Cash of the Titans
As the economy slumped, three digital giants pumped untold sums into
business and product development—and reaped the rewards
APPLE
COMPUTER
OUTFIT TURNED
LIFESTYLE ARBITER
AMAZON
E-COMMERCE
GIANT TURNEDMEDIA
POWERHOUSE
RAKUTEN
JAPANESE
ELECTRONICS FIRM
TURNED GLOBAL INTERNET
POWERHOUSE
Dec.
Jan.
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July
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June
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July
May
June
June
June
June
July
July
Dec.
Dec.
Jan.
Jan.
Launches App
Store as an
update to iTunes
2008
revenues:
$32.5 billion
Marks first over-
seas e-commerce
expansion (joint
venture with a
Taiwanese retailer)
2008
revenues:
$3 billion
Announces Daily
Deal text alerts and
Frustration-Free
Packaging initiative
2008
revenues:
$19.2 billion
Releases the
iPhone 3GS
2009
revenues:
$36.5 billion
Acquires
Boston-based
loyalty reward
developer
FreeCause
2009
revenues:
$3.3 billion
Acquires French
e-commerce site
Priceminister
and U.S.-based
site Buy.com
2010
revenues:
$4.2 billion
Buys French Web
logistics firm Alpha
Direct Services,
to strengthen global
retail businesses
2012
revenues
(
projected): $5.4 billion
Acquires U.K.
online retailer
Play.com for
$40 million
2011
revenues:
$4.7 billion
Sees the Kindle,
originally launched in
2007,
become the
most gifted item in
Amazon.com’s history
2009
revenues:
$24.5 billion
Introduces the iPad
(
which will achieve
an 84 percent share
of the tablet market
by year’s end)
2010
revenues:
$65.2 billion
Launches Amazon
Studios, creating comics,
movies and TV shows from
online submissions and
crowdsourced feedback
2010
revenues:
$34.2 billion
Introduces
Kindle Fire, Kindle Touch
and Kindle Touch 3G
2011
revenues:
$48.1 billion
Debuts the iPhone 5 (which sells
more than 5 million units in the first
three days); releases third-generation
MacBook Pro the following month
2012
revenues (projected): $156 billion
Reportedly
closing in on
launching
its own
smartphone
2012
revenues
(
projected):
$63 billion
Rolls out
the iPad 2
2011
revenues:
$108.2 billion
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
