Analysis: Bezos’s departure reflects Amazon shift from retailer to tech company

Amazon’s decision to hand Andy Jassy, head of the Amazon Web Services' (AWS) cloud computing business, the job of replacing Jeff Bezos as Amazon’s chief executive completes Amazon’s shift from being a retailer to a technology company.

AWS is pivotal to Amazon’s business. It accounts for a massive 52% of Amazon’s quarterly operating profit, but only 12% of total sales. It will continue to be the engine of Amazon’s growth and its most important unit for years to come.

Technology is at the heart of Amazon’s operations, and its success is driven by its strength in the key themes disrupting the tech, media, and telecoms (TMT) sectors, including cloud, artificial intelligence (AI) and the future of work.

In GlobalData’s sector scorecards, Amazon scores five out of five for the cloud, AI, and future of work themes, indicating that the company’s positioning in these themes will significantly improve its future performance. Amazon is also ranked number one in GlobalData’s application software and IT infrastructure sector scorecards — second behind only Microsoft in cloud services and Apple in consumer electronics.

David Bicknell is principal analyst in the Thematic Team at data and analytics company GlobalData.