Amazon operates the Amazon Web Services cloud division, a major contributor to its market valuation.
Amazon Web Services, usually called AWS, is the cloud-computing business of Amazon. AWS launched in 2006 and provides computing power, storage, databases, networking, analytics, and other services to companies, governments, and developers. Customers can rent infrastructure and software capabilities instead of purchasing and maintaining all the required equipment themselves.
AWS became one of Amazon’s most important profit sources. Its operating results helped investors evaluate Amazon as more than an online retailer, because the company combines e-commerce, cloud computing, advertising, logistics, devices, and digital media. The performance of AWS can therefore influence Amazon’s share price and overall market capitalization.
AWS is sometimes confused with Amazon’s retail website or with Microsoft Azure, its closest major cloud rival. Amazon’s corporate headquarters are in Seattle, while AWS operates data centers and regions around the world. The division’s launch preceded many later consumer cloud services and helped popularize infrastructure rented over the internet.