Diluted (in shares) | 504 | 500 | 493 |
| Net product sales | |||
| Total net sales | $ 160,408 | $ 141,915 | $ 118,573 |
| Net service sales | |||
| Total net sales | $ 120,114 | $ 90,972 | $ 59,293 |
Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Parenthetical) - USD ($) $ in Millions |
12 Months Ended | ||
|---|---|---|---|
Dec. 31, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
Dec. 31, 2017 |
|
| Statement of Comprehensive Income [Abstract] | |||
| Foreign currency translation adjustments, tax | $ (5) | $ 6 | $ 5 |
| Reclassification adjustment for foreign currency translation included in “Other operating expense (income), net,” tax | 29 | 0 | 0 |
| Unrealized gains (losses), tax | (12) | 0 | 5 |
| Reclassification adjustment for losses (gains) included in other income (expense), net, tax | $ 0 | $ 0 | $ 0 |
Consolidated Balance Sheets (Parenthetical) - $ / shares |
Dec. 31, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
|---|---|---|
| Statement of Financial Position [Abstract] | ||
| Preferred stock, par value (in usd per share) | $ 0.01 | $ 0.01 |
| Preferred stock, authorized shares | 500,000,000 | 500,000,000 |
| Preferred stock, issued shares | 0 | 0 |
| Preferred stock, outstanding shares | 0 | 0 |
| Common stock, par value (in usd per share) | $ 0.01 | $ 0.01 |
| Common stock, authorized shares | 5,000,000,000 | 5,000,000,000 |
| Common stock, issued shares | 521,000,000 | 514,000,000 |
| Common stock, outstanding shares | 498,000,000 | 491,000,000 |
Description of Business and Accounting Policies |
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| Accounting Policies [Abstract] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Description of Business and Accounting Policies | DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS AND ACCOUNTING POLICIES Description of Business We seek to be Earth’s most customer-centric company. In each of our segments, we serve our primary customer sets, consisting of consumers, sellers, developers, enterprises, and content creators. We serve consumers through our online and physical stores and focus on selection, price, and convenience. We offer programs that enable sellers to sell their products in our stores and fulfill orders through us, and programs that allow authors, musicians, filmmakers, skill and app developers, and others to publish and sell content. We serve developers and enterprises of all sizes through our AWS segment, which offers a broad set of global compute, storage, database, and other service offerings. We also manufacture and sell electronic devices. In addition, we provide services, such as advertising to sellers, vendors, publishers, and authors, through programs such as sponsored ads, display, and video advertising. We have organized our operations into three segments: North America, International, and AWS. See “Note 10 — Segment Information.” Prior Period Reclassifications Certain prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current period presentation, including the addition of restricted cash to cash and cash equivalents on our consolidated statements of cash flows and the reclassification of long-term capital lease obligations that existed at December 31, 2018 from “Other long-term liabilities” to “Long-term lease liabilities” within the consolidated balance sheets, as a result of the adoption of new accounting guidance. See “Accounting Pronouncements Recently Adopted.” Principles of Consolidation The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Amazon.com, Inc. and its consolidated entities (collectively, the “Company”), consisting of its wholly-owned subsidiaries and those entities in which we have a variable interest and of which we are the primary beneficiary, including certain entities in India and certain entities that support our seller lending financing activities. Intercompany balances and transactions between consolidated entities are eliminated. The financial results of Whole Foods Market, Inc. (“Whole Foods Market”) have been included in our consolidated financial statements from the date of acquisition on August 28, 2017. Use of Estimates The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, revenues and expenses, and related disclosures of contingent liabilities in the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. Estimates are used for, but not limited to, income taxes, useful lives of equipment, commitments and contingencies, valuation of acquired intangibles and goodwill, stock-based compensation forfeiture rates, vendor funding, and inventory valuation. Actual results could differ materially from those estimates. For example, in Q4 2019 we completed a useful life study for our servers and are increasing the useful life from three years to four years for servers in January 2020, which, based on servers that are included in “Property and equipment, net” as of December 31, 2019, will have an anticipated impact to our 2020 operating income of $2.3 billion. Earnings per Share Basic earnings per share is calculated using our weighted-average outstanding common shares. Diluted earnings per share is calculated using our weighted-average outstanding common shares including the dilutive effect of stock awards as determined under the treasury stock method. In periods when we have a net loss, stock awards are excluded from our calculation of earnings per share as their inclusion would have an antidilutive effect. The following table shows the calculation of diluted shares (in millions):
Revenue Revenue is measured based on the amount of consideration that we expect to receive, reduced by estimates for return allowances, promotional discounts, and rebates. Revenue also excludes any amounts collected on behalf of third parties, including sales and indirect taxes. In arrangements where we have multiple performance obligations, the transaction price is allocated to each performance obligation using the relative stand-alone selling price. We generally determine stand-alone selling prices based on the prices charged to customers or using expected cost plus a margin. A description of our principal revenue generating activities is as follows: Retail sales - We offer consumer products through our online and physical stores. Revenue is recognized when control of the goods is transferred to the customer, which generally occurs upon our delivery to a third-party carrier or, in the case of an Amazon delivery, to the customer. Third-party seller services - We offer programs that enable sellers to sell their products in our stores, and fulfill orders through us. We are not the seller of record in these transactions. The commissions and any related fulfillment and shipping fees we earn from these arrangements are recognized when the services are rendered, which generally occurs upon delivery of the related products to a third-party carrier or, in the case of an Amazon delivery, to the customer. Subscription services - Our subscription sales include fees associated with Amazon Prime memberships and access to content including audiobooks, digital video, digital music, e-books, and other non-AWS subscription services. Prime memberships provide our customers with access to an evolving suite of benefits that represent a single stand-ready obligation. Subscriptions are paid for at the time of or in advance of delivering the services. Revenue from such arrangements is recognized over the subscription period. AWS - Our AWS arrangements include global sales of compute, storage, database, and other services. Revenue is allocated to services using stand-alone selling prices and is primarily recognized when the customer uses these services, based on the quantity of services rendered, such as compute or storage capacity delivered on-demand. Certain services, including compute and database, are also offered as a fixed quantity over a specified term, for which revenue is recognized ratably. Sales commissions we pay in connection with contracts that exceed one year are capitalized and amortized over the contract term. Other - Other revenue primarily includes sales of advertising services, which are recognized as ads are delivered based on the number of clicks or impressions. Return Allowances Return allowances, which reduce revenue and cost of sales, are estimated using historical experience. Liabilities for return allowances are included in “Accrued expenses and other” and were $468 million, $623 million, and $712 million as of December 31, 2017, 2018, and 2019. Additions to the allowance were $1.8 billion, $2.3 billion, and $2.5 billion and deductions from the allowance were $1.9 billion, $2.3 billion, and $2.5 billion in 2017, 2018, and 2019. Included in “Inventories” on our consolidated balance sheets are assets totaling $406 million, $519 million, and $629 million as of December 31, 2017, 2018, and 2019, for the rights to recover products from customers associated with our liabilities for return allowances. Cost of Sales Cost of sales primarily consists of the purchase price of consumer products, inbound and outbound shipping costs, including costs related to sortation and delivery centers and where we are the transportation service provider, and digital media content costs where we record revenue gross, including video and music. Shipping costs to receive products from our suppliers are included in our inventory, and recognized as cost of sales upon sale of products to our customers. Payment processing and related transaction costs, including those associated with seller transactions, are classified in “Fulfillment” on our consolidated statements of operations. Vendor Agreements We have agreements with our vendors to receive funds primarily for cooperative marketing efforts, promotions, incentives, and volume rebates. We generally consider these amounts received from vendors to be a reduction of the prices we pay for their goods, including property and equipment, or services, and are recorded as a reduction of the cost of inventory, cost of services, or cost of property and equipment. Volume rebates typically depend on reaching minimum purchase thresholds. We evaluate the likelihood of reaching purchase thresholds using past experience and current year forecasts. When volume rebates can be reasonably estimated, we record a portion of the rebate as we make progress towards the purchase threshold. Fulfillment Fulfillment costs primarily consist of those costs incurred in operating and staffing our North America and International segments’ fulfillment centers, physical stores, and customer service centers, including costs attributable to buying, receiving, inspecting, and warehousing inventories; picking, packaging, and preparing customer orders for shipment; payment processing and related transaction costs, including costs associated with our guarantee for certain seller transactions; responding to inquiries from customers; and supply chain management for our manufactured electronic devices. Fulfillment costs also include amounts paid to third parties that assist us in fulfillment and customer service operations. Technology and Content Technology and content costs include payroll and related expenses for employees involved in the research and development of new and existing products and services, development, design, and maintenance of our stores, curation and display of products and services made available in our online stores, and infrastructure costs. Infrastructure costs include servers, networking equipment, and data center related depreciation and amortization, rent, utilities, and other expenses necessary to support AWS and other Amazon businesses. Collectively, these costs reflect the investments we make in order to offer a wide variety of products and services to our customers. Technology and content costs are generally expensed as incurred. Marketing Marketing costs primarily consist of advertising and payroll and related expenses for personnel engaged in marketing and selling activities, including sales commissions related to AWS. We pay commissions to third parties when their customer referrals result in sales. We also participate in cooperative advertising arrangements with certain of our vendors, and other third parties. Advertising and other promotional costs to market our products and services are expensed as incurred and were $6.3 billion, $8.2 billion, and $11.0 billion in 2017, 2018, and 2019. General and Administrative General and administrative expenses primarily consist of costs for corporate functions, including payroll and related expenses; facilities and equipment expenses, such as depreciation and amortization expense and rent; and professional fees and litigation costs. Stock-Based Compensation Compensation cost for all stock awards expected to vest is measured at fair value on the date of grant and recognized over the service period. The fair value of restricted stock units is determined based on the number of shares granted and the quoted price of our common stock. Such value is recognized as expense over the service period, net of estimated forfeitures, using the accelerated method. The estimated number of stock awards that will ultimately vest requires judgment, and to the extent actual results or updated estimates differ from our current estimates, such amounts will be recorded as a cumulative adjustment in the period estimates are revised. We consider many factors when estimating expected forfeitures, including historical forfeiture experience and employee level. Other Operating Expense (Income), Net Other operating expense (income), net, consists primarily of marketing-related, contract-based, and customer-related intangible asset amortization expense, and expenses related to legal settlements. Other Income (Expense), Net Other income (expense), net, consists primarily of adjustments to and gains on equity securities of $18 million, $145 million, and $231 million in 2017, 2018, and 2019, equity warrant valuation gains (losses) of $109 million, $(131) million, and $11 million in 2017, 2018, and 2019, and foreign currency gains (losses) of $247 million, $(206) million, and $(20) million in 2017, 2018, and 2019. Income Taxes Income tax expense includes U.S. (federal and state) and foreign income taxes. Certain foreign subsidiary earnings are subject to U.S. taxation under the U.S. Tax Act, which also repeals U.S. taxation on the subsequent repatriation of those earnings. We intend to invest substantially all of our foreign subsidiary earnings, as well as our capital in our foreign subsidiaries, indefinitely outside of the U.S. in those jurisdictions in which we would incur significant, additional costs upon repatriation of such amounts. Deferred income tax balances reflect the effects of temporary differences between the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities and their tax bases and are stated at enacted tax rates expected to be in effect when taxes are actually paid or recovered. Deferred tax assets are evaluated for future realization and reduced by a valuation allowance to the extent we believe they will not be realized. We consider many factors when assessing the likelihood of future realization of our deferred tax assets, including our recent cumulative loss experience and expectations of future earnings, capital gains and investment in such jurisdiction, the carry-forward periods available to us for tax reporting purposes, and other relevant factors. We utilize a two-step approach to recognizing and measuring uncertain income tax positions (tax contingencies). The first step is to evaluate the tax position for recognition by determining if the weight of available evidence indicates it is more likely than not the position will be sustained on audit, including resolution of related appeals or litigation processes. The second step is to measure the tax benefit as the largest amount which is more than 50% likely of being realized upon ultimate settlement. We consider many factors when evaluating our tax positions and estimating our tax benefits, which may require periodic adjustments and which may not accurately forecast actual outcomes. We include interest and penalties related to our tax contingencies in income tax expense. Fair Value of Financial Instruments Fair value is defined as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. To increase the comparability of fair value measures, the following hierarchy prioritizes the inputs to valuation methodologies used to measure fair value: Level 1 — Valuations based on quoted prices for identical assets and liabilities in active markets. Level 2 — Valuations based on observable inputs other than quoted prices included in Level 1, such as quoted prices for similar assets and liabilities in active markets, quoted prices for identical or similar assets and liabilities in markets that are not active, or other inputs that are observable or can be corroborated by observable market data. Level 3 — Valuations based on unobservable inputs reflecting our own assumptions, consistent with reasonably available assumptions made by other market participants. These valuations require significant judgment. For our cash, cash equivalents, or marketable securities, we measure the fair value of money market funds and certain marketable equity securities based on quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities. Other marketable securities were valued either based on recent trades of securities in inactive markets or based on quoted market prices of similar instruments and other significant inputs derived from or corroborated by observable market data. We did not hold significant amounts of cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash, or marketable securities categorized as Level 3 assets as of December 31, 2018 and 2019. We hold equity warrants giving us the right to acquire stock of other companies. As of December 31, 2018 and 2019, these warrants had a fair value of $440 million and $669 million, and are recorded within “Other assets” on our consolidated balance sheets. These assets are primarily classified as Level 2 assets. Cash and Cash Equivalents We classify all highly liquid instruments with an original maturity of three months or less as cash equivalents. Inventories Inventories, consisting of products available for sale, are primarily accounted for using the first-in, first-out method, and are valued at the lower of cost and net realizable value. This valuation requires us to make judgments, based on currently available information, about the likely method of disposition, such as through sales to individual customers, returns to product vendors, or liquidations, and expected recoverable values of each disposition category. We provide Fulfillment by Amazon services in connection with certain of our sellers’ programs. Third-party sellers maintain ownership of their inventory, regardless of whether fulfillment is provided by us or the third-party sellers, and therefore these products are not included in our inventories. We also purchase electronic device components from a variety of suppliers and use several contract manufacturers to provide manufacturing services for our products. During the normal course of business, in order to manage manufacturing lead times and help ensure adequate supply, we enter into agreements with contract manufacturers and suppliers for certain electronic device components. A portion of our reported purchase commitments arising from these agreements consists of firm, non-cancellable commitments. These commitments are based on forecasted customer demand. If we reduce these commitments, we may incur additional costs. We also have firm, non-cancellable commitments for certain products offered in our Whole Foods Market stores. Accounts Receivable, Net and Other Included in “Accounts receivable, net and other” on our consolidated balance sheets are amounts primarily related to customers, vendors, and sellers. As of December 31, 2018 and 2019, customer receivables, net, were $9.4 billion and $12.6 billion, vendor receivables, net, were $3.2 billion and $4.2 billion, and seller receivables, net, were $710 million and $863 million. Seller receivables are amounts due from sellers related to our seller lending program, which provides funding to sellers primarily to procure inventory. We estimate losses on receivables based on known troubled accounts and historical experience of losses incurred. Receivables are considered impaired and written-off when it is probable that all contractual payments due will not be collected in accordance with the terms of the agreement. The allowance for doubtful accounts was $348 million, $495 million, and $718 million as of December 31, 2017, 2018, and 2019. Additions to the allowance were $626 million, $878 million, and $1.0 billion, and deductions to the allowance were $515 million, $731 million, and $793 million in 2017, 2018, and 2019. Software Development Costs We incur software development costs related to products to be sold, leased, or marketed to external users, internal-use software, and our websites. Software development costs capitalized were not significant for the years presented. All other costs, including those related to design or maintenance, are expensed as incurred. Property and Equipment, Net Property and equipment are stated at cost less accumulated depreciation and amortization. Incentives that we receive from property and equipment vendors are recorded as a reduction in our costs. Property includes buildings and land that we own, along with property we have acquired under build-to-suit lease arrangements when we have control over the building during the construction period and finance lease arrangements. Equipment includes assets such as servers and networking equipment, heavy equipment, and other fulfillment equipment. Depreciation and amortization is recorded on a straight-line basis over the estimated useful lives of the assets (generally the lesser of 40 years or the remaining life of the underlying building, three years for our servers, five years for networking equipment, ten years for heavy equipment, and three to seven years for other fulfillment equipment). Depreciation and amortization expense is classified within the corresponding operating expense categories on our consolidated statements of operations. Leases We categorize leases with contractual terms longer than twelve months as either operating or finance. Finance leases are generally those leases that allow us to substantially utilize or pay for the entire asset over its estimated life. Assets acquired under finance leases are recorded in property and equipment, net. All other leases are categorized as operating leases. Our leases generally have terms that range from one to ten years for equipment and one to twenty years for property. Certain lease contracts include obligations to pay for other services, such as operations and maintenance. For leases of property, we account for these other services as a component of the lease. For substantially all other leases, the services are accounted for separately and we allocate payments to the lease and other services components based on estimated stand-alone prices. Lease liabilities are recognized at the present value of the fixed lease payments, reduced by landlord incentives using a discount rate based on similarly secured borrowings available to us. Lease assets are recognized based on the initial present value of the fixed lease payments, reduced by landlord incentives, plus any direct costs from executing the leases or lease prepayments reclassified from “Other assets” upon lease commencement. Leasehold improvements are capitalized at cost and amortized over the lesser of their expected useful life or the lease term. When we have the option to extend the lease term, terminate the lease before the contractual expiration date, or purchase the leased asset, and it is reasonably certain that we will exercise the option, we consider these options in determining the classification and measurement of the lease. Our leases may include variable payments based on measures that include changes in price indices, market interest rates, or the level of sales at a physical store, which are expensed as incurred. Costs associated with operating lease assets are recognized on a straight-line basis within operating expenses over the term of the lease. Finance lease assets are amortized within operating expenses on a straight-line basis over the shorter of the estimated useful lives of the assets or, in the instance where title does not transfer at the end of the lease term, the lease term. The interest component of a finance lease is included in interest expense and recognized using the effective interest method over the lease term. We establish assets and liabilities for the present value of estimated future costs to retire long-lived assets at the termination or expiration of a lease. Such assets are depreciated over the lease period into operating expense, and the recorded liabilities are accreted to the future value of the estimated retirement costs. Financing Obligations We record assets and liabilities for estimated construction costs under build-to-suit lease arrangements when we have control over the building during the construction period. If we continue to control the building after the construction period, the arrangement is classified as a financing obligation instead of a lease. The building is depreciated over the shorter of its useful life or the term of the obligation. If we do not control the building after the construction period ends, the assets and liabilities for construction costs are derecognized, and we classify the lease as either operating or finance. Goodwill We evaluate goodwill for impairment annually or more frequently when an event occurs or circumstances change that indicate the carrying value may not be recoverable. In testing goodwill for impairment, we may elect to utilize a qualitative assessment to evaluate whether it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying amount. If our qualitative assessment indicates that goodwill impairment is more likely than not, we perform a two-step impairment test. We test goodwill for impairment under the two-step impairment test by first comparing the book value of net assets to the fair value of the reporting units. If the fair value is determined to be less than the book value or qualitative factors indicate that it is more likely than not that goodwill is impaired, a second step is performed to compute the amount of impairment as the difference between the estimated fair value of goodwill and the carrying value. We estimate the fair value of the reporting units using discounted cash flows. Forecasts of future cash flows are based on our best estimate of future net sales and operating expenses, based primarily on expected category expansion, pricing, market segment share, and general economic conditions. We completed the required annual testing of goodwill for impairment for all reporting units as of April 1, 2019, and determined that goodwill is not impaired as the fair value of our reporting units substantially exceeded their book value. There were no events that caused us to update our annual impairment test. See “Note 5 — Acquisitions, Goodwill, and Acquired Intangible Assets.” Other Assets Included in “Other assets” on our consolidated balance sheets are amounts primarily related to acquired intangible assets, net of accumulated amortization; video and music content, net of accumulated amortization; long-term deferred tax assets; certain equity investments; marketable securities restricted for longer than one year, the majority of which are attributable to collateralization of bank guarantees and debt related to our international operations; lease prepayments made prior to lease commencement; and equity warrant assets. Digital Video and Music Content We obtain video content, inclusive of episodic television and movies, and music content for customers through licensing agreements that have a wide range of licensing provisions including both fixed and variable payment schedules. When the license fee for a specific video or music title is determinable or reasonably estimable and the content is available to us, we recognize an asset and a corresponding liability for the amounts owed. We reduce the liability as payments are made and we amortize the asset to “Cost of sales” on an accelerated basis, based on estimated usage or viewing patterns, or on a straight-line basis. If the licensing fee is not determinable or reasonably estimable, no asset or liability is recorded and licensing costs are expensed as incurred. We also develop original video content for which the production costs are capitalized and amortized to “Cost of sales” predominantly on an accelerated basis that follows the viewing patterns associated with the content. The weighted average remaining life of our capitalized video content is 2.7 years. Our produced and licensed video content is primarily monetized together as a unit, referred to as a film group, in each major geography where we offer Amazon Prime memberships. These film groups are evaluated for impairment whenever an event occurs or circumstances change indicating the fair value is less than the carrying value. The total capitalized costs of video, which is primarily released content, and music as of December 31, 2018 and 2019 were $3.8 billion and $5.8 billion. Total video and music expense was $6.7 billion and $7.8 billion for the year ended December 31, 2018 and 2019. Total video and music expense includes licensing and production costs associated with content offered within Amazon Prime memberships, and costs associated with digital subscriptions and sold or rented content. Investments We generally invest our excess cash in AAA-rated money market funds and investment grade short- to intermediate-term fixed income securities. Such investments are included in “Cash and cash equivalents” or “Marketable securities” on the accompanying consolidated balance sheets. Marketable debt securities are classified as available-for-sale and reported at fair value with unrealized gains and losses included in “Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss).” Equity investments are accounted for using the equity method of accounting if the investment gives us the ability to exercise significant influence, but not control, over an investee. Equity-method investments are included within “Other assets” on our consolidated balance sheets. Our share of the earnings or losses as reported by equity-method investees, amortization of basis differences, and related gains or losses, if any, are classified as “Equity-method investment activity, net of tax” on our consolidated statements of operations. Equity investments without readily determinable fair values and for which we do not have the ability to exercise significant influence are accounted for at cost with adjustments for observable changes in prices or impairments and are classified as “Other assets” on our consolidated balance sheets with adjustments recognized in “Other income (expense), net” on our consolidated statements of operations. As of December 31, 2018 and 2019, these investments had a carrying value of $282 million and $1.5 billion. Equity investments that have readily determinable fair values are included in “Marketable securities” on our consolidated balance sheets and measured at fair value with changes recognized in “Other income (expense), net” on our consolidated statement of operations. We periodically evaluate whether declines in fair values of our investments indicate impairment. For debt securities and equity-method investments, we also evaluate whether declines in fair value of our investments below their book value are other-than-temporary. This evaluation consists of several qualitative and quantitative factors regarding the severity and duration of the unrealized loss as well as our ability and intent to hold the investment until a forecasted recovery occurs. Additionally, we assess whether we have plans to sell the security or it is more likely than not we will be required to sell any investment before recovery of its amortized cost basis. Factors considered include: quoted market prices; recent financial results and operating trends; implied values from any recent transactions or offers of investee securities; credit quality of debt instrument issuers; other publicly available information that may affect the value of our investments; duration and severity of the decline in value; and our strategy and intentions for holding the investment. Long-Lived Assets Long-lived assets, other than goodwill, are reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of the assets might not be recoverable. Conditions that would necessitate an impairment assessment include a significant decline in the observable market value of an asset, a significant change in the extent or manner in which an asset is used, or any other significant adverse change that would indicate that the carrying amount of an asset or group of assets may not be recoverable. For long-lived assets used in operations, including lease assets, impairment losses are only recorded if the asset’s carrying amount is not recoverable through its undiscounted, probability-weighted future cash flows. We measure the impairment loss based on the difference between the carrying amount and estimated fair value. Long-lived assets are considered held for sale when certain criteria are met, including when management has committed to a plan to sell the asset, the asset is available for sale in its immediate condition, and the sale is probable within one year of the reporting date. Assets held for sale are reported at the lower of cost or fair value less costs to sell. Assets held for sale were not significant as of December 31, 2018 and 2019. Accrued Expenses and Other Included in “Accrued expenses and other” on our consolidated balance sheets are liabilities primarily related to leases and asset retirement obligations, payroll and related expenses, unredeemed gift cards, customer liabilities, current debt, acquired digital media content, and other operating expenses. As of December 31, 2018 and 2019, our liabilities for payroll related expenses were $3.4 billion and $4.3 billion and our liabilities for unredeemed gift cards were $2.8 billion and $3.3 billion. We reduce the liability for a gift card when redeemed by a customer. The portion of gift cards that we do not expect to be redeemed is recognized based on customer usage patterns. Unearned Revenue Unearned revenue is recorded when payments are received or due in advance of performing our service obligations and is recognized over the service period. Unearned revenue primarily relates to prepayments of AWS services and Amazon Prime memberships. Our total unearned revenue as of December 31, 2018 was $7.9 billion, of which $6.3 billion was recognized as revenue during the year ended December 31, 2019 and our total unearned revenue as of December 31, 2019 was $10.2 billion. Included in “Other long-term liabilities” on our consolidated balance sheets was $1.4 billion and $2.0 billion of unearned revenue as of December 31, 2018 and 2019. Additionally, we have performance obligations, primarily related to AWS, associated with commitments in customer contracts for future services that have not yet been recognized in our financial statements. For contracts with original terms that exceed one year, those commitments not yet recognized were $29.8 billion as of December 31, 2019. The weighted average remaining life of our long-term contracts is 3.3 years. However, the amount and timing of revenue recognition is largely driven by customer usage, which can extend beyond the original contractual term. Other Long-Term Liabilities Included in “Other long-term liabilities” on our consolidated balance sheets are liabilities primarily related to deferred tax liabilities, financing obligations, asset retirement obligations, tax contingencies, and digital video and music content. Foreign Currency We have internationally-focused stores for which the net sales generated, as well as most of the related expenses directly incurred from those operations, are denominated in local functional currencies. The functional currency of our subsidiaries that either operate or support these stores is generally the same as the local currency. Assets and liabilities of these subsidiaries are translated into U.S. Dollars at period-end foreign exchange rates, and revenues and expenses are translated at average rates prevailing throughout the period. Translation adjustments are included in “Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss),” a separate component of stockholders’ equity, and in the “Foreign currency effect on cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash,” on our consolidated statements of cash flows. Transaction gains and losses including intercompany transactions denominated in a currency other than the functional currency of the entity involved are included in “Other income (expense), net” on our consolidated statements of operations. In connection with the settlement and remeasurement of intercompany balances, we recorded gains (losses) of $202 million, $(186) million, and $95 million in 2017, 2018, and 2019. Accounting Pronouncements Recently Adopted In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued an Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) amending revenue recognition guidance and requiring more detailed disclosures to enable users of financial statements to understand the nature, amount, timing, and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows arising from contracts with customers. We adopted this ASU on January 1, 2018 for all revenue contracts with our customers using the modified retrospective approach and increased retained earnings by approximately $650 million. The adjustment primarily relates to the unredeemed portion of our gift cards, which are now recognized over the expected customer usage period rather than waiting until gift cards expire or when the likelihood of redemption becomes remote. We changed the recognition and classification of Amazon Prime memberships, which are now accounted for as a single performance obligation and recognized ratably over the membership period as service sales. Previously, Prime memberships were considered to be arrangements with multiple deliverables and were allocated among product sales and service sales. Other changes relate primarily to the presentation of revenue. Certain advertising services are now classified as revenue rather than a reduction in cost of sales, and sales of apps, in-app content, and certain digital media content are presented on a net basis. Prior year amounts have not been adjusted and continue to be reported in accordance with our historic accounting policy. The impact of applying this ASU for the year ended December 31, 2018 primarily resulted in a decrease in product sales and an increase in service sales driven by the reclassification of Prime membership fees of approximately $3.8 billion. Service sales also increased by approximately $3.0 billion for the year ended December 31, 2018 due to the reclassification of certain advertising services. In January 2016, the FASB issued an ASU that updates certain aspects of recognition, measurement, presentation, and disclosure of financial instruments. Under this ASU, certain equity investments are measured at fair value with changes recognized in net income. We adopted this ASU in Q1 2018 with no material impact to our consolidated financial statements. In February 2016, the FASB issued an ASU amending the accounting for leases, primarily requiring the recognition of lease assets and liabilities for operating leases with terms of more than twelve months on our consolidated balance sheets. Under the new guidance, leases previously described as capital lease obligations and finance lease obligations are now referred to as finance leases and financing obligations, respectively. We adopted this ASU on January 1, 2019 by recording an immaterial cumulative adjustment to retained earnings rather than retrospectively adjusting prior periods. Prior period amounts were not adjusted and continue to be reported in accordance with our historic accounting policies resulting in a balance sheet presentation that is not comparable to the prior period in the first year of adoption. The adoption of this ASU resulted in the recognition of operating lease assets and liabilities of approximately $21 billion, which included the reclassification of finance lease obligations to operating leases of $1.2 billion. As of December 31, 2018, amounts related to finance lease obligations and construction liabilities totaled $9.6 billion, of which $1.5 billion was derecognized for buildings that we do not control during the construction period and $5.4 billion and $1.5 billion were reclassified to finance leases and operating leases, respectively. In October 2016, the FASB issued an ASU amending the accounting for income taxes. The new guidance requires the recognition of the income tax consequences of an intercompany asset transfer, other than transfers of inventory, when the transfer occurs. For intercompany transfers of inventory, the income tax effects will continue to be deferred until the inventory has been sold to a third party. We adopted this ASU in Q1 2018 with an increase of approximately $250 million to retained earnings and deferred tax assets net of valuation allowances. In November 2016, the FASB issued an ASU amending the presentation of restricted cash within the consolidated statements of cash flows. The new guidance requires that restricted cash be added to cash and cash equivalents on the consolidated statements of cash flows. We adopted this ASU in Q1 2018 on a retrospective basis with the following impacts to our consolidated statements of cash flows (in millions):
In March 2019, the FASB issued an ASU amending the accounting for film costs, inclusive of episodic television and movie costs. The new guidance aligns the accounting for production costs of episodic television with that of movies by requiring production costs to be capitalized. Previously, we only capitalized a portion of the production costs related to our produced episodic television content. We adopted this ASU as of January 1, 2019 and began capitalizing substantially all of our production costs. Adoption of this ASU resulted in approximately $1.0 billion of incremental capitalized film costs classified in “Other Assets” as of December 31, 2019.
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Financial Instruments |
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| Investments, Debt and Equity Securities [Abstract] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Financial Instruments | As of December 31, 2018 and 2019, our cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash, and marketable securities primarily consisted of cash, AAA-rated money market funds, U.S. and foreign government and agency securities, and other investment grade securities. Cash equivalents and marketable securities are recorded at fair value. The following table summarizes, by major security type, our cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash, and marketable securities that are measured at fair value on a recurring basis and are categorized using the fair value hierarchy (in millions):
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The following table summarizes gross gains and gross losses realized on sales of available-for-sale fixed income marketable securities (in millions):
The following table summarizes the remaining contractual maturities of our cash equivalents and marketable fixed income securities as of December 31, 2019 (in millions):
Actual maturities may differ from the contractual maturities because borrowers may have certain prepayment conditions. Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows Reconciliation The following table provides a reconciliation of the amount of cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash reported within the consolidated balance sheets to the total of the same such amounts shown in the consolidated statements of cash flows (in millions):
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Property and Equipment |
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| Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Property and Equipment | PROPERTY AND EQUIPMENT Property and equipment, at cost, consisted of the following (in millions):
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Leases Leases |
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| Leases [Abstract] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leases | Gross assets acquired under finance leases, inclusive of those where title transfers at the end of the lease, are recorded in “Property and equipment, net” and were $36.1 billion and $57.4 billion as of December 31, 2018 and 2019. Accumulated amortization associated with finance leases was $19.8 billion and $30.0 billion as of December 31, 2018 and 2019. Lease cost recognized in our consolidated statements of operations is summarized as follows (in millions):
Other information about lease amounts recognized in our consolidated financial statements is summarized as follows:
As of December 31, 2019, our lease liabilities were as follows (in millions):
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Acquisitions, Goodwill, and Acquired Intangible Assets |
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| Business Combinations [Abstract] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Acquisitions, Goodwill, and Acquired Intangible Assets | ACQUISITIONS, GOODWILL, AND ACQUIRED INTANGIBLE ASSETS 2017 Acquisition Activity On May 12, 2017, we acquired Souq Group Ltd., an e-commerce company, for approximately $583 million, net of cash acquired, and on August 28, 2017, we acquired Whole Foods Market, a grocery store chain, for approximately $13.2 billion, net of cash acquired. Both acquisitions are intended to expand our retail presence. During 2017, we also acquired certain other companies for an aggregate purchase price of $204 million. The primary reason for our other 2017 acquisitions was to acquire technologies and know-how to enable Amazon to serve customers more effectively. 2018 Acquisition Activity On April 12, 2018, we acquired Ring Inc. (“Ring”) for cash consideration of approximately $839 million, net of cash acquired, and on September 11, 2018, we acquired PillPack, Inc. (“PillPack”) for cash consideration of approximately $753 million, net of cash acquired, to expand our product and service offerings. During 2018, we also acquired certain other companies for an aggregate purchase price of $57 million. The primary reason for our other 2018 acquisitions was to acquire technologies and know-how to enable Amazon to serve customers more effectively. 2019 Acquisition Activity During 2019, we acquired certain companies for an aggregate purchase price of $315 million. The primary reason for these acquisitions, none of which were individually material to our consolidated financial statements, was to acquire technologies and know-how to enable Amazon to serve customers more effectively. Acquisition-related costs were expensed as incurred and were not significant. Pro forma results of operations have not been presented because the effects of 2019 acquisitions, individually and in the aggregate, were not material to our consolidated results of operations. Purchase Price Allocation The aggregate purchase price of these acquisitions was allocated as follows (in millions):
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We determined the estimated fair value of identifiable intangible assets acquired primarily by using the income approach. These assets are included within “Other assets” on our consolidated balance sheets and are being amortized to operating expenses on a straight-line basis over their estimated useful lives. Goodwill The goodwill of the acquired companies is primarily related to expected improvements in technology performance and functionality, as well as sales growth from future product and service offerings and new customers, together with certain intangible assets that do not qualify for separate recognition. The goodwill of the acquired companies is generally not deductible for tax purposes. The following summarizes our goodwill activity in 2018 and 2019 by segment (in millions):
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Intangible Assets Acquired intangible assets, included within “Other assets” on our consolidated balance sheets, consist of the following (in millions):
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Amortization expense for acquired intangibles was $366 million, $475 million, and $565 million in 2017, 2018, and 2019. Expected future amortization expense of acquired intangible assets as of December 31, 2019 is as follows (in millions):
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Debt |
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| Debt Disclosure [Abstract] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt | DEBT As of December 31, 2019, we had $23.3 billion of unsecured senior notes outstanding (the “Notes”). As of December 31, 2018 and 2019, the net unamortized discount and debt issuance costs on the Notes was $101 million. We also have other long-term debt with a carrying amount, including the current portion and borrowings under our credit facility, of $715 million and $1.6 billion as of December 31, 2018 and 2019. The face value of our total long-term debt obligations is as follows (in millions):
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Interest on the Notes issued in 2012 is payable semi-annually in arrears in May and November. Interest on the Notes issued in 2014 is payable semi-annually in arrears in June and December. Interest on the Notes issued in 2017 is payable semi-annually in arrears in February and August. Interest on the 2025 Notes is payable semi-annually in arrears in June and December. We may redeem the Notes at any time in whole, or from time to time, in part at specified redemption prices. We are not subject to any financial covenants under the Notes. The proceeds from the November 2012 and the December 2014 Notes were used for general corporate purposes. The proceeds from the August 2017 Notes were used to fund the consideration for the acquisition of Whole Foods Market, to repay notes due in 2017, and for general corporate purposes. The estimated fair value of the Notes was approximately $24.3 billion and $26.2 billion as of December 31, 2018 and 2019, which is based on quoted prices for our debt as of those dates. In October 2016, we entered into a $500 million secured revolving credit facility with a lender that is secured by certain seller receivables, which we subsequently increased to $740 million and may from time to time increase in the future subject to lender approval (the “Credit Facility”). The Credit Facility is available until October 2022, bears interest at the London interbank offered rate (“LIBOR”) plus 1.40%, and has a commitment fee of 0.50% on the undrawn portion. There were $594 million and $740 million of borrowings outstanding under the Credit Facility as of December 31, 2018 and 2019, which had a weighted-average interest rate of 3.2% and 3.4% as of December 31, 2018 and 2019. As of December 31, 2018 and 2019, we have pledged $686 million and $852 million of our cash and seller receivables as collateral for debt related to our Credit Facility. The estimated fair value of the Credit Facility, which is based on Level 2 inputs, approximated its carrying value as of December 31, 2018 and 2019. The other debt, including the current portion, had a weighted-average interest rate of 6.0% and 4.1% as of December 31, 2018 and 2019. We used the net proceeds from the issuance of this debt primarily to fund certain business operations. The estimated fair value of the other long-term debt, which is based on Level 2 inputs, approximated its carrying value as of December 31, 2018 and 2019. As of December 31, 2019, future principal payments for our total debt were as follows (in millions):
In April 2018, we established a commercial paper program (the “Commercial Paper Program”) under which we may from time to time issue unsecured commercial paper up to a total of $7.0 billion at any time, with individual maturities that may vary but will not exceed 397 days from the date of issue. There were no borrowings outstanding under the Commercial Paper Program as of December 31, 2018 and 2019. In April 2018, in connection with our Commercial Paper Program, we amended and restated our unsecured revolving credit facility (the “Credit Agreement”) with a syndicate of lenders to increase our borrowing capacity thereunder to $7.0 billion. As amended and restated, the Credit Agreement has a term of three years, but it may be extended for up to three additional one-year terms if approved by the lenders. The interest rate applicable to outstanding balances under the amended and restated Credit Agreement is LIBOR plus 0.50%, with a commitment fee of 0.04% on the undrawn portion of the credit facility. There were no borrowings outstanding under the Credit Agreement as of December 31, 2018 and 2019.
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Commitments and Contingencies |
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| Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Commitments and Contingencies | COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES Commitments We have entered into non-cancellable operating and finance leases and financing obligations for equipment and office, fulfillment, sortation, delivery, data center, physical store, and renewable energy facilities. The following summarizes our principal contractual commitments, excluding open orders for purchases that support normal operations and are generally cancellable, as of December 31, 2019 (in millions):
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Pledged Assets As of December 31, 2018 and 2019, we have pledged or otherwise restricted $575 million and $994 million of our cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities, and certain property and equipment as collateral for real estate leases, amounts due to third-party sellers in certain jurisdictions, debt, and standby and trade letters of credit. Additionally, we have pledged our cash and seller receivables for debt related to our Credit Facility. See “Note 6 — Debt.” Suppliers During 2019, no vendor accounted for 10% or more of our purchases. We generally do not have long-term contracts or arrangements with our vendors to guarantee the availability of merchandise, particular payment terms, or the extension of credit limits. Other Contingencies In 2016, we determined that we processed and delivered orders of consumer products for certain individuals and entities located outside Iran covered by the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act or other United States sanctions and export control laws. The consumer products included books, music, other media, apparel, home and kitchen, health and beauty, jewelry, office, consumer electronics, software, lawn and patio, grocery, and automotive products. Our review is ongoing and we have voluntarily reported these orders to the United States Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control and the United States Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security. We intend to cooperate fully with OFAC and BIS with respect to their review, which may result in the imposition of penalties. For additional information, see Item 9B of Part II, “Other Information — Disclosure Pursuant to Section 13(r) of the Exchange Act.” We are subject to claims related to various indirect taxes (such as sales, value added, consumption, service, and similar taxes), including in jurisdictions in which we already collect and remit such taxes. If the relevant taxing authorities were successfully to pursue these claims, we could be subject to significant additional tax liabilities. For example, in June 2017, the State of South Carolina issued an assessment for uncollected sales and use taxes for the period from January 2016 to March 2016, including interest and penalties. South Carolina is alleging that we should have collected sales and use taxes on transactions by our third-party sellers. In September 2019, the South Carolina Administrative Law Court ruled in favor of the Department of Revenue and we have appealed the decision to the state Court of Appeals. We believe the assessment is without merit and intend to defend ourselves vigorously in this matter. If other tax authorities were successfully to seek additional adjustments of a similar nature, we could be subject to significant additional tax liabilities. Legal Proceedings The Company is involved from time to time in claims, proceedings, and litigation, including the following: Beginning in August 2013, a number of complaints were filed alleging, among other things, that Amazon.com, Inc. and several of its subsidiaries failed to compensate hourly workers for time spent waiting in security lines and otherwise violated federal and state wage and hour statutes and common law. In August 2013, Busk v. Integrity Staffing Solutions, Inc. and Amazon.com, Inc. was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Nevada, and Vance v. Amazon.com, Inc., Zappos.com Inc., another affiliate of Amazon.com, Inc., and Kelly Services, Inc. was filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky. In September 2013, Allison v. Amazon.com, Inc. and Integrity Staffing Solutions, Inc. was filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington, and Johnson v. Amazon.com, Inc. and an affiliate of Amazon.com, Inc. was filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky. In October 2013, Davis v. Amazon.com, Inc., an affiliate of Amazon.com, Inc., and Integrity Staffing Solutions, Inc. was filed in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. The plaintiffs variously purport to represent a nationwide class of certain current and former employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act and/or state-law-based subclasses for certain current and former employees in states including Arizona, California, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Kentucky, Washington, and Nevada, and one complaint asserts nationwide breach of contract and unjust enrichment claims. The complaints seek an unspecified amount of damages, interest, injunctive relief, and attorneys’ fees. We have been named in several other similar cases. In December 2014, the Supreme Court ruled in Busk that time spent waiting for and undergoing security screening is not compensable working time under the federal wage and hour statute. In February 2015, the courts in those actions alleging only federal law claims entered stipulated orders dismissing those actions without prejudice. In March 2016, the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky dismissed the Vance case with prejudice. In April 2016, the plaintiffs appealed the district court’s judgment to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. In March 2017, the court of appeals affirmed the district court’s decision. In June 2017, the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky dismissed the Busk and Saldana cases with prejudice. We dispute any remaining allegations of wrongdoing and intend to defend ourselves vigorously in these matters. In March 2015, Zitovault, LLC filed a complaint against Amazon.com, Inc., Amazon.com, LLC, Amazon Web Services, Inc., and Amazon Web Services, LLC for patent infringement in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. The complaint alleges that Elastic Compute Cloud, Virtual Private Cloud, Elastic Load Balancing, Auto-Scaling, and Elastic Beanstalk infringe U.S. Patent No. 6,484,257, entitled “System and Method for Maintaining N Number of Simultaneous Cryptographic Sessions Using a Distributed Computing Environment.” The complaint seeks injunctive relief, an unspecified amount of damages, enhanced damages, attorneys’ fees, costs, and interest. In January 2016, the case was transferred to the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington. In June 2016, the case was stayed pending resolution of a review petition we filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. In January 2019, the stay of the case was lifted following resolution of the review petition. We dispute the allegations of wrongdoing and intend to defend ourselves vigorously in this matter. In November 2015, Eolas Technologies, Inc. filed a complaint against Amazon.com, Inc. in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. The complaint alleges, among other things, that the use of “interactive features” on www.amazon.com, including “search suggestions and search results,” infringes U.S. Patent No. 9,195,507, entitled “Distributed Hypermedia Method and System for Automatically Invoking External Application Providing Interaction and Display of Embedded Objects Within A Hypermedia Document.” The complaint sought a judgment of infringement together with costs and attorneys’ fees. In February 2016, Eolas filed an amended complaint seeking, among other things, an unspecified amount of damages. In February 2017, Eolas alleged in its damages report that in the event of a finding of liability Amazon could be subject to $130-$250 million in damages. In April 2017, the case was transferred to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. We dispute the allegations of wrongdoing and intend to defend ourselves vigorously in this matter. In October 2017, SRC Labs, LLC and Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe filed a complaint for patent infringement against Amazon Web Services, Inc., Amazon.com, Inc., and VADATA, Inc. in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. The complaint alleges, among other things, that certain AWS EC2 Instances infringe U.S. Patent Nos. 6,434,687, entitled “System and method for accelerating web site access and processing utilizing a computer system incorporating reconfigurable processors operating under a single operating system image”; 7,149,867, entitled “System and method of enhancing efficiency and utilization of memory bandwidth in reconfigurable hardware”; 7,225,324 and 7,620,800, both entitled “Multi-adaptive processing systems and techniques for enhancing parallelism and performance of computational functions”; and 9,153,311, entitled “System and method for retaining DRAM data when reprogramming reconfigurable devices with DRAM memory controllers.” The complaint seeks an unspecified amount of damages, enhanced damages, interest, and a compulsory on-going royalty. In February 2018, the Virginia district court transferred the case to the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington. In November 2018, the case was stayed pending resolution of eight review petitions filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office relating to the ‘324, ‘867, and ‘311 patents. We dispute the allegations of wrongdoing and intend to defend ourselves vigorously in this matter. In May 2018, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and CF Dynamic Advances LLC filed a complaint against Amazon.com, Inc. in the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York. The complaint alleges, among other things, that “Alexa Voice Software and Alexa enabled devices” infringe U.S. Patent No. 7,177,798, entitled “Natural Language Interface Using Constrained Intermediate Dictionary of Results.” The complaint seeks an injunction, an unspecified amount of damages, enhanced damages, an ongoing royalty, pre- and post-judgment interest, attorneys’ fees, and costs. We dispute the allegations of wrongdoing and intend to defend ourselves vigorously in this matter. In June 2018, VoIP-Pal.com, Inc. filed a complaint against Amazon Technologies, Inc. and Amazon.com, Inc. in the United States District Court for the District of Nevada. The complaint alleges, among other things, that the Alexa calling and messaging system, the Alexa app, and Echo, Tap, and Fire devices with Alexa support infringe U.S. Patent Nos. 9,537,762; 9,813,330; 9,826,002; and 9,948,549, all entitled “Producing Routing Messages For Voice Over IP Communications.” The complaint seeks an unspecified amount of damages, enhanced damages, attorneys’ fees, costs, and interest. In November 2018, the case was transferred to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. In November 2019, the District Court entered judgment invalidating all asserted claims of U.S. Patent Nos. 9,537,762; 9,813,330; 9,826,002; and 9,948,549. We dispute the allegations of wrongdoing and intend to defend ourselves vigorously in this matter. In December 2018, Kove IO, Inc. filed a complaint against Amazon Web Services, Inc. in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The complaint alleges, among other things, that Amazon S3 and DynamoDB infringe U.S. Patent Nos. 7,814,170 and 7,103,640, both entitled “Network Distributed Tracking Wire Transfer Protocol,” and 7,233,978, entitled “Method And Apparatus For Managing Location Information In A Network Separate From The Data To Which The Location Information Pertains.” The complaint seeks an unspecified amount of damages, enhanced damages, attorneys’ fees, costs, interest, and injunctive relief. We dispute the allegations of wrongdoing and intend to defend ourselves vigorously in this matter. In January 2019, Saint Lawrence Communications, LLC filed a complaint against Amazon.com, Inc. and Amazon.com LLC in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. The complaint alleges, among other things, that voice encoding functionality in Amazon devices infringes U.S. Patent Nos. 6,795,805, entitled “Periodicity Enhancement In Decoding Wideband Signals”; 6,807,524, entitled “Perceptual Weighting Device And Method For Efficient Coding Of Wideband Signals”; 7,151,802, entitled “High Frequency Content Recovering Method And Device For Over-Sampled Synthesized Wideband Signal”; 7,191,123, entitled “Gain-Smoothing In Wideband Speech And Audio Signal Decoder”; and 7,260,521, entitled “Method And Device For Adaptive Bandwidth Pitch Search In Coding Wideband Signals.” The complaint seeks an unspecified amount of damages, enhanced damages, attorneys’ fees, costs, and interest. We dispute the allegations of wrongdoing and intend to defend ourselves vigorously in this matter. In April 2019, Vocalife LLC filed a complaint against Amazon.com, Inc. and Amazon.com LLC in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. The complaint alleges, among other things, that Amazon Echo devices infringe U.S. Patent No. RE47,049, entitled “Microphone Array System.” The complaint seeks injunctive relief, an unspecified amount of damages, attorneys’ fees, costs, and interest. We dispute the allegations of wrongdoing and intend to defend ourselves vigorously in this matter. In May 2019, Neodron Ltd. filed a petition with the United States International Trade Commission requesting that the International Trade Commission commence an investigation into the sale of Amazon Fire HD 10 tablets and certain Dell, Hewlett Packard, Lenovo, Microsoft, Motorola, and Samsung devices (the “accused devices”). Neodron’s petition alleges that the accused devices infringe at least one of U.S. Patent Nos. 8,422,173, entitled “Capacitive Position Sensor”; 8,791,910, entitled “Capacitive Keyboard With Position-Dependent Reduced Keying Ambiguity”; 9,024,790, entitled “Capacitive Keyboard With Non-Locking Reduced Keying Ambiguity”; and 9,372,580, entitled “Enhanced Touch Detection Methods.” Neodron is seeking a limited exclusion order preventing the importation of the accused devices into the United States. In December 2019, Neodron withdrew its infringement allegations against Amazon with regard to U.S. Patent No. 9,372,580. In May 2019, Neodron also filed a complaint against Amazon.com, Inc. in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas. The complaint alleges, among other things, that Amazon’s Fire HD 10 tablet infringes U.S. Patent Nos. 8,422,173, entitled “Capacitive Position Sensor,” and 9,372,580, entitled “Enhanced Touch Detection Methods.” The May 2019 complaint seeks an unspecified amount of damages and interest, a permanent injunction, and enhanced damages. In June 2019, Neodron filed a second complaint against Amazon.com, Inc. in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas. The complaint alleges, among other things, that Amazon’s Fire HD 10 tablet infringes U.S. Patent Nos. 9,823,784, entitled “Capacitive Touch Screen With Noise Suppression”; 9,489,072, entitled “Noise Reduction In Capacitive Touch Sensors”; and 8,502,547, entitled “Capacitive Sensor.” The June 2019 complaint seeks an unspecified amount of damages and interest, a permanent injunction, and enhanced damages. We dispute the allegations of wrongdoing and intend to defend ourselves vigorously in these matters. The outcomes of our legal proceedings and other contingencies are inherently unpredictable, subject to significant uncertainties, and could be material to our operating results and cash flows for a particular period. In addition, for the matters disclosed above that do not include an estimate of the amount of loss or range of losses, such an estimate is not possible or is immaterial, and we may be unable to estimate the possible loss or range of losses that could potentially result from the application of non-monetary remedies. See also “Note 9 — Income Taxes.”
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Stockholders' Equity |
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| Share-based Payment Arrangement [Abstract] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stockholders' Equity | STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY Preferred Stock We have authorized 500 million shares of $0.01 par value preferred stock. No preferred stock was outstanding for any year presented. Common Stock Common shares outstanding plus shares underlying outstanding stock awards totaled 504 million, 507 million, and 512 million, as of December 31, 2017, 2018, and 2019. These totals include all vested and unvested stock awards outstanding, including those awards we estimate will be forfeited. Stock Repurchase Activity In February 2016, the Board of Directors authorized a program to repurchase up to $5.0 billion of our common stock, with no fixed expiration. There were no repurchases of common stock in 2017, 2018, or 2019. Stock Award Plans Employees vest in restricted stock unit awards and stock options over the corresponding service term, generally between two and five years. Stock Award Activity Stock-based compensation expense is as follows (in millions):
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The following table summarizes our restricted stock unit activity (in millions):
Scheduled vesting for outstanding restricted stock units as of December 31, 2019, is as follows (in millions):
As of December 31, 2019, there was $8.8 billion of net unrecognized compensation cost related to unvested stock-based compensation arrangements. This compensation is recognized on an accelerated basis with approximately half of the compensation expected to be expensed in the next twelve months, and has a weighted-average recognition period of 1.1 years. The estimated forfeiture rate as of December 31, 2017, 2018, and 2019 was 28%, 27%, and 27%. Changes in our estimates and assumptions relating to forfeitures may cause us to realize material changes in stock-based compensation expense in the future. During 2017, 2018, and 2019, the fair value of restricted stock units that vested was $6.8 billion, $11.4 billion, and $11.7 billion. Common Stock Available for Future Issuance As of December 31, 2019, common stock available for future issuance to employees is 108 million shares.
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Income Taxes |
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| Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Income Taxes | INCOME TAXES In 2017, 2018, and 2019, we recorded net tax provisions of $769 million, $1.2 billion, and $2.4 billion. Tax benefits relating to excess stock-based compensation deductions and accelerated depreciation deductions are reducing our U.S. taxable income. Cash taxes paid, net of refunds, were $957 million, $1.2 billion, and $881 million for 2017, 2018, and 2019. The U.S. Tax Act was signed into law on December 22, 2017. The U.S. Tax Act significantly revised the U.S. corporate income tax by, among other things, lowering the statutory corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%, eliminating certain deductions, imposing a mandatory one-time tax on accumulated earnings of foreign subsidiaries, introducing new tax regimes, and changing how foreign earnings are subject to U.S. tax. The U.S. Tax Act also enhanced and extended accelerated depreciation deductions by allowing full expensing of qualified property, primarily equipment, through 2022. We reasonably estimated the effects of the U.S. Tax Act and recorded provisional amounts in our financial statements as of December 31, 2017. We recorded a provisional tax benefit for the impact of the U.S. Tax Act of approximately $789 million. This amount was primarily comprised of the remeasurement of federal net deferred tax liabilities resulting from the permanent reduction in the U.S. statutory corporate tax rate to 21% from 35%, after taking into account the mandatory one-time tax on the accumulated earnings of our foreign subsidiaries. The amount of this one-time tax was not material. In 2018, we completed our determination of the accounting implications of the U.S. Tax Act. The components of the provision for income taxes, net are as follows (in millions):
U.S. and international components of income before income taxes are as follows (in millions):
The items accounting for differences between income taxes computed at the federal statutory rate and the provision recorded for income taxes are as follows (in millions):
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Our provision for income taxes in 2018 was higher than in 2017 primarily due to an increase in U.S. pre-tax income and the one-time provisional tax benefit of the U.S. Tax Act recognized in 2017. This was partially offset by the reduction to the U.S. federal statutory tax rate in 2018, a decline in the proportion of foreign losses for which we may not realize a tax benefit and an increase in excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation. We regularly assess whether it is more likely than not that we will realize our deferred tax assets in each taxing jurisdiction in which we operate. In performing this assessment with respect to each jurisdiction, we review all available evidence, including recent cumulative loss experience and expectations of future earnings, capital gains, and investment in such jurisdiction, the carry-forward periods available to us for tax reporting purposes, and other relevant factors. In Q2 2017, we recognized an estimated charge to tax expense of $600 million to record a valuation allowance against the net deferred tax assets in Luxembourg. Our provision for income taxes in 2019 was higher than in 2018 primarily due to an increase in U.S. pre-tax income, a decline in excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation, and the one-time provisional tax benefit of the U.S. Tax Act recognized in 2018. Certain foreign subsidiary earnings are subject to U.S. taxation under the U.S. Tax Act, which also repeals U.S. taxation on the subsequent repatriation of those earnings. We intend to invest substantially all of our foreign subsidiary earnings, as well as our capital in our foreign subsidiaries, indefinitely outside of the U.S. in those jurisdictions in which we would incur significant, additional costs upon repatriation of such amounts. Deferred income tax assets and liabilities are as follows (in millions):
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Our valuation allowances primarily relate to foreign deferred tax assets, including substantially all of our foreign net operating loss carryforwards as of December 31, 2019. Our foreign net operating loss carryforwards for income tax purposes as of December 31, 2019 were approximately $8.6 billion before tax effects and certain of these amounts are subject to annual limitations under applicable tax law. If not utilized, a portion of these losses will begin to expire in 2020. As of December 31, 2019, our federal tax credit carryforwards for income tax purposes were approximately $1.7 billion. If not utilized, a portion of the tax credit carryforwards will begin to expire in 2027. Tax Contingencies We are subject to income taxes in the U.S. (federal and state) and numerous foreign jurisdictions. Significant judgment is required in evaluating our tax positions and determining our provision for income taxes. During the ordinary course of business, there are many transactions and calculations for which the ultimate tax determination is uncertain. We establish reserves for tax-related uncertainties based on estimates of whether, and the extent to which, additional taxes will be due. These reserves are established when we believe that certain positions might be challenged despite our belief that our tax return positions are fully supportable. We adjust these reserves in light of changing facts and circumstances, such as the outcome of tax audits. The provision for income taxes includes the impact of reserve provisions and changes to reserves that are considered appropriate. The reconciliation of our tax contingencies is as follows (in millions):
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As of December 31, 2018 and 2019, we had accrued interest and penalties, net of federal income tax benefit, related to tax contingencies of $127 million and $131 million. Interest and penalties, net of federal income tax benefit, recognized for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2018, and 2019 was $40 million, $20 million, and $4 million. We are under examination, or may be subject to examination, by the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) for the calendar year 2007 and thereafter. These examinations may lead to ordinary course adjustments or proposed adjustments to our taxes or our net operating losses with respect to years under examination as well as subsequent periods. In October 2014, the European Commission opened a formal investigation to examine whether decisions by the tax authorities in Luxembourg with regard to the corporate income tax paid by certain of our subsidiaries comply with European Union rules on state aid. On October 4, 2017, the European Commission announced its decision that determinations by the tax authorities in Luxembourg did not comply with European Union rules on state aid. Based on that decision the European Commission announced an estimated recovery amount of approximately €250 million, plus interest, for the period May 2006 through June 2014, and ordered Luxembourg tax authorities to calculate the actual amount of additional taxes subject to recovery. Luxembourg computed an initial recovery amount, consistent with the European Commission’s decision, that we deposited into escrow in March 2018, subject to adjustment pending conclusion of all appeals. In December 2017, Luxembourg appealed the European Commission’s decision. In May 2018, we appealed. We believe the European Commission’s decision to be without merit and will continue to defend ourselves vigorously in this matter. We are also subject to taxation in various states and other foreign jurisdictions including China, Germany, India, Japan, Luxembourg, and the United Kingdom. We are under, or may be subject to, audit or examination and additional assessments by the relevant authorities in respect of these particular jurisdictions primarily for 2009 and thereafter. Changes in state, federal, and foreign tax laws may increase our tax contingencies. The timing of the resolution of income tax examinations is highly uncertain, and the amounts ultimately paid, if any, upon resolution of the issues raised by the taxing authorities may differ from the amounts accrued. It is reasonably possible that within the next twelve months we will receive additional assessments by various tax authorities or possibly reach resolution of income tax examinations in one or more jurisdictions. These assessments or settlements could result in changes to our contingencies related to positions on tax filings in years through 2019. The actual amount of any change could vary significantly depending on the ultimate timing and nature of any settlements. We cannot currently provide an estimate of the range of possible outcomes.
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Segment Information |
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| Segment Reporting [Abstract] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Segment Information | SEGMENT INFORMATION We have organized our operations into three segments: North America, International, and AWS. We allocate to segment results the operating expenses “Fulfillment,” “Technology and content,” “Marketing,” and “General and administrative” based on usage, which is generally reflected in the segment in which the costs are incurred. The majority of technology infrastructure costs are allocated to the AWS segment based on usage. The majority of the remaining non-infrastructure technology costs are incurred in the U.S. and are allocated to our North America segment. There are no internal revenue transactions between our reportable segments. These segments reflect the way our chief operating decision maker evaluates the Company’s business performance and manages its operations. North America The North America segment primarily consists of amounts earned from retail sales of consumer products (including from sellers) and subscriptions through North America-focused online and physical stores. This segment includes export sales from these online stores. International The International segment primarily consists of amounts earned from retail sales of consumer products (including from sellers) and subscriptions through internationally-focused online stores. This segment includes export sales from these internationally-focused online stores (including export sales from these online stores to customers in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada), but excludes export sales from our North America-focused online stores. AWS The AWS segment consists of amounts earned from global sales of compute, storage, database, and other service offerings for start-ups, enterprises, government agencies, and academic institutions. Information on reportable segments and reconciliation to consolidated net income (loss) is as follows (in millions):
Net sales by groups of similar products and services, which also have similar economic characteristics, is as follows (in millions):
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Net sales generated from our internationally-focused online stores are denominated in local functional currencies. Revenues are translated at average rates prevailing throughout the period. Net sales attributed to countries that represent a significant portion of consolidated net sales are as follows (in millions):
Total segment assets exclude corporate assets, such as cash and cash equivalents, marketable securities, other long-term investments, corporate facilities, goodwill and other acquired intangible assets, and tax assets. Technology infrastructure assets are allocated among the segments based on usage, with the majority allocated to the AWS segment. Total segment assets reconciled to consolidated amounts are as follows (in millions):
Property and equipment, net by segment is as follows (in millions):
Total net additions to property and equipment by segment are as follows (in millions):
U.S. property and equipment, net was $35.5 billion, $45.1 billion, and $53.0 billion, in 2017, 2018, and 2019, and non-U.S. property and equipment, net was $13.4 billion, $16.7 billion, and $19.7 billion in 2017, 2018, and 2019. Except for the U.S., property and equipment, net, in any single country was less than 10% of consolidated property and equipment, net. Depreciation and amortization expense, including other corporate property and equipment depreciation and amortization expense, are allocated to all segments based on usage. Total depreciation and amortization expense, by segment, is as follows (in millions):
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Quarterly Results (Unaudited) |
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| Quarterly Financial Information Disclosure [Abstract] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Quarterly Results (Unaudited) | QUARTERLY RESULTS (UNAUDITED) The following tables contain selected unaudited statement of operations information for each quarter of 2018 and 2019. The following information reflects all normal recurring adjustments necessary for a fair presentation of the information for the periods presented. The operating results for any quarter are not necessarily indicative of results for any future period. Our business is affected by seasonality, which historically has resulted in higher sales volume during our fourth quarter. Unaudited quarterly results are as follows (in millions, except per share data):
___________________ (1) The sum of quarterly amounts, including per share amounts, may not equal amounts reported for year-to-date periods. This is due to the effects of rounding and changes in the number of weighted-average shares outstanding for each period.
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Description of Business and Accounting Policies (Policies) |
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| Accounting Policies [Abstract] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Segment Information | We have organized our operations into three segments: North America, International, and AWS. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prior Period Reclassifications | Prior Period Reclassifications Certain prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current period presentation, including the addition of restricted cash to cash and cash equivalents on our consolidated statements of cash flows and the reclassification of long-term capital lease obligations that existed at December 31, 2018 from “Other long-term liabilities” to “Long-term lease liabilities” within the consolidated balance sheets, as a result of the adoption of new accounting guidance.
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| Principles of Consolidation | Principles of Consolidation The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Amazon.com, Inc. and its consolidated entities (collectively, the “Company”), consisting of its wholly-owned subsidiaries and those entities in which we have a variable interest and of which we are the primary beneficiary, including certain entities in India and certain entities that support our seller lending financing activities. Intercompany balances and transactions between consolidated entities are eliminated. The financial results of Whole Foods Market, Inc. (“Whole Foods Market”) have been included in our consolidated financial statements from the date of acquisition on August 28, 2017.
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| Use of Estimates | Use of Estimates The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, revenues and expenses, and related disclosures of contingent liabilities in the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. Estimates are used for, but not limited to, income taxes, useful lives of equipment, commitments and contingencies, valuation of acquired intangibles and goodwill, stock-based compensation forfeiture rates, vendor funding, and inventory valuation. Actual results could differ materially from those estimates.
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| Earnings per Share | Earnings per Share Basic earnings per share is calculated using our weighted-average outstanding common shares. Diluted earnings per share is calculated using our weighted-average outstanding common shares including the dilutive effect of stock awards as determined under the treasury stock method. In periods when we have a net loss, stock awards are excluded from our calculation of earnings per share as their inclusion would have an antidilutive effect.
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| Revenue | Revenue Revenue is measured based on the amount of consideration that we expect to receive, reduced by estimates for return allowances, promotional discounts, and rebates. Revenue also excludes any amounts collected on behalf of third parties, including sales and indirect taxes. In arrangements where we have multiple performance obligations, the transaction price is allocated to each performance obligation using the relative stand-alone selling price. We generally determine stand-alone selling prices based on the prices charged to customers or using expected cost plus a margin. A description of our principal revenue generating activities is as follows: Retail sales - We offer consumer products through our online and physical stores. Revenue is recognized when control of the goods is transferred to the customer, which generally occurs upon our delivery to a third-party carrier or, in the case of an Amazon delivery, to the customer. Third-party seller services - We offer programs that enable sellers to sell their products in our stores, and fulfill orders through us. We are not the seller of record in these transactions. The commissions and any related fulfillment and shipping fees we earn from these arrangements are recognized when the services are rendered, which generally occurs upon delivery of the related products to a third-party carrier or, in the case of an Amazon delivery, to the customer. Subscription services - Our subscription sales include fees associated with Amazon Prime memberships and access to content including audiobooks, digital video, digital music, e-books, and other non-AWS subscription services. Prime memberships provide our customers with access to an evolving suite of benefits that represent a single stand-ready obligation. Subscriptions are paid for at the time of or in advance of delivering the services. Revenue from such arrangements is recognized over the subscription period. AWS - Our AWS arrangements include global sales of compute, storage, database, and other services. Revenue is allocated to services using stand-alone selling prices and is primarily recognized when the customer uses these services, based on the quantity of services rendered, such as compute or storage capacity delivered on-demand. Certain services, including compute and database, are also offered as a fixed quantity over a specified term, for which revenue is recognized ratably. Sales commissions we pay in connection with contracts that exceed one year are capitalized and amortized over the contract term. Other - Other revenue primarily includes sales of advertising services, which are recognized as ads are delivered based on the number of clicks or impressions. Return Allowances Return allowances, which reduce revenue and cost of sales, are estimated using historical experience. Liabilities for return allowances are included in “Accrued expenses and other” and were $468 million, $623 million, and $712 million as of December 31, 2017, 2018, and 2019. Additions to the allowance were $1.8 billion, $2.3 billion, and $2.5 billion and deductions from the allowance were $1.9 billion, $2.3 billion, and $2.5 billion in 2017, 2018, and 2019. Included in “Inventories” on our consolidated balance sheets are assets totaling $406 million, $519 million, and $629 million as of December 31, 2017, 2018, and 2019, for the rights to recover products from customers associated with our liabilities for return allowances. Cost of Sales Cost of sales primarily consists of the purchase price of consumer products, inbound and outbound shipping costs, including costs related to sortation and delivery centers and where we are the transportation service provider, and digital media content costs where we record revenue gross, including video and music. Shipping costs to receive products from our suppliers are included in our inventory, and recognized as cost of sales upon sale of products to our customers. Payment processing and related transaction costs, including those associated with seller transactions, are classified in “Fulfillment” on our consolidated statements of operations. Vendor Agreements We have agreements with our vendors to receive funds primarily for cooperative marketing efforts, promotions, incentives, and volume rebates. We generally consider these amounts received from vendors to be a reduction of the prices we pay for their goods, including property and equipment, or services, and are recorded as a reduction of the cost of inventory, cost of services, or cost of property and equipment. Volume rebates typically depend on reaching minimum purchase thresholds. We evaluate the likelihood of reaching purchase thresholds using past experience and current year forecasts. When volume rebates can be reasonably estimated, we record a portion of the rebate as we make progress towards the purchase threshold.
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| Fulfillment | Fulfillment Fulfillment costs primarily consist of those costs incurred in operating and staffing our North America and International segments’ fulfillment centers, physical stores, and customer service centers, including costs attributable to buying, receiving, inspecting, and warehousing inventories; picking, packaging, and preparing customer orders for shipment; payment processing and related transaction costs, including costs associated with our guarantee for certain seller transactions; responding to inquiries from customers; and supply chain management for our manufactured electronic devices. Fulfillment costs also include amounts paid to third parties that assist us in fulfillment and customer service operations.
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| Technology and Content | Technology and Content Technology and content costs include payroll and related expenses for employees involved in the research and development of new and existing products and services, development, design, and maintenance of our stores, curation and display of products and services made available in our online stores, and infrastructure costs. Infrastructure costs include servers, networking equipment, and data center related depreciation and amortization, rent, utilities, and other expenses necessary to support AWS and other Amazon businesses. Collectively, these costs reflect the investments we make in order to offer a wide variety of products and services to our customers. Technology and content costs are generally expensed as incurred.
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| Marketing | Marketing Marketing costs primarily consist of advertising and payroll and related expenses for personnel engaged in marketing and selling activities, including sales commissions related to AWS. We pay commissions to third parties when their customer referrals result in sales. We also participate in cooperative advertising arrangements with certain of our vendors, and other third parties. Advertising and other promotional costs to market our products and services are expensed as incurred
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| General and Administrative | General and Administrative General and administrative expenses primarily consist of costs for corporate functions, including payroll and related expenses; facilities and equipment expenses, such as depreciation and amortization expense and rent; and professional fees and litigation costs.
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| Stock-Based Compensation | Stock-Based Compensation Compensation cost for all stock awards expected to vest is measured at fair value on the date of grant and recognized over the service period. The fair value of restricted stock units is determined based on the number of shares granted and the quoted price of our common stock. Such value is recognized as expense over the service period, net of estimated forfeitures, using the accelerated method. The estimated number of stock awards that will ultimately vest requires judgment, and to the extent actual results or updated estimates differ from our current estimates, such amounts will be recorded as a cumulative adjustment in the period estimates are revised. We consider many factors when estimating expected forfeitures, including historical forfeiture experience and employee level.
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| Other Operating Expense, Net | Other Operating Expense (Income), Net Other operating expense (income), net, consists primarily of marketing-related, contract-based, and customer-related intangible asset amortization expense, and expenses related to legal settlements.
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| Other Income (Expense), Net | Other Income (Expense), Net Other income (expense), net, consists primarily of adjustments to and gains on equity securities of $18 million, $145 million, and $231 million in 2017, 2018, and 2019, equity warrant valuation gains (losses) of $109 million, $(131) million, and $11 million in 2017, 2018, and 2019
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| Income Taxes | Income Taxes Income tax expense includes U.S. (federal and state) and foreign income taxes. Certain foreign subsidiary earnings are subject to U.S. taxation under the U.S. Tax Act, which also repeals U.S. taxation on the subsequent repatriation of those earnings. We intend to invest substantially all of our foreign subsidiary earnings, as well as our capital in our foreign subsidiaries, indefinitely outside of the U.S. in those jurisdictions in which we would incur significant, additional costs upon repatriation of such amounts. Deferred income tax balances reflect the effects of temporary differences between the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities and their tax bases and are stated at enacted tax rates expected to be in effect when taxes are actually paid or recovered. Deferred tax assets are evaluated for future realization and reduced by a valuation allowance to the extent we believe they will not be realized. We consider many factors when assessing the likelihood of future realization of our deferred tax assets, including our recent cumulative loss experience and expectations of future earnings, capital gains and investment in such jurisdiction, the carry-forward periods available to us for tax reporting purposes, and other relevant factors. We utilize a two-step approach to recognizing and measuring uncertain income tax positions (tax contingencies). The first step is to evaluate the tax position for recognition by determining if the weight of available evidence indicates it is more likely than not the position will be sustained on audit, including resolution of related appeals or litigation processes. The second step is to measure the tax benefit as the largest amount which is more than 50% likely of being realized upon ultimate settlement. We consider many factors when evaluating our tax positions and estimating our tax benefits, which may require periodic adjustments and which may not accurately forecast actual outcomes. We include interest and penalties related to our tax contingencies in income tax expense.
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| Fair Value of Financial Instruments | Fair Value of Financial Instruments Fair value is defined as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. To increase the comparability of fair value measures, the following hierarchy prioritizes the inputs to valuation methodologies used to measure fair value: Level 1 — Valuations based on quoted prices for identical assets and liabilities in active markets. Level 2 — Valuations based on observable inputs other than quoted prices included in Level 1, such as quoted prices for similar assets and liabilities in active markets, quoted prices for identical or similar assets and liabilities in markets that are not active, or other inputs that are observable or can be corroborated by observable market data. Level 3 — Valuations based on unobservable inputs reflecting our own assumptions, consistent with reasonably available assumptions made by other market participants. These valuations require significant judgment. For our cash, cash equivalents, or marketable securities, we measure the fair value of money market funds and certain marketable equity securities based on quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities. Other marketable securities were valued either based on recent trades of securities in inactive markets or based on quoted market prices of similar instruments and other significant inputs derived from or corroborated by observable market data. We did not hold significant amounts of cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash, or marketable securities categorized as Level 3 assets as of December 31, 2018 and 2019. We hold equity warrants giving us the right to acquire stock of other companies. As of December 31, 2018 and 2019, these warrants had a fair value of $440 million and $669 million, and are recorded within “Other assets” on our consolidated balance sheets. These assets are primarily classified as Level 2 assets.
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| Cash and Cash Equivalents | Cash and Cash Equivalents We classify all highly liquid instruments with an original maturity of three months or less as cash equivalents.
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| Inventories | Inventories Inventories, consisting of products available for sale, are primarily accounted for using the first-in, first-out method, and are valued at the lower of cost and net realizable value. This valuation requires us to make judgments, based on currently available information, about the likely method of disposition, such as through sales to individual customers, returns to product vendors, or liquidations, and expected recoverable values of each disposition category. We provide Fulfillment by Amazon services in connection with certain of our sellers’ programs. Third-party sellers maintain ownership of their inventory, regardless of whether fulfillment is provided by us or the third-party sellers, and therefore these products are not included in our inventories. We also purchase electronic device components from a variety of suppliers and use several contract manufacturers to provide manufacturing services for our products. During the normal course of business, in order to manage manufacturing lead times and help ensure adequate supply, we enter into agreements with contract manufacturers and suppliers for certain electronic device components. A portion of our reported purchase commitments arising from these agreements consists of firm, non-cancellable commitments. These commitments are based on forecasted customer demand. If we reduce these commitments, we may incur additional costs. We also have firm, non-cancellable commitments for certain products offered in our Whole Foods Market stores.
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| Accounts Receivable, Net and Other | Accounts Receivable, Net and Other Included in “Accounts receivable, net and other” on our consolidated balance sheets are amounts primarily related to customers, vendors, and sellers. As of December 31, 2018 and 2019, customer receivables, net, were $9.4 billion and $12.6 billion, vendor receivables, net, were $3.2 billion and $4.2 billion, and seller receivables, net, were $710 million and $863 million. Seller receivables are amounts due from sellers related to our seller lending program, which provides funding to sellers primarily to procure inventory. We estimate losses on receivables based on known troubled accounts and historical experience of losses incurred. Receivables are considered impaired and written-off when it is probable that all contractual payments due will not be collected in accordance with the terms of the agreement.
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| Software Development Costs | Software Development Costs We incur software development costs related to products to be sold, leased, or marketed to external users, internal-use software, and our websites. Software development costs capitalized were not significant for the years presented. All other costs, including those related to design or maintenance, are expensed as incurred.
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| Property and Equipment, Net | Property and Equipment, Net Property and equipment are stated at cost less accumulated depreciation and amortization. Incentives that we receive from property and equipment vendors are recorded as a reduction in our costs. Property includes buildings and land that we own, along with property we have acquired under build-to-suit lease arrangements when we have control over the building during the construction period and finance lease arrangements. Equipment includes assets such as servers and networking equipment, heavy equipment, and other fulfillment equipment. Depreciation and amortization is recorded on a straight-line basis over the estimated useful lives of the assets (generally the lesser of 40 years or the remaining life of the underlying building, three years for our servers, five years for networking equipment, ten years for heavy equipment, and three to seven years for other fulfillment equipment). Depreciation and amortization expense is classified within the corresponding operating expense categories on our consolidated statements of operations.
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| Leases | Leases We categorize leases with contractual terms longer than twelve months as either operating or finance. Finance leases are generally those leases that allow us to substantially utilize or pay for the entire asset over its estimated life. Assets acquired under finance leases are recorded in property and equipment, net. All other leases are categorized as operating leases. Our leases generally have terms that range from one to ten years for equipment and one to twenty years for property. Certain lease contracts include obligations to pay for other services, such as operations and maintenance. For leases of property, we account for these other services as a component of the lease. For substantially all other leases, the services are accounted for separately and we allocate payments to the lease and other services components based on estimated stand-alone prices. Lease liabilities are recognized at the present value of the fixed lease payments, reduced by landlord incentives using a discount rate based on similarly secured borrowings available to us. Lease assets are recognized based on the initial present value of the fixed lease payments, reduced by landlord incentives, plus any direct costs from executing the leases or lease prepayments reclassified from “Other assets” upon lease commencement. Leasehold improvements are capitalized at cost and amortized over the lesser of their expected useful life or the lease term. When we have the option to extend the lease term, terminate the lease before the contractual expiration date, or purchase the leased asset, and it is reasonably certain that we will exercise the option, we consider these options in determining the classification and measurement of the lease. Our leases may include variable payments based on measures that include changes in price indices, market interest rates, or the level of sales at a physical store, which are expensed as incurred. Costs associated with operating lease assets are recognized on a straight-line basis within operating expenses over the term of the lease. Finance lease assets are amortized within operating expenses on a straight-line basis over the shorter of the estimated useful lives of the assets or, in the instance where title does not transfer at the end of the lease term, the lease term. The interest component of a finance lease is included in interest expense and recognized using the effective interest method over the lease term. We establish assets and liabilities for the present value of estimated future costs to retire long-lived assets at the termination or expiration of a lease. Such assets are depreciated over the lease period into operating expense, and the recorded liabilities are accreted to the future value of the estimated retirement costs.
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| Financing Obligations | Financing Obligations We record assets and liabilities for estimated construction costs under build-to-suit lease arrangements when we have control over the building during the construction period. If we continue to control the building after the construction period, the arrangement is classified as a financing obligation instead of a lease. The building is depreciated over the shorter of its useful life or the term of the obligation. If we do not control the building after the construction period ends, the assets and liabilities for construction costs are derecognized, and we classify the lease as either operating or finance.
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| Goodwill | Goodwill We evaluate goodwill for impairment annually or more frequently when an event occurs or circumstances change that indicate the carrying value may not be recoverable. In testing goodwill for impairment, we may elect to utilize a qualitative assessment to evaluate whether it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying amount. If our qualitative assessment indicates that goodwill impairment is more likely than not, we perform a two-step impairment test. We test goodwill for impairment under the two-step impairment test by first comparing the book value of net assets to the fair value of the reporting units. If the fair value is determined to be less than the book value or qualitative factors indicate that it is more likely than not that goodwill is impaired, a second step is performed to compute the amount of impairment as the difference between the estimated fair value of goodwill and the carrying value. We estimate the fair value of the reporting units using discounted cash flows. Forecasts of future cash flows are based on our best estimate of future net sales and operating expenses, based primarily on expected category expansion, pricing, market segment share, and general economic conditions. We completed the required annual testing of goodwill for impairment for all reporting units as of April 1, 2019, and determined that goodwill is not impaired as the fair value of our reporting units substantially exceeded their book value. There were no events that caused us to update our annual impairment test.
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| Other Assets | Other Assets Included in “Other assets” on our consolidated balance sheets are amounts primarily related to acquired intangible assets, net of accumulated amortization; video and music content, net of accumulated amortization; long-term deferred tax assets; certain equity investments; marketable securities restricted for longer than one year, the majority of which are attributable to collateralization of bank guarantees and debt related to our international operations; lease prepayments made prior to lease commencement; and equity warrant assets.
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| Video and Music Content | Digital Video and Music Content We obtain video content, inclusive of episodic television and movies, and music content for customers through licensing agreements that have a wide range of licensing provisions including both fixed and variable payment schedules. When the license fee for a specific video or music title is determinable or reasonably estimable and the content is available to us, we recognize an asset and a corresponding liability for the amounts owed. We reduce the liability as payments are made and we amortize the asset to “Cost of sales” on an accelerated basis, based on estimated usage or viewing patterns, or on a straight-line basis. If the licensing fee is not determinable or reasonably estimable, no asset or liability is recorded and licensing costs are expensed as incurred. We also develop original video content for which the production costs are capitalized and amortized to “Cost of sales” predominantly on an accelerated basis that follows the viewing patterns associated with the content. The weighted average remaining life of our capitalized video content is 2.7 years. Our produced and licensed video content is primarily monetized together as a unit, referred to as a film group, in each major geography where we offer Amazon Prime memberships. These film groups are evaluated for impairment whenever an event occurs or circumstances change indicating the fair value is less than the carrying value. The total capitalized costs of video, which is primarily released content, and music as of December 31, 2018 and 2019 were $3.8 billion and $5.8 billion. Total video and music expense was $6.7 billion and $7.8 billion for the year ended December 31, 2018 and 2019. Total video and music expense includes licensing and production costs associated with content offered within Amazon Prime memberships, and costs associated with digital subscriptions and sold or rented content.
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| Investments | Investments We generally invest our excess cash in AAA-rated money market funds and investment grade short- to intermediate-term fixed income securities. Such investments are included in “Cash and cash equivalents” or “Marketable securities” on the accompanying consolidated balance sheets. Marketable debt securities are classified as available-for-sale and reported at fair value with unrealized gains and losses included in “Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss).” Equity investments are accounted for using the equity method of accounting if the investment gives us the ability to exercise significant influence, but not control, over an investee. Equity-method investments are included within “Other assets” on our consolidated balance sheets. Our share of the earnings or losses as reported by equity-method investees, amortization of basis differences, and related gains or losses, if any, are classified as “Equity-method investment activity, net of tax” on our consolidated statements of operations. Equity investments without readily determinable fair values and for which we do not have the ability to exercise significant influence are accounted for at cost with adjustments for observable changes in prices or impairments and are classified as “Other assets” on our consolidated balance sheets with adjustments recognized in “Other income (expense), net” on our consolidated statements of operations. As of December 31, 2018 and 2019, these investments had a carrying value of $282 million and $1.5 billion. Equity investments that have readily determinable fair values are included in “Marketable securities” on our consolidated balance sheets and measured at fair value with changes recognized in “Other income (expense), net” on our consolidated statement of operations. We periodically evaluate whether declines in fair values of our investments indicate impairment. For debt securities and equity-method investments, we also evaluate whether declines in fair value of our investments below their book value are other-than-temporary. This evaluation consists of several qualitative and quantitative factors regarding the severity and duration of the unrealized loss as well as our ability and intent to hold the investment until a forecasted recovery occurs. Additionally, we assess whether we have plans to sell the security or it is more likely than not we will be required to sell any investment before recovery of its amortized cost basis. Factors considered include: quoted market prices; recent financial results and operating trends; implied values from any recent transactions or offers of investee securities; credit quality of debt instrument issuers; other publicly available information that may affect the value of our investments; duration and severity of the decline in value; and our strategy and intentions for holding the investment.
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| Long-Lived Assets | Long-Lived Assets Long-lived assets, other than goodwill, are reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of the assets might not be recoverable. Conditions that would necessitate an impairment assessment include a significant decline in the observable market value of an asset, a significant change in the extent or manner in which an asset is used, or any other significant adverse change that would indicate that the carrying amount of an asset or group of assets may not be recoverable. For long-lived assets used in operations, including lease assets, impairment losses are only recorded if the asset’s carrying amount is not recoverable through its undiscounted, probability-weighted future cash flows. We measure the impairment loss based on the difference between the carrying amount and estimated fair value. Long-lived assets are considered held for sale when certain criteria are met, including when management has committed to a plan to sell the asset, the asset is available for sale in its immediate condition, and the sale is probable within one year of the reporting date. Assets held for sale are reported at the lower of cost or fair value less costs to sell.
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| Accrued Expenses and Other | Accrued Expenses and Other Included in “Accrued expenses and other” on our consolidated balance sheets are liabilities primarily related to leases and asset retirement obligations, payroll and related expenses, unredeemed gift cards, customer liabilities, current debt, acquired digital media content, and other operating expenses. As of December 31, 2018 and 2019, our liabilities for payroll related expenses were $3.4 billion and $4.3 billion and our liabilities for unredeemed gift cards were $2.8 billion and $3.3 billion. We reduce the liability for a gift card when redeemed by a customer. The portion of gift cards that we do not expect to be redeemed is recognized based on customer usage patterns.
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| Unearned Revenue | Unearned Revenue Unearned revenue is recorded when payments are received or due in advance of performing our service obligations and is recognized over the service period. Unearned revenue primarily relates to prepayments of AWS services and Amazon Prime memberships. Our total unearned revenue as of December 31, 2018 was $7.9 billion, of which $6.3 billion was recognized as revenue during the year ended December 31, 2019 and our total unearned revenue as of December 31, 2019 was $10.2 billion. Included in “Other long-term liabilities” on our consolidated balance sheets was $1.4 billion and $2.0 billion of unearned revenue as of December 31, 2018 and 2019. Additionally, we have performance obligations, primarily related to AWS, associated with commitments in customer contracts for future services that have not yet been recognized in our financial statements. For contracts with original terms that exceed one year, those commitments not yet recognized were $29.8 billion as of December 31, 2019. The weighted average remaining life of our long-term contracts is 3.3 years. However, the amount and timing of revenue recognition is largely driven by customer usage, which can extend beyond the original contractual term.
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| Other Long-Term Liabilities | Other Long-Term Liabilities Included in “Other long-term liabilities” on our consolidated balance sheets are liabilities primarily related to deferred tax liabilities, financing obligations, asset retirement obligations, tax contingencies, and digital video and music content.
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| Foreign Currency | Foreign Currency We have internationally-focused stores for which the net sales generated, as well as most of the related expenses directly incurred from those operations, are denominated in local functional currencies. The functional currency of our subsidiaries that either operate or support these stores is generally the same as the local currency. Assets and liabilities of these subsidiaries are translated into U.S. Dollars at period-end foreign exchange rates, and revenues and expenses are translated at average rates prevailing throughout the period. Translation adjustments are included in “Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss),” a separate component of stockholders’ equity, and in the “Foreign currency effect on cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash,” on our consolidated statements of cash flows. Transaction gains and losses including intercompany transactions denominated in a currency other than the functional currency of the entity involved are included in “Other income (expense), net” on our consolidated statements of operations.
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| Accounting Pronouncements Recently Adopted and Accounting Pronouncements Not Yet Adopted | Accounting Pronouncements Recently Adopted In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued an Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) amending revenue recognition guidance and requiring more detailed disclosures to enable users of financial statements to understand the nature, amount, timing, and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows arising from contracts with customers. We adopted this ASU on January 1, 2018 for all revenue contracts with our customers using the modified retrospective approach and increased retained earnings by approximately $650 million. The adjustment primarily relates to the unredeemed portion of our gift cards, which are now recognized over the expected customer usage period rather than waiting until gift cards expire or when the likelihood of redemption becomes remote. We changed the recognition and classification of Amazon Prime memberships, which are now accounted for as a single performance obligation and recognized ratably over the membership period as service sales. Previously, Prime memberships were considered to be arrangements with multiple deliverables and were allocated among product sales and service sales. Other changes relate primarily to the presentation of revenue. Certain advertising services are now classified as revenue rather than a reduction in cost of sales, and sales of apps, in-app content, and certain digital media content are presented on a net basis. Prior year amounts have not been adjusted and continue to be reported in accordance with our historic accounting policy. The impact of applying this ASU for the year ended December 31, 2018 primarily resulted in a decrease in product sales and an increase in service sales driven by the reclassification of Prime membership fees of approximately $3.8 billion. Service sales also increased by approximately $3.0 billion for the year ended December 31, 2018 due to the reclassification of certain advertising services. In January 2016, the FASB issued an ASU that updates certain aspects of recognition, measurement, presentation, and disclosure of financial instruments. Under this ASU, certain equity investments are measured at fair value with changes recognized in net income. We adopted this ASU in Q1 2018 with no material impact to our consolidated financial statements. In February 2016, the FASB issued an ASU amending the accounting for leases, primarily requiring the recognition of lease assets and liabilities for operating leases with terms of more than twelve months on our consolidated balance sheets. Under the new guidance, leases previously described as capital lease obligations and finance lease obligations are now referred to as finance leases and financing obligations, respectively. We adopted this ASU on January 1, 2019 by recording an immaterial cumulative adjustment to retained earnings rather than retrospectively adjusting prior periods. Prior period amounts were not adjusted and continue to be reported in accordance with our historic accounting policies resulting in a balance sheet presentation that is not comparable to the prior period in the first year of adoption. The adoption of this ASU resulted in the recognition of operating lease assets and liabilities of approximately $21 billion, which included the reclassification of finance lease obligations to operating leases of $1.2 billion. As of December 31, 2018, amounts related to finance lease obligations and construction liabilities totaled $9.6 billion, of which $1.5 billion was derecognized for buildings that we do not control during the construction period and $5.4 billion and $1.5 billion were reclassified to finance leases and operating leases, respectively. In October 2016, the FASB issued an ASU amending the accounting for income taxes. The new guidance requires the recognition of the income tax consequences of an intercompany asset transfer, other than transfers of inventory, when the transfer occurs. For intercompany transfers of inventory, the income tax effects will continue to be deferred until the inventory has been sold to a third party. We adopted this ASU in Q1 2018 with an increase of approximately $250 million to retained earnings and deferred tax assets net of valuation allowances. In November 2016, the FASB issued an ASU amending the presentation of restricted cash within the consolidated statements of cash flows. The new guidance requires that restricted cash be added to cash and cash equivalents on the consolidated statements of cash flows. We adopted this ASU in Q1 2018 on a retrospective basis with the following impacts to our consolidated statements of cash flows (in millions):
In March 2019, the FASB issued an ASU amending the accounting for film costs, inclusive of episodic television and movie costs. The new guidance aligns the accounting for production costs of episodic television with that of movies by requiring production costs to be capitalized. Previously, we only capitalized a portion of the production costs related to our produced episodic television content. We adopted this ASU as of January 1, 2019 and began capitalizing substantially all of our production costs. Adoption of this ASU resulted in approximately $1.0 billion of incremental capitalized film costs classified in “Other Assets” as of December 31, 2019.
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Description of Business and Accounting Policies (Tables) |
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| Accounting Policies [Abstract] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Schedule of Calculation of Diluted Shares | The following table shows the calculation of diluted shares (in millions):
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| Schedule of New Accounting Pronouncements and Changes in Accounting Principles | We adopted this ASU in Q1 2018 on a retrospective basis with the following impacts to our consolidated statements of cash flows (in millions):
In March 2019, the FASB issued an ASU amending the accounting for film costs, inclusive of episodic television and movie costs. The new guidance aligns the accounting for production costs of episodic television with that of movies by requiring production costs to be capitalized. Previously, we only capitalized a portion of the production costs related to our produced episodic television content. We adopted this ASU as of January 1, 2019 and began capitalizing substantially all of our production costs. Adoption of this ASU resulted in approximately $1.0 billion of incremental capitalized film costs classified in “Other Assets” as of December 31, 2019.
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Financial Instruments (Tables) |
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| Investments, Debt and Equity Securities [Abstract] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Summary of Fair Value by Major Security Type | The following table summarizes, by major security type, our cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash, and marketable securities that are measured at fair value on a recurring basis and are categorized using the fair value hierarchy (in millions):
___________________
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| Summary of Gross Realized Gains (Losses) on Investments | The following table summarizes gross gains and gross losses realized on sales of available-for-sale fixed income marketable securities (in millions):
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| Summary of Contractual Maturities of Investments | The following table summarizes the remaining contractual maturities of our cash equivalents and marketable fixed income securities as of December 31, 2019 (in millions):
Actual maturities may differ from the contractual maturities because borrowers may have certain prepayment conditions.
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Financial Instruments Reconciliation to Cash Flow (Tables) |
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Dec. 31, 2019 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cash and Cash Equivalents [Abstract] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reconciliation of cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash | The following table provides a reconciliation of the amount of cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash reported within the consolidated balance sheets to the total of the same such amounts shown in the consolidated statements of cash flows (in millions):
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Property and Equipment (Tables) |
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| Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Property and Equipment, at Cost | Property and equipment, at cost, consisted of the following (in millions):
__________________ (1) Includes the original cost and accumulated depreciation of fully-depreciated assets.
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Leases Leases (Tables) |
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| Leases [Abstract] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lease, Cost | Lease cost recognized in our consolidated statements of operations is summarized as follows (in millions):
(1) Rental expense under operating lease agreements was $2.2 billion and $3.4 billion for 2017 and 2018.
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| Other Operating and Finance Lease Information | Other information about lease amounts recognized in our consolidated financial statements is summarized as follows:
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| Operating and Finance Lease Liability Reconciliation | As of December 31, 2019, our lease liabilities were as follows (in millions):
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Acquisitions, Goodwill, and Acquired Intangible Assets (Tables) |
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| Business Combinations [Abstract] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Allocation of Aggregate Purchase Price of Acquisitions | The aggregate purchase price of these acquisitions was allocated as follows (in millions):
___________________ (1) Intangible assets acquired in 2017, 2018, and 2019 have estimated useful lives of between one and twenty-five years, two and seven years, and two and seven years, with weighted-average amortization periods of twenty-one years, six years, and five years.
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| Summary of Goodwill Activity | The following summarizes our goodwill activity in 2018 and 2019 by segment (in millions):
___________________
(2) Primarily includes changes in foreign exchange rates.
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| Schedule of Acquired Finite-Lived Intangible Assets by Major Class | Acquired intangible assets, included within “Other assets” on our consolidated balance sheets, consist of the following (in millions):
___________________
(2) Intangible assets have estimated useful lives of between one and twenty-five years.
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| Schedule of Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Future Amortization Expense | Expected future amortization expense of acquired intangible assets as of December 31, 2019 is as follows (in millions):
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Debt (Tables) |
12 Months Ended | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Dec. 31, 2019 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Disclosure [Abstract] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Obligations | The face value of our total long-term debt obligations is as follows (in millions):
_____________________________
(4) Consists of $872 million of 2025 Notes issued in December 2017 in exchange for notes assumed in connection with the acquisition of Whole Foods Market and $128 million of 2025 Notes issued by Whole Foods Market that did not participate in our December 2017 exchange offer. The effective interest rate of the 2025 Notes was 3.02%.
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| Future Principal Payments for Debt | As of December 31, 2019, future principal payments for our total debt were as follows (in millions):
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Commitments and Contingencies (Tables) |
12 Months Ended | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Dec. 31, 2019 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Principal Contractual Commitments, Excluding Open Orders for Purchases | The following summarizes our principal contractual commitments, excluding open orders for purchases that support normal operations and are generally cancellable, as of December 31, 2019 (in millions):
___________________
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Stockholders' Equity (Tables) |
12 Months Ended | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Dec. 31, 2019 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Share-based Payment Arrangement [Abstract] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stock-Based Compensation Expense | Stock-based compensation expense is as follows (in millions):
___________________ (1) The related tax benefits were $860 million, $1.1 billion, and $1.4 billion for 2017, 2018, and 2019.
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| Summary of Restricted Stock Unit Activity | The following table summarizes our restricted stock unit activity (in millions):
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| Scheduled Vesting of Outstanding Restricted Stock Units | Scheduled vesting for outstanding restricted stock units as of December 31, 2019, is as follows (in millions):
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Income Taxes (Tables) |
12 Months Ended | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Dec. 31, 2019 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Components of Provision for Income Taxes, Net | The components of the provision for income taxes, net are as follows (in millions):
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| Components of Income Before Income Taxes, Domestic and Foreign | U.S. and international components of income before income taxes are as follows (in millions):
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| Effective Income Tax Rate Reconciliation | The items accounting for differences between income taxes computed at the federal statutory rate and the provision recorded for income taxes are as follows (in millions):
___________________
(2) Includes non-deductible stock-based compensation and excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation. Our tax provision includes $1.3 billion, $1.6 billion, and $1.4 billion of excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation for 2017, 2018, and 2019.
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| Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities | Deferred income tax assets and liabilities are as follows (in millions):
___________________
(2) Relates primarily to deferred tax assets that would only be realizable upon the generation of net income in certain foreign taxing jurisdictions.
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| Reconciliation of Tax Contingencies | The reconciliation of our tax contingencies is as follows (in millions):
___________________ (1) As of December 31, 2019, we had approximately $3.9 billion of accrued tax contingencies of which $2.1 billion, if fully recognized, would decrease our effective tax rate.
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Segment Information (Tables) |
12 Months Ended | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Dec. 31, 2019 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Segment Reporting [Abstract] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Information on Reportable Segments and Reconciliation to Consolidated Net Income (Loss) | Information on reportable segments and reconciliation to consolidated net income (loss) is as follows (in millions):
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| Disaggregation of Revenue | Net sales by groups of similar products and services, which also have similar economic characteristics, is as follows (in millions):
___________________
(5) Primarily includes sales of advertising services, as well as sales related to our other service offerings.
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| Net Sales Attributed to Countries that Represent a Significant Portion of Consolidated Net Sales | Net sales attributed to countries that represent a significant portion of consolidated net sales are as follows (in millions):
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| Reconciliation of Assets from Segment to Consolidated | Total segment assets reconciled to consolidated amounts are as follows (in millions):
(2) AWS segment assets primarily consist of property and equipment and accounts receivable.
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| Reconciliation of Property and Equipment from Segments to Consolidated | Property and equipment, net by segment is as follows (in millions):
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| Reconciliation of Property and Equipment Additions and Depreciation from Segments to Consolidated | Total depreciation and amortization expense, by segment, is as follows (in millions):
Total net additions to property and equipment by segment are as follows (in millions):
(2) Includes property and equipment added under finance leases of $7.3 billion, $8.4 billion, and $10.6 billion in 2017, 2018, and 2019, and under financing obligations of $134 million, $245 million, and $0 million in 2017, 2018, and 2019.
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Quarterly Results (Unaudited) (Tables) |
12 Months Ended | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Dec. 31, 2019 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Quarterly Financial Information Disclosure [Abstract] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Quarterly Financial Information | Unaudited quarterly results are as follows (in millions, except per share data):
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Description of Business and Accounting Policies - Description of Business (Details) |
12 Months Ended |
|---|---|
|
Dec. 31, 2019
segment
| |
| Accounting Policies [Abstract] | |
| Number of operating segments | 3 |
Description of Business and Accounting Policies - Use of Estimates (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions |
1 Months Ended | 3 Months Ended | 12 Months Ended | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jan. 31, 2020 |
Dec. 31, 2019 |
Sep. 30, 2019 |
Jun. 30, 2019 |
Mar. 31, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
Sep. 30, 2018 |
Jun. 30, 2018 |
Mar. 31, 2018 |
Dec. 31, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
Dec. 31, 2017 |
|
| Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items] | ||||||||||||
| Operating income | $ 3,879 | $ 3,157 | $ 3,084 | $ 4,420 | $ 3,786 | $ 3,724 | $ 2,983 | $ 1,927 | $ 14,541 | $ 12,421 | $ 4,106 | |
| Servers | ||||||||||||
| Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items] | ||||||||||||
| Estimated useful lives of assets | 3 years | |||||||||||
| Subsequent Event | Servers | ||||||||||||
| Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items] | ||||||||||||
| Estimated useful lives of assets | 4 years | |||||||||||
| Forecast | ||||||||||||
| Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items] | ||||||||||||
| Operating income | $ 2,300 | |||||||||||
Description of Business and Accounting Policies - Calculation of Diluted Shares (Details) - shares shares in Millions |
3 Months Ended | 12 Months Ended | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dec. 31, 2019 |
Sep. 30, 2019 |
Jun. 30, 2019 |
Mar. 31, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
Sep. 30, 2018 |
Jun. 30, 2018 |
Mar. 31, 2018 |
Dec. 31, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
Dec. 31, 2017 |
|
| Accounting Policies [Abstract] | |||||||||||
| Shares used in computation of basic earnings per share | 496 | 495 | 493 | 491 | 490 | 488 | 486 | 484 | 494 | 487 | 480 |
| Total dilutive effect of outstanding stock awards | 10 | 13 | 13 | ||||||||
| Shares used in computation of diluted earnings per share | 505 | 504 | 503 | 502 | 501 | 501 | 500 | 498 | 504 | 500 | 493 |
Description of Business and Accounting Policies - Revenue (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions |
12 Months Ended | ||
|---|---|---|---|
Dec. 31, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
Dec. 31, 2017 |
|
| Accounting Policies [Abstract] | |||
| Contract with Customer, Refund Liability | $ 712 | $ 623 | $ 468 |
| SEC Schedule, 12-09, Valuation and Qualifying Accounts Disclosure [Line Items] | |||
| Contract with Customer, Right to Recover Product | 629 | 519 | 406 |
| Sales Returns and Allowances | |||
| SEC Schedule, 12-09, Valuation and Qualifying Accounts Disclosure [Line Items] | |||
| Additions to allowance for returns | 2,500 | 2,300 | 1,800 |
| Deductions to allowance for returns | $ 2,500 | $ 2,300 | $ 1,900 |
Description of Business and Accounting Policies - Marketing (Details) - USD ($) $ in Billions |
12 Months Ended | ||
|---|---|---|---|
Dec. 31, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
Dec. 31, 2017 |
|
| Accounting Policies [Abstract] | |||
| Advertising Expense | $ 11.0 | $ 8.2 | $ 6.3 |
Description of Business and Accounting Policies - Other Income (Expense), Net (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions |
12 Months Ended | ||
|---|---|---|---|
Dec. 31, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
Dec. 31, 2017 |
|
| Accounting Policies [Abstract] | |||
| Foreign currency gains (losses) | $ (20) | $ (206) | $ 247 |
| Derivative [Line Items] | |||
| Equity Securities Gains | 231 | 145 | 18 |
| Equity Warrant | |||
| Derivative [Line Items] | |||
| Derivative gains (losses) | $ 11 | $ (131) | $ 109 |
Description of Business and Accounting Policies - Fair Value of Financial Instruments (Details) - Equity Warrant - USD ($) $ in Millions |
12 Months Ended | ||
|---|---|---|---|
Dec. 31, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
Dec. 31, 2017 |
|
| Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items] | |||
| Derivative gains (losses) | $ 11 | $ (131) | $ 109 |
| Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | |||
| Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items] | |||
| Fair value of warrants | $ 669 | $ 440 | |
Description of Business and Accounting Policies - Accounts Receivable, Net and Other (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions |
12 Months Ended | ||
|---|---|---|---|
Dec. 31, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
Dec. 31, 2017 |
|
| Accounts, Notes, Loans and Financing Receivable [Line Items] | |||
| Accounts receivable, net and other | $ 20,816 | $ 16,677 | |
| Allowance for doubtful accounts | 718 | 495 | $ 348 |
| Additions to allowance for doubtful accounts | 1,000 | 878 | 626 |
| Deductions to allowance for doubtful accounts | 793 | 731 | $ 515 |
| Customer receivables | |||
| Accounts, Notes, Loans and Financing Receivable [Line Items] | |||
| Accounts receivable, net and other | 12,600 | 9,400 | |
| Vendor receivables | |||
| Accounts, Notes, Loans and Financing Receivable [Line Items] | |||
| Accounts receivable, net and other | 4,200 | 3,200 | |
| Loans Receivable | |||
| Accounts, Notes, Loans and Financing Receivable [Line Items] | |||
| Accounts receivable, net and other | $ 863 | $ 710 | |
Description of Business and Accounting Policies - Property and Equipment, Net (Details) |
12 Months Ended |
|---|---|
Dec. 31, 2019 | |
| Building | |
| Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items] | |
| Estimated useful lives of assets | 40 years |
| Servers | |
| Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items] | |
| Estimated useful lives of assets | 3 years |
| Networking Equipment | |
| Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items] | |
| Estimated useful lives of assets | 5 years |
| Heavy Equipment | |
| Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items] | |
| Estimated useful lives of assets | 10 years |
| Minimum | Other Fulfillment Equipment | |
| Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items] | |
| Estimated useful lives of assets | 3 years |
| Maximum | Other Fulfillment Equipment | |
| Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items] | |
| Estimated useful lives of assets | 7 years |
Description of Business and Accounting Policies - Leases (Details) |
12 Months Ended |
|---|---|
Dec. 31, 2019 | |
| Equipment | Minimum | |
| Lessee, Lease, Description [Line Items] | |
| Lessee, operating and finance lease, term of contract | 1 year |
| Equipment | Maximum | |
| Lessee, Lease, Description [Line Items] | |
| Lessee, operating and finance lease, term of contract | 10 years |
| Property | Minimum | |
| Lessee, Lease, Description [Line Items] | |
| Lessee, operating and finance lease, term of contract | 1 year |
| Property | Maximum | |
| Lessee, Lease, Description [Line Items] | |
| Lessee, operating and finance lease, term of contract | 20 years |
Description of Business and Accounting Policies - Goodwill (Details) |
Apr. 01, 2019
USD ($)
|
|---|---|
| Accounting Policies [Abstract] | |
| Goodwill impairment | $ 0 |
Description of Business and Accounting Policies - Video and Music Content (Details) - USD ($) $ in Billions |
12 Months Ended | |
|---|---|---|
Dec. 31, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
|
| Accounting Policies [Abstract] | ||
| Weighted Average Life, Capitalized Video Content | 2 years 8 months 12 days | |
| Video and Music Content, Capitalized Costs | $ 5.8 | $ 3.8 |
| Video and Music Content, Expense | $ 7.8 | $ 6.7 |
Description of Business and Accounting Policies - Investments (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions |
Dec. 31, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
|---|---|---|
| Accounting Policies [Abstract] | ||
| Equity Securities without Readily Determinable Fair Value, Amount | $ 1,500 | $ 282 |
Description of Business and Accounting Policies - Accrued Expenses and Other (Details) - USD ($) $ in Billions |
Dec. 31, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
|---|---|---|
| Accounting Policies [Abstract] | ||
| Payroll-related liabilities | $ 4.3 | $ 3.4 |
| Unredeemed gift certificates | $ 3.3 | $ 2.8 |
Description of Business and Accounting Policies - Unearned Revenue (Details) - USD ($) $ in Billions |
12 Months Ended | |
|---|---|---|
Dec. 31, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
|
| Accounting Policies [Abstract] | ||
| Contract with Customer, Liability | $ 10.2 | $ 7.9 |
| Contract with Customer, Liability, Revenue Recognized | 6.3 | |
| Contract with Customer, Liability, Noncurrent | 2.0 | $ 1.4 |
| Revenue, Remaining Performance Obligation, Amount | $ 29.8 | |
| Revenue, Remaining Performance Obligation, Expected Timing of Satisfaction, Period | 3 years 3 months 18 days |
Description of Business and Accounting Policies - Foreign Currency (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions |
12 Months Ended | ||
|---|---|---|---|
Dec. 31, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
Dec. 31, 2017 |
|
| Accounting Policies [Abstract] | |||
| Transaction gain (loss) arising from intercompany foreign currency transactions | $ 95 | $ (186) | $ 202 |
Financial Instruments - Gross Gains and Gross Losses Realized on Sales of Available-For-Sale Marketable Securities (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions |
12 Months Ended | ||
|---|---|---|---|
Dec. 31, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
Dec. 31, 2017 |
|
| Debt Securities, Available-for-sale, Realized Gain (Loss) [Abstract] | |||
| Realized gains | $ 11 | $ 2 | $ 5 |
| Realized losses | $ 7 | $ 9 | $ 11 |
Financial Instruments - Contractual Maturities (Details) $ in Millions |
Dec. 31, 2019
USD ($)
|
|---|---|
| Amortized Cost | |
| Due within one year | $ 35,064 |
| Due after one year through five years | 9,262 |
| Due after five years through ten years | 301 |
| Due after ten years | 680 |
| Total | 45,307 |
| Estimated Fair Value | |
| Due within one year | 35,071 |
| Due after one year through five years | 9,304 |
| Due after five years through ten years | 302 |
| Due after ten years | 682 |
| Total | $ 45,359 |
Financial Instruments - Reconciliation to Cash Flow (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions |
Dec. 31, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
Dec. 31, 2017 |
Dec. 31, 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reconciliation to Cash Flow [Abstract] | ||||
| Cash and Cash Equivalents | $ 36,092 | $ 31,750 | ||
| Restricted cash included in accounts receivable, net and other | 276 | 418 | ||
| Restricted cash included in other assets | 42 | 5 | ||
| Total cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash shown in the consolidated statements of cash flows | $ 36,410 | $ 32,173 | $ 21,856 | $ 19,934 |
Property and Equipment - Components (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions |
Dec. 31, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
Dec. 31, 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items] | |||
| Gross property and equipment | $ 119,680 | $ 95,770 | |
| Total accumulated depreciation | 46,975 | 33,973 | |
| Total property and equipment, net | 72,705 | 61,797 | $ 48,866 |
| Land and buildings | |||
| Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items] | |||
| Gross property and equipment | 39,223 | 31,741 | |
| Equipment | |||
| Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items] | |||
| Gross property and equipment | 71,310 | 54,591 | |
| Other assets | |||
| Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items] | |||
| Gross property and equipment | 3,111 | 2,577 | |
| Construction in progress | |||
| Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items] | |||
| Gross property and equipment | $ 6,036 | $ 6,861 |
Property and Equipment - Additional Information (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions |
12 Months Ended | ||
|---|---|---|---|
Dec. 31, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
Dec. 31, 2017 |
|
| Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract] | |||
| Depreciation expense | $ 15,150 | $ 12,138 | $ 8,831 |
| Amortization of capital lease assets | $ 7,300 | $ 5,400 | |
| Amortization of lease assets | $ 10,094 | ||
Leases Additional Information (Details) - USD ($) $ in Billions |
Dec. 31, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
|---|---|---|
| Leases [Abstract] | ||
| Capital Leased Assets, Gross | $ 36.1 | |
| Finance Lease, Right-of-Use Asset | $ 57.4 | |
| Capital Leases, Accumulated Depreciation | $ 19.8 | |
| Finance Lease, Right-of-Use-Asset, Accumulated Amortization | $ 30.0 |
Leases Lease Costs (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions |
12 Months Ended | ||
|---|---|---|---|
Dec. 31, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
Dec. 31, 2017 |
|
| Lease, Cost [Abstract] | |||
| Operating Lease Cost | $ 3,669 | ||
| Finance lease cost: | |||
| Amortization of lease assets | 10,094 | ||
| Interest on lease liabilities | 695 | ||
| Finance lease cost | 10,789 | ||
| Variable lease cost | 966 | ||
| Total lease cost | $ 15,424 | ||
| Rental expense under operating lease agreements | $ 3,400 | $ 2,200 | |
Leases Other Operating and Finance Lease Information (Details) |
Dec. 31, 2019 |
|---|---|
| Leases [Abstract] | |
| Operating Lease, Weighted Average Remaining Lease Term | 11 years 6 months |
| Finance Lease, Weighted Average Remaining Lease Term | 5 years 6 months |
| Operating Lease, Weighted Average Discount Rate, Percent | 3.10% |
| Finance Lease, Weighted Average Discount Rate, Percent | 2.70% |
Leases Operating and Finance Lease Reconciliation (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions |
Dec. 31, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
|---|---|---|
| Leases [Abstract] | ||
| Gross lease liabilities - operating leases | $ 31,963 | |
| Gross lease liabilities - finance leases | 28,875 | |
| Gross lease liabilities | 60,838 | |
| Impute interest - operating leases | 6,128 | |
| Imputed interest - finance leases | 1,896 | |
| Imputed interest | (8,024) | |
| Present value of operating leases | 25,835 | |
| Present value of finance leases | 26,979 | |
| Present value of lease liabilities | 52,814 | |
| Current portion of operating leases | 3,139 | |
| Current portion of finance leases | 9,884 | |
| Current portion of lease liabilities | (13,023) | |
| Total long-term operating lease liabilities | 22,696 | |
| Total long-term finance lease liabilities | 17,095 | |
| Long-term lease liabilities | $ 39,791 | $ 9,650 |
Acquisitions, Goodwill, and Acquired Intangible Assets - Additional Information (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions |
12 Months Ended | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sep. 11, 2018 |
Apr. 12, 2018 |
Aug. 28, 2017 |
May 12, 2017 |
Dec. 31, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
Dec. 31, 2017 |
|
| Business Acquisition [Line Items] | |||||||
| Acquisitions, net of cash acquired | $ 2,461 | $ 2,186 | $ 13,972 | ||||
| Other Acquisitions | |||||||
| Business Acquisition [Line Items] | |||||||
| Aggregate purchase price | $ 315 | $ 57 | $ 204 | ||||
| Souq | |||||||
| Business Acquisition [Line Items] | |||||||
| Acquisitions, net of cash acquired | $ 583 | ||||||
| Whole Foods Market | |||||||
| Business Acquisition [Line Items] | |||||||
| Acquisitions, net of cash acquired | $ 13,200 | ||||||
| Ring Inc. | |||||||
| Business Acquisition [Line Items] | |||||||
| Acquisitions, net of cash acquired | $ 839 | ||||||
| PillPack, Inc. | |||||||
| Business Acquisition [Line Items] | |||||||
| Acquisitions, net of cash acquired | $ 753 | ||||||
Acquisitions, Goodwill, and Acquired Intangible Assets - Summary of Goodwill Activity by Segment (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions |
12 Months Ended | |
|---|---|---|
Dec. 31, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
|
| Goodwill [Roll Forward] | ||
| Goodwill, balance at beginning of period | $ 14,548 | $ 13,350 |
| New acquisitions | 189 | 1,228 |
| Other adjustments | 17 | (30) |
| Goodwill, balance at end of period | 14,754 | 14,548 |
| North America | ||
| Goodwill [Roll Forward] | ||
| Goodwill, balance at beginning of period | 12,191 | 11,165 |
| New acquisitions | 71 | 1,031 |
| Other adjustments | 2 | (5) |
| Goodwill, balance at end of period | 12,264 | 12,191 |
| International | ||
| Goodwill [Roll Forward] | ||
| Goodwill, balance at beginning of period | 1,270 | 1,108 |
| New acquisitions | 29 | 177 |
| Other adjustments | 1 | (15) |
| Goodwill, balance at end of period | 1,300 | 1,270 |
| AWS | ||
| Goodwill [Roll Forward] | ||
| Goodwill, balance at beginning of period | 1,087 | 1,077 |
| New acquisitions | 89 | 20 |
| Other adjustments | 14 | (10) |
| Goodwill, balance at end of period | $ 1,190 | $ 1,087 |
Acquisitions, Goodwill, and Acquired Intangible Assets - Expected Future Amortization Expense of Acquired Intangible Assets (Details) $ in Millions |
Dec. 31, 2019
USD ($)
|
|---|---|
| Year Ended December 31, | |
| 2020 | $ 486 |
| 2021 | 424 |
| 2022 | 391 |
| 2023 | 334 |
| 2024 | 270 |
| Thereafter | 2,116 |
| Acquired intangibles | $ 4,021 |
Debt - Future Principal Payment for Debt (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions |
Dec. 31, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
|---|---|---|
| Year Ended December 31, | ||
| 2020 | $ 1,307 | |
| 2021 | 1,141 | |
| 2022 | 1,773 | |
| 2023 | 1,510 | |
| 2024 | 3,339 | |
| Thereafter | 15,750 | |
| Total debt | $ 24,820 | $ 24,965 |
Commitments and Contingencies - Pledged Assets (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions |
Dec. 31, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
|---|---|---|
| Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] | ||
| Pledged or restricted cash, cash equivalents, marketable securities, and other assets | $ 994 | $ 575 |
Commitments and Contingencies - Legal Proceedings (Details) - Pending Litigation $ in Millions |
1 Months Ended | |
|---|---|---|
|
Oct. 31, 2013
claim
|
Feb. 28, 2017
USD ($)
|
|
| Nationwide Breach of Contract and Unjust Enrichment Claims | ||
| Loss Contingencies [Line Items] | ||
| Number of claims filed | claim | 1 | |
| Legal Proceedings with Eolas Technologies, Inc. | Minimum | ||
| Loss Contingencies [Line Items] | ||
| Estimate of possible loss | $ 130 | |
| Legal Proceedings with Eolas Technologies, Inc. | Maximum | ||
| Loss Contingencies [Line Items] | ||
| Estimate of possible loss | $ 250 |
Stockholders' Equity - Restricted Stock Unit Activity (Details) - Restricted Stock Units - $ / shares shares in Millions |
12 Months Ended | ||
|---|---|---|---|
Dec. 31, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
Dec. 31, 2017 |
|
| Number of Units | |||
| Beginning balance (in shares) | 15.9 | 20.1 | 19.8 |
| Units granted (in shares) | 6.7 | 5.0 | 8.9 |
| Units vested (in shares) | (6.6) | (7.1) | (6.8) |
| Units forfeited (in shares) | (1.7) | (2.1) | (1.8) |
| Ending balance (in shares) | 14.3 | 15.9 | 20.1 |
| Weighted Average Grant-Date Fair Value | |||
| Beginning Balance | $ 1,024 | $ 725 | $ 506 |
| Units granted | 1,808 | 1,522 | 946 |
| Units vested | 827 | 578 | 400 |
| Units forfeited | 1,223 | 862 | 649 |
| Ending Balance | $ 1,458 | $ 1,024 | $ 725 |
Stockholders' Equity - Scheduled Vesting for Outstanding Restricted Stock Units (Details) - Restricted Stock Units - shares shares in Millions |
Dec. 31, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
Dec. 31, 2017 |
Dec. 31, 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scheduled vesting — restricted stock units | ||||
| Year Ended December 31, 2020 | 6.0 | |||
| Year Ended December 31, 2021 | 5.1 | |||
| Year Ended December 31, 2022 | 2.1 | |||
| Year Ended December 31, 2023 | 1.0 | |||
| Year Ended December 31, 2024 | 0.0 | |||
| Thereafter | 0.1 | |||
| Total | 14.3 | 15.9 | 20.1 | 19.8 |
Income Taxes - Components of Provision for Income Taxes, Net (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions |
3 Months Ended | 12 Months Ended | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dec. 31, 2019 |
Sep. 30, 2019 |
Jun. 30, 2019 |
Mar. 31, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
Sep. 30, 2018 |
Jun. 30, 2018 |
Mar. 31, 2018 |
Dec. 31, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
Dec. 31, 2017 |
|
| International: | |||||||||||
| Provision for income taxes, net | $ 786 | $ 494 | $ 257 | $ 836 | $ 327 | $ 508 | $ 74 | $ 287 | $ 2,374 | $ 1,197 | $ 769 |
| U.S. Federal | |||||||||||
| U.S. Federal: | |||||||||||
| Current | 162 | (129) | (137) | ||||||||
| Deferred | 914 | 565 | (202) | ||||||||
| International: | |||||||||||
| Provision for income taxes, net | 1,076 | 436 | (339) | ||||||||
| U.S. State | |||||||||||
| U.S. State: | |||||||||||
| Current | 276 | 322 | 211 | ||||||||
| Deferred | 8 | 5 | (26) | ||||||||
| International: | |||||||||||
| Provision for income taxes, net | 284 | 327 | 185 | ||||||||
| International | |||||||||||
| International: | |||||||||||
| Current | 1,140 | 563 | 724 | ||||||||
| Deferred | (126) | (129) | 199 | ||||||||
| Provision for income taxes, net | $ 1,014 | $ 434 | $ 923 | ||||||||
Income Taxes - U.S. and International Components of Income Before Income Taxes (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions |
3 Months Ended | 12 Months Ended | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dec. 31, 2019 |
Sep. 30, 2019 |
Jun. 30, 2019 |
Mar. 31, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
Sep. 30, 2018 |
Jun. 30, 2018 |
Mar. 31, 2018 |
Dec. 31, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
Dec. 31, 2017 |
|
| Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract] | |||||||||||
| U.S. | $ 13,285 | $ 11,157 | $ 5,630 | ||||||||
| International | 691 | 104 | (1,824) | ||||||||
| Income before income taxes | $ 4,053 | $ 2,632 | $ 2,889 | $ 4,401 | $ 3,350 | $ 3,390 | $ 2,605 | $ 1,916 | $ 13,976 | $ 11,261 | $ 3,806 |
Income Taxes - Items Accounting for Differences Between Income Taxes Computed at Federal Statutory Rate and Provision Recorded for Income Taxes (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions |
3 Months Ended | 12 Months Ended | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dec. 31, 2019 |
Sep. 30, 2019 |
Jun. 30, 2019 |
Mar. 31, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
Sep. 30, 2018 |
Jun. 30, 2018 |
Mar. 31, 2018 |
Dec. 31, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
Dec. 31, 2017 |
|
| Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract] | |||||||||||
| Income taxes computed at the federal statutory rate | $ 2,935 | $ 2,365 | $ 1,332 | ||||||||
| Effect of: | |||||||||||
| Tax impact of foreign earnings | 381 | 119 | 1,178 | ||||||||
| State taxes, net of federal benefits | 221 | 263 | 114 | ||||||||
| Tax credits | (466) | (419) | (220) | ||||||||
| Stock-based compensation | (850) | (1,086) | (917) | ||||||||
| 2017 Impact of U.S. Tax Act | 0 | (157) | (789) | ||||||||
| Other, net | 153 | 112 | 71 | ||||||||
| Provision for income taxes, net | $ 786 | $ 494 | $ 257 | $ 836 | $ 327 | $ 508 | $ 74 | $ 287 | 2,374 | 1,197 | 769 |
| Excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation | $ 1,400 | $ 1,600 | $ 1,300 | ||||||||
Income Taxes - Deferred Income Tax Assets and Liabilities (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions |
Dec. 31, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
|---|---|---|
| Deferred tax assets: | ||
| Loss carryforwards U.S. - Federal/States | $ 188 | $ 222 |
| Loss carryforwards - Foreign | 3,232 | 2,551 |
| Accrued liabilities, reserves, and other expenses | 1,373 | 1,064 |
| Stock-based compensation | 1,585 | 1,293 |
| Depreciation and amortization | 2,385 | 2,386 |
| Operating lease liabilities | 6,648 | 0 |
| Other items | 728 | 484 |
| Tax credits | 772 | 734 |
| Total gross deferred tax assets | 16,911 | 8,734 |
| Less valuation allowance | (5,754) | (4,950) |
| Deferred tax assets, net of valuation allowances | 11,157 | 3,784 |
| Deferred tax liabilities: | ||
| Depreciation and amortization | (5,507) | (3,579) |
| Operating lease assets | (6,331) | 0 |
| Other items | (640) | (749) |
| Net deferred tax liabilities, net of valuation allowance | $ (1,321) | $ (544) |
Income Taxes - Reconciliation of Tax Contingencies (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions |
12 Months Ended | ||
|---|---|---|---|
Dec. 31, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
Dec. 31, 2017 |
|
| Reconciliation of Unrecognized Tax Benefits, Excluding Amounts Pertaining to Examined Tax Returns [Roll Forward] | |||
| Gross tax contingencies – beginning of period | $ 3,414 | $ 2,309 | $ 1,710 |
| Gross increases to tax positions in prior periods | 216 | 164 | 223 |
| Gross decreases to tax positions in prior periods | (181) | (90) | (139) |
| Gross increases to current period tax positions | 707 | 1,088 | 518 |
| Settlements with tax authorities | (207) | (36) | 0 |
| Lapse of statute of limitations | (26) | (21) | (3) |
| Gross tax contingencies - end of period | 3,923 | $ 3,414 | $ 2,309 |
| Tax contingencies, that if fully recognized, would decrease our effective tax rate | $ 2,100 | ||
Segment Information - Additional Information (Details) $ in Millions |
12 Months Ended | ||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Dec. 31, 2019
USD ($)
segment
|
Dec. 31, 2018
USD ($)
|
Dec. 31, 2017
USD ($)
|
|
| Segment Reporting [Abstract] | |||
| Number of operating segments | segment | 3 | ||
| Segment Reporting Information [Line Items] | |||
| Property and equipment, net | $ 72,705 | $ 61,797 | $ 48,866 |
| United States | |||
| Segment Reporting Information [Line Items] | |||
| Property and equipment, net | 53,000 | 45,100 | 35,500 |
| Rest of world | |||
| Segment Reporting Information [Line Items] | |||
| Property and equipment, net | $ 19,700 | $ 16,700 | $ 13,400 |
Segment Information - Reportable Segments and Reconciliation to Consolidated Net Income (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions |
3 Months Ended | 12 Months Ended | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dec. 31, 2019 |
Sep. 30, 2019 |
Jun. 30, 2019 |
Mar. 31, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
Sep. 30, 2018 |
Jun. 30, 2018 |
Mar. 31, 2018 |
Dec. 31, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
Dec. 31, 2017 |
|
| Segment Reporting Information [Line Items] | |||||||||||
| Total net sales | $ 87,437 | $ 69,981 | $ 63,404 | $ 59,700 | $ 72,383 | $ 56,576 | $ 52,886 | $ 51,042 | $ 280,522 | $ 232,887 | $ 177,866 |
| Operating expenses | 265,981 | 220,466 | 173,760 | ||||||||
| Operating income (loss) | 3,879 | 3,157 | 3,084 | 4,420 | 3,786 | 3,724 | 2,983 | 1,927 | 14,541 | 12,421 | 4,106 |
| Total non-operating income (expense) | (565) | (1,160) | (300) | ||||||||
| Provision for income taxes | (786) | (494) | (257) | (836) | (327) | (508) | (74) | (287) | (2,374) | (1,197) | (769) |
| Equity-method investment activity, net of tax | (14) | 9 | (4) | ||||||||
| Net income | $ 3,268 | $ 2,134 | $ 2,625 | $ 3,561 | $ 3,027 | $ 2,883 | $ 2,534 | $ 1,629 | 11,588 | 10,073 | 3,033 |
| North America | |||||||||||
| Segment Reporting Information [Line Items] | |||||||||||
| Total net sales | 170,773 | 141,366 | 106,110 | ||||||||
| Operating expenses | 163,740 | 134,099 | 103,273 | ||||||||
| Operating income (loss) | 7,033 | 7,267 | 2,837 | ||||||||
| International | |||||||||||
| Segment Reporting Information [Line Items] | |||||||||||
| Total net sales | 74,723 | 65,866 | 54,297 | ||||||||
| Operating expenses | 76,416 | 68,008 | 57,359 | ||||||||
| Operating income (loss) | (1,693) | (2,142) | (3,062) | ||||||||
| AWS | |||||||||||
| Segment Reporting Information [Line Items] | |||||||||||
| Total net sales | 35,026 | 25,655 | 17,459 | ||||||||
| Operating expenses | 25,825 | 18,359 | 13,128 | ||||||||
| Operating income (loss) | $ 9,201 | $ 7,296 | $ 4,331 | ||||||||
Segment Information - Disaggregation of Revenue (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions |
3 Months Ended | 12 Months Ended | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dec. 31, 2019 |
Sep. 30, 2019 |
Jun. 30, 2019 |
Mar. 31, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
Sep. 30, 2018 |
Jun. 30, 2018 |
Mar. 31, 2018 |
Dec. 31, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
Dec. 31, 2017 |
|
| Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items] | |||||||||||
| Total net sales | $ 87,437 | $ 69,981 | $ 63,404 | $ 59,700 | $ 72,383 | $ 56,576 | $ 52,886 | $ 51,042 | $ 280,522 | $ 232,887 | $ 177,866 |
| Online stores | |||||||||||
| Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items] | |||||||||||
| Total net sales | 141,247 | 122,987 | 108,354 | ||||||||
| Physical stores | |||||||||||
| Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items] | |||||||||||
| Total net sales | 17,192 | 17,224 | 5,798 | ||||||||
| Third-party seller services | |||||||||||
| Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items] | |||||||||||
| Total net sales | 53,762 | 42,745 | 31,881 | ||||||||
| Subscription services | |||||||||||
| Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items] | |||||||||||
| Total net sales | 19,210 | 14,168 | 9,721 | ||||||||
| AWS | |||||||||||
| Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items] | |||||||||||
| Total net sales | 35,026 | 25,655 | 17,459 | ||||||||
| Other | |||||||||||
| Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items] | |||||||||||
| Total net sales | $ 14,085 | $ 10,108 | $ 4,653 | ||||||||
Segment Information Net Sales Attributed to Countries Representing Portion of Consolidated Net Sales (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions |
3 Months Ended | 12 Months Ended | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dec. 31, 2019 |
Sep. 30, 2019 |
Jun. 30, 2019 |
Mar. 31, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
Sep. 30, 2018 |
Jun. 30, 2018 |
Mar. 31, 2018 |
Dec. 31, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
Dec. 31, 2017 |
|
| Segment Reporting, Revenue Reconciling Item | |||||||||||
| Total net sales | $ 87,437 | $ 69,981 | $ 63,404 | $ 59,700 | $ 72,383 | $ 56,576 | $ 52,886 | $ 51,042 | $ 280,522 | $ 232,887 | $ 177,866 |
| United States | |||||||||||
| Segment Reporting, Revenue Reconciling Item | |||||||||||
| Total net sales | 193,636 | 160,146 | 120,486 | ||||||||
| Germany | |||||||||||
| Segment Reporting, Revenue Reconciling Item | |||||||||||
| Total net sales | 22,232 | 19,881 | 16,951 | ||||||||
| United Kingdom | |||||||||||
| Segment Reporting, Revenue Reconciling Item | |||||||||||
| Total net sales | 17,527 | 14,524 | 11,372 | ||||||||
| Japan | |||||||||||
| Segment Reporting, Revenue Reconciling Item | |||||||||||
| Total net sales | 16,002 | 13,829 | 11,907 | ||||||||
| Rest of world | |||||||||||
| Segment Reporting, Revenue Reconciling Item | |||||||||||
| Total net sales | $ 31,125 | $ 24,507 | $ 17,150 | ||||||||
Segment Information - Reconciliation of Assets from Segment to Consolidated (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions |
Dec. 31, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
Dec. 31, 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Segment Reporting, Asset Reconciling Item [Line Items] | |||
| Total assets | $ 225,248 | $ 162,648 | $ 131,310 |
| Operating Segments | North America | |||
| Segment Reporting, Asset Reconciling Item [Line Items] | |||
| Total assets | 72,277 | 47,251 | 35,844 |
| Operating Segments | International | |||
| Segment Reporting, Asset Reconciling Item [Line Items] | |||
| Total assets | 30,709 | 19,923 | 18,014 |
| Operating Segments | AWS | |||
| Segment Reporting, Asset Reconciling Item [Line Items] | |||
| Total assets | 36,500 | 26,340 | 18,660 |
| Corporate | |||
| Segment Reporting, Asset Reconciling Item [Line Items] | |||
| Total assets | $ 85,762 | $ 69,134 | $ 58,792 |
Segment Information - Reconciliation of Property and Equipment from Segments to Consolidated (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions |
Dec. 31, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
Dec. 31, 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Segment Reporting, Other Significant Reconciling Item [Line Items] | |||
| Property and equipment, net | $ 72,705 | $ 61,797 | $ 48,866 |
| Operating Segments | North America | |||
| Segment Reporting, Other Significant Reconciling Item [Line Items] | |||
| Property and equipment, net | 31,719 | 27,052 | 20,401 |
| Operating Segments | International | |||
| Segment Reporting, Other Significant Reconciling Item [Line Items] | |||
| Property and equipment, net | 9,566 | 8,552 | 7,425 |
| Operating Segments | AWS | |||
| Segment Reporting, Other Significant Reconciling Item [Line Items] | |||
| Property and equipment, net | 23,481 | 18,851 | 14,885 |
| Corporate | |||
| Segment Reporting, Other Significant Reconciling Item [Line Items] | |||
| Property and equipment, net | $ 7,939 | $ 7,342 | $ 6,155 |
Segment Information - Depreciation Expense, by Segment (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions |
12 Months Ended | ||
|---|---|---|---|
Dec. 31, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
Dec. 31, 2017 |
|
| Segment Reporting Information [Line Items] | |||
| Depreciation expense | $ 15,150 | $ 12,138 | $ 8,831 |
| North America | |||
| Segment Reporting Information [Line Items] | |||
| Depreciation expense | 5,106 | 4,415 | 3,029 |
| International | |||
| Segment Reporting Information [Line Items] | |||
| Depreciation expense | 1,886 | 1,628 | 1,278 |
| AWS | |||
| Segment Reporting Information [Line Items] | |||
| Depreciation expense | $ 8,158 | $ 6,095 | $ 4,524 |
Quarterly Results (Unaudited) (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, shares in Millions, $ in Millions |
3 Months Ended | 12 Months Ended | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dec. 31, 2019 |
Sep. 30, 2019 |
Jun. 30, 2019 |
Mar. 31, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
Sep. 30, 2018 |
Jun. 30, 2018 |
Mar. 31, 2018 |
Dec. 31, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
Dec. 31, 2017 |
|
| Quarterly Financial Information Disclosure [Abstract] | |||||||||||
| Total net sales | $ 87,437 | $ 69,981 | $ 63,404 | $ 59,700 | $ 72,383 | $ 56,576 | $ 52,886 | $ 51,042 | $ 280,522 | $ 232,887 | $ 177,866 |
| Operating income | 3,879 | 3,157 | 3,084 | 4,420 | 3,786 | 3,724 | 2,983 | 1,927 | 14,541 | 12,421 | 4,106 |
| Income before income taxes | 4,053 | 2,632 | 2,889 | 4,401 | 3,350 | 3,390 | 2,605 | 1,916 | 13,976 | 11,261 | 3,806 |
| Provision for income taxes | (786) | (494) | (257) | (836) | (327) | (508) | (74) | (287) | (2,374) | (1,197) | (769) |
| Net income | $ 3,268 | $ 2,134 | $ 2,625 | $ 3,561 | $ 3,027 | $ 2,883 | $ 2,534 | $ 1,629 | $ 11,588 | $ 10,073 | $ 3,033 |
| Basic earnings per share | $ 6.58 | $ 4.31 | $ 5.32 | $ 7.24 | $ 6.18 | $ 5.91 | $ 5.21 | $ 3.36 | $ 23.46 | $ 20.68 | $ 6.32 |
| Diluted earnings per share | $ 6.47 | $ 4.23 | $ 5.22 | $ 7.09 | $ 6.04 | $ 5.75 | $ 5.07 | $ 3.27 | $ 23.01 | $ 20.14 | $ 6.15 |
| Shares used in computation of earnings per share: | |||||||||||
| Basic (in shares) | 496 | 495 | 493 | 491 | 490 | 488 | 486 | 484 | 494 | 487 | 480 |
| Diluted (in shares) | 505 | 504 | 503 | 502 | 501 | 501 | 500 | 498 | 504 | 500 | 493 |