Amazon.com was the market leader in online bookselling at the end of 1997.
Resolved true The record shows it happened or was so.
Factual: Statements about the present or the past, checked against the record: did they hold up?
The second judge said mostly true; the verdict shown is the first judge's.
Said for an organisation they lead or work for; it counts on both records.
What would count as true or false
True: market data or analysis from 1997–1998 (industry analysts, press coverage, competitors' reported figures) shows that Amazon.com had the largest online book sales of any retailer at the end of 1997, for example by revenue or customers ahead of barnesandnoble.com and others. Mostly true: Amazon was clearly the leader through most of 1997 or into early 1998, but the timing does not line up exactly with year-end 1997, or the leadership is shown on a closely related measure. Mixed: sources disagree or show Amazon tied or roughly level with a competitor. Mostly false: Amazon was a leading online bookseller but contemporaneous data show another retailer ahead on the main measures. False: the evidence shows Amazon was clearly not the leader in online bookselling at that time.
Set before the research began.
Evidence (4)
-
E1 eCompany Now - Magazine Article - Printable Version (Why Barnes & Noble May Crush Amazon) eCompany (Randall Stross, article reproduced by Middlebury College course site) · September 1997
“After just two years, this Web pioneer (www.amazon.com) is selling $110-million-a-year worth of books.”
-
E2 [PDF] Leadership Online: Barnes & Noble vs. Amazon.com (A) Harvard Business School (Ghemawat and Baird case 9-798-063) · 28 April 2000
“BarnesandNoble.com expected to achieve about $15 million in sales in 1997 and more than $100 million in 1998.”
-
E3 Amazon.com Issues Statement Regarding Barnes & Noble-AOL Commerce Agreement Amazon.com (press release) · 18 December 1997 Own record
“Amazon.com is providing the best possible online experience for book buyers and is the clear leader in online bookselling with a PC Meter (Media Metrix) reach of 5.9% compared to its nearest competitor's 1.5%.”
-
E4 1997 LETTER TO SHAREHOLDERS (Reprinted from the 1997 Annual Report) Amazon.com, Inc. (shareholder letter, reprinted in 2000 annual letter) · 1998 Own record
“customers, yielding 838% revenue growth to $147.8 million, and extended our market leadership despite aggressive competitive entry.”
Reasoning
An independent 1997 eCompany article (E1) says Amazon.com was selling about $110 million a year in books. A Harvard Business School case (E2) says its main rival, BarnesandNoble.com, expected only about $15 million in 1997 sales. Amazon's 1997 annual report letter (E4) gives 1997 revenue of $147.8 million. Amazon's December 1997 statement (E3) cites a Media Metrix reach of 5.9% against its nearest competitor's 1.5%. Taken together, the evidence indicates Amazon's 1997 online book sales were far larger than those expected for BarnesandNoble.com [E1][E2].
Cite this claim
Jeff Bezos, “Amazon.com was the market leader in online bookselling at the end of 1997.” (said 1998). Verdict: resolved true. Reliability API, claim c_4d91d3159bed, method 0.1.0+c876030c, dataset release v1.1.2. https://epistacklabs.com/claims/c_4d91d3159bed
This claim is in dataset release v1.1.2, with the same verdict.
Reply to this claim
More factual claims by Jeff Bezos
-
Mixed
“But we did get a couple of life saving drugs.”
-
Mostly true
“It’s a perfect example that all of that fiber, fiber optic cable that got laid and by the way, the companies who laid all that cable went out of business.”
-
Resolved true
“Amazon stock in a very short period of time went from $113 a share to $6 a share.”
-
Mostly true
“More than 1.9 million small and medium-sized businesses sell in our store, and they make up close to 60% of our retail sales.”
-
Resolved true
“Our net income in 2020 was $21.3 billion.”
Verdicts are made automatically; how verdicts are made.