Coming in May, Amazon Coins is a new virtual currency for purchasing
apps, games, and in-app items on Kindle Fire
Amazon Coins is an easy way for Kindle Fire customers to spend money
on developers’ apps in the Amazon Appstore, offering app and game
developers another substantial opportunity to drive traffic, downloads
and increase monetization even further
Amazon will give customers tens of millions of dollars’ worth of
Amazon Coins to use on developers’ apps in the Amazon Appstore—apps and
games must be submitted and approved by April 25 to be ready when Amazon
Coins arrive in customers’ accounts
SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 5, 2013--
(NASDAQ: AMZN)—Amazon today announced another new way for app and game
developers to make money on Kindle Fire—introducing Amazon Coins—the new
virtual currency for purchasing apps, games and in-app items on Kindle
Fire. Amazon Coins is an easy way for Kindle Fire customers to spend
money in the Amazon Appstore, offering app and game developers another
substantial opportunity to drive traffic, downloads and increase
monetization. When Amazon Coins launches in the U.S. this May, Amazon
will give customers tens of millions of dollars’ worth of free Amazon
Coins to spend on developers’ apps on Kindle Fire in the Amazon
Appstore. Amazon will also make it quick and easy for customers to buy
additional Amazon Coins using their Amazon accounts.
Amazon Appstore developers will earn their standard 70 percent revenue
share when customers make purchases using Amazon Coins. Developers with
apps and games currently in the Amazon Appstore for the U.S. don’t need
to do anything with their apps to capitalize on this new opportunity.
Developers not yet in the Amazon Appstore should submit their apps
soon—only apps submitted and approved by April 25 will be ready when
Kindle Fire customers have Amazon Coins to spend across the Amazon
Appstore. Developers can learn more about Amazon Coins today at http://www.amazon.com/amazon-coins.
“Developers continue to report higher conversion rates on Amazon
compared to other platforms,” said Paul Ryder, Vice President of Apps
and Games for Amazon. “Now we have another new way to help developers
reach even more of our millions of customers. Amazon Coins gives
customers an easy way to spend money on developers’ apps on Kindle Fire
in the Amazon Appstore—and we’re giving customers tens of millions of
dollars in Amazon Coins to get started. Developers who aren’t yet in the
Amazon Appstore will want to make sure their apps have been submitted
and approved by April 25 so they’re ready for customers to start
spending their Amazon Coins.”
"We've already found that the average revenue per user on Amazon is
higher than other Android platforms," said Keith Shepherd, CEO of Imangi
Studios. "We're very excited about the monetization opportunity with
Amazon's new virtual currency."
"Everyone recognizes Amazon's success in the e-commerce world – now the
Amazon Appstore has become a major player in the mobile app
marketplace," said Misha Lyalin, ZeptoLab's CEO. "Amazon's new virtual
currency is designed to open new opportunities for developers and make
things easier for customers. This is a great example of appstore
innovation and we want to support it."
"We've been extremely pleased with how well our games monetize on
Amazon," said Michael Grobe, Chief Financial Officer of
GameCircus. "We're very excited about the launch of Amazon's new virtual
currency."
Amazon Coins is the latest in a series of new features and services for
developers that make Amazon the most complete end-to-end ecosystem for
building, monetizing and marketing their apps and games. Recent
announcements include:
-
In-App Purchasing for Mac, PC and web-based games, enabling developers
to let customers use their Amazon accounts to purchase virtual goods
and currencies from games on those platforms
-
Game Circle, which includes capabilities like Achievements,
Leaderboards, Friends, and Whispersync for syncing games across
devices, and leads to better engagement with games
-
Game Connect, which lets developers marry the ease and security of
shopping on Amazon with the convenience of having virtual goods
delivered directly to customers' game accounts
-
A/B Testing, a service that helps developers improve app
functionality, retain customers and increase monetization
-
Adobe AIR Native Extensions, which makes it simple for Adobe Flash
developers to add In-App Purchasing and Game Circle features to their
apps and games
-
Amazon Mobile App SDK Eclipse Plugin (beta) allows developers to
rapidly and reliably integrate Amazon APIs into their Android
projects, speeding up development and cutting down on project setup
time
Developers can get started at the Amazon Mobile App Distribution Portal (https://developer.amazon.com/welcome.html).
About Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle,
opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth’s
Biggest Selection. Amazon.com, Inc. seeks to be Earth’s most
customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything
they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the
lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and other sellers offer millions of
unique new, refurbished and used items in categories such as Books;
Movies, Music & Games; Digital Downloads; Electronics & Computers; Home
& Garden; Toys, Kids & Baby; Grocery; Apparel, Shoes & Jewelry; Health &
Beauty; Sports & Outdoors; and Tools, Auto & Industrial. Amazon Web
Services provides Amazon’s developer customers with access to
in-the-cloud infrastructure services based on Amazon’s own back-end
technology platform, which developers can use to enable virtually any
type of business. Kindle Paperwhite is the most-advanced e-reader ever
constructed with 62% more pixels and 25% increased contrast, a patented
built-in front light for reading in all lighting conditions, extra-long
battery life, and a thin and light design. The new latest generation
Kindle, the lightest and smallest Kindle, now features new, improved
fonts and faster page turns. Kindle Fire HD features a stunning custom
high-definition display, exclusive Dolby audio with dual stereo
speakers, high-end, laptop-grade Wi-Fi with dual-band support,
dual-antennas and MIMO for faster streaming and downloads, enough
storage for HD content, and the latest generation processor and graphics
engine—and it is available in two display sizes—7” and 8.9”. The
large-screen Kindle Fire HD is also available with 4G wireless, and
comes with a groundbreaking $49.99 introductory 4G LTE data package. The
all-new Kindle Fire features a 20% faster processor, 40% faster
performance, twice the memory, and longer battery life.
Amazon and its affiliates operate websites, including www.amazon.com,
www.amazon.co.uk,
www.amazon.de,
www.amazon.co.jp,
www.amazon.fr,
www.amazon.ca,
www.amazon.cn,
www.amazon.it,
www.amazon.es
and www.amazon.com.br.
As used herein, “Amazon.com,” “we,” “our” and similar terms include
Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates
otherwise.
Forward-Looking Statements
This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning
of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ significantly
from management's expectations. These forward-looking statements involve
risks and uncertainties that include, among others, risks related to
competition, management of growth, new products, services and
technologies, potential fluctuations in operating results, international
expansion, outcomes of legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment and
data center optimization, seasonality, commercial agreements,
acquisitions and strategic transactions, foreign exchange rates, system
interruption, inventory, government regulation and taxation, payments
and fraud. More information about factors that potentially could affect
Amazon.com's financial results is included in Amazon.com's filings with
the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent Annual
Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings.
Source: Amazon.com, Inc.
Amazon.com, Inc.
Media Hotline, 206-266-7180
www.amazon.com/pr
