What Did Amazon Do This Week? [FREE ISSUE]
Looming tariffs are not good business or good for business. Story count: +60
AMAZON WARNS SELLERS, PREPS FOR PRICING CHAOS
While Google and Meta were getting slapped about in court this week, Amazon had different issues to contend with. How to stop Trump’s tariffs from screwing them down the line, should he not continue the pause after 90 days. The company is already emailing sellers to assess the damage, but the broader concern is that its entire retail structure — built on price elasticity, Chinese supply chains, and seller volume — has no slack to absorb a 54% import tariff shock.
Unlike Shein or Temu, Amazon isn’t an interloper, it’s the incumbent, and that cuts both ways. If Trump lets the clock run out on the tariff reprieve, Amazon doesn’t just pass costs to consumers, it risks eroding Prime’s value proposition. With margins already thin on its marketplace goods, there’s no buffer. Shoppers will feel it, and competitors like Walmart, with a growing U.S. supply base and stronger control over in-store inventory, may be better insulated.
The company faces a shadowban lawsuit alleging algorithmic suppression of sellers, and while it’s a fringe case now, it plays into a growing antitrust narrative — especially if it intersects with how Amazon responds to the tariffs (e.g., who gets visibility when prices spike). Meanwhile, Jassy continues his internal campaign to reassert Amazon’s ‘Day One’ ethos, invoking startup culture while preparing to report Q1 earnings in a few days — and no doubt fend off questions on AI spend, tariff exposure, and advertising growth.
SO WHAT?
Amazon is trying to hold two conflicting positions at once. The company wants to be the future of AI infrastructure, with its own chips and OS. But its cashflow still depends on low-margin goods from China and a marketplace model now exposed to geopolitical risk. Trump’s tariffs don’t just threaten Amazon’s pricing — they expose how dependent the company still is on a fragile, globalised retail backbone.
If tariffs go full tilt in 90 days, Amazon will have to do more than pass costs along. Jassy and co will need to rethink sourcing, marketplace policy, seller mix, and Prime’s price-to-value ratio. And it’ll need to do so while fending off rising regulatory pressure, intensifying AI competition from Microsoft and Google, and domestic retail threats from a more agile, less globally entangled Walmart.
The next earnings call will be important — not for headline revenue, but for how Amazon narrates the future. Tariff-driven inflation, OS consolidation, and content rationalisation all suggest a shift: away from the maximalist, globalised Amazon of the 2010s toward a tighter, more defensive version, built to survive a world where global scale is no longer a free pass.
COMPANY ↓
CEO, board of directors, HQ, global offices, investor relations, annual reports, financial statements, legal, public policy, CSR, ESG, corporate culture, ethics, risk management, strategic partnerships, leadership, structure +
Andy Jassy reflected on his long tenure at Amazon, emphasising leadership values and the company’s evolution. /About Amazon
Amazon announced its Q1 2025 earnings results would be webcast on April 25. /Amazon Press
CONTENT ↓
Prime Video, Amazon Studios, Music, Audible, Twitch, Goodreads, Prime Gaming, Appstore, Books, Wondary, Esports, MGM, Freevee, IMDb +
Amazon passed on a drama titled Adolescence despite being pitched to Prime Video head Jen Salke. /Broadcast Now
Henry Cavill exited Lionsgate’s Highlander remake to star in the project at Amazon MGM Studios. /Hollywood Reporter
Amazon confirmed Highlander reboot starring Henry Cavill with Chad Stahelski attached to direct. /Deadline
Amazon secured true-crime documentary deal on the Kray twins through Sphere and Abacus Media Rights. /Deadline
Amazon and Legendary announced a Pacific Rim TV series for Prime Video with Eric Heisserer developing. /Variety
Amazon canceled sitcom Clean Slate as part of its ongoing Prime Video content review. /Variety
Amazon canceled Citadel spinoffs Honey Bunny and Diana amid franchise consolidation efforts. /Variety
TECHNOLOGY ↓
Alexa, Ads, FIRE TV, Echo, Kindle, A9, AWS, Just Walk Out, Silk, Rekognition, Eero, Ring, Pay, Amazon Air, Prime Air, Aurora, Redshift +
AWS made 48 announcements this week. /AWS
Amazon Vega OS for Echo and Fire TV, alongside Kepler SDK for developers building voice-first apps is on the way per leaks. /Lowpass
Binance services began to recover after a major network interruption, with infrastructure links to AWS under review. /Reuters
RETAIL ↓
Amazon.com, Marketplace, Amazon Prime, Amazon Go, Whole Foods, Fresh, Pantry, Souq, Treasure Truck, private label, PillPack, Pharmacy, Prime Now, BodyLabs, delivery, logistics +
Amazon surveyed sellers on how Trump's tariffs were impacting operations and costs. /CNBC
Amazon confronted further supply chain disruptions linked to U.S.-China trade tensions and new tariffs. /WSJ
Amazon launched its first-ever UK book sale, offering deals across a wide selection of titles. /ChannelX
Amazon set a June deadline for sellers to ship inventory for Prime Day 2025. /EcommerceBytes
ChannelEngine became a Platinum Partner with Amazon, reflecting its top-tier status in the partner ecosystem. /ChannelX
MISC ↓
Charity, warehouses, energy, scandals, space, profiles, industrial action, Jeff Bezos, MacKenzie Scott +
Amazon partnered with Manara to train cloud engineers in the Gulf region as part of its regional tech outreach. /Agbi
Amazon faced a lawsuit from a former attorney alleging wrongful shadow banning and retaliation. /Yahoo Finance
Bezos-owned, Blue Origin launched an all-female celebrity space crew including Katy Perry and Lauren Sánchez, to worldwide online derision. /CNBC
LINKS ↓
POVs, data, nuggets, books, analysis, competitor info, industry info, reports, insights +
Meta reportedly approached Amazon and Microsoft to help fund its open-source LLaMA AI initiative. /The Information
WD_DTW also covers OpenAI and now Google. Each offers exclusive intel, weekly deep dives, and critical analysis, saving you tons of time. Available in monthly and annual subscriptions, cancel anytime. Subscribe today; here for OpenAI and here for Google.
Was this forwarded to you? Want to get it every week? Subscribe ↓