For the fourth quarter, which includes the holiday season, Amazon reported $21.27 billion in sales. Sounds like a lot of money, but compared to what? How about 2008, when Amazon sold less than that ($19.17 billion) for the whole year.
But that’s not the only big total. Amazon also reported its total sales for 2012 topped $61 billion, up $13 billion from last year. In 2007, Amazon’s annual net sales were $14.84 billion. In other words, Amazon’s sales have quadrupled over the past five years. But profit? Not so much. Amazon ended 2012 with a $39 million loss on the year, which the company blamed on the cost of delivering all the stuff it sells, as well as on the price of digital content.