Amazon owns the cloud-computing platform Amazon Web Services, a major contributor to its market value.
Amazon Web Services, usually called AWS, is Amazon’s cloud-computing division. It provides computing power, storage, databases, networking, analytics, and other services that organizations access over the internet. AWS launched in 2006, initially offering services such as Amazon Simple Storage Service and Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud.
Amazon began as an online bookstore founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994. It expanded into many retail categories and then developed logistics, advertising, streaming, devices, and cloud infrastructure. AWS became especially important because cloud services can produce different margins and revenue patterns from traditional retail.
Amazon’s market capitalization reflects investors’ expectations for the entire company, not only its online stores. The business is therefore often discussed as a combination of retail, cloud computing, advertising, and subscription operations. AWS also competes with Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud in the global cloud market.