Yes, I agree... I've been hearing since early spring that their profits aren't as healthy as I may have imagined... and there was a prediction for even lower in the next quarter. If I ever get into the stock market heavily, I have to say that Amazon is one of the first things I'd want to own if they can pull the profits up like you said. But delivering with drones instead of the good ol' postal truck or UPS truck... that just doesn't make a lot of sense and I think they're barking up the wrong tree... or flying up the wrong drone. Too futuristic for something like Amazon when traditional delivery works. (And I highly doubt that drone delivery would cost less than USPS or UPS!)
Ha ha, I didn't even think of all the problems being posted here. My buddy was talking about these the other day and posed another good question. Who's going to stop somebody from shooting one down and stealing a nice $600 iPhone and running? These drones just seem both unnecessary and impractical to me. I think it's going to be a massive flop by Amazon, but they can probably take that risk because they are such a solid company. I don't think the transport giants like UPS are in any danger of meeting competition from this.
Exactly. They make AND spend tons of money, but their profits are pretty lackluster. The price to earnings factor is gigantic for Amazon compared to other companies. Some analysts are liking their infrastructure for digital media, such as ebooks and music, though. The thought is the company could somehow translate that into some real profits eventually. Not yet, though.
That is why drones are being considered, that could reduce their costs with deliveries and with time increase their profit.
With time that could happen Gelsemium, but what about the investment they would have to make to buy all those drones? Plus, what's the case when the drone "rings" a bell and no one answers?
I read an interesting article in Forbes about this. It said that to "a rich person like Bezos" these ideas are exciting and seem very workable... but sometimes these people won't stop and take a moment to think how society in general (who aren't rich) would embrace such a high-tech thing that isn't a necessity. The article went on to list some potential big problems... like living on a 5th, 8th, 35th, 111th, etc. floor of a high-rise building. That drone is going to drop off your merchandise NOT at your door but at the front door where hundreds of other people are probably passing. Turning the drones into skeet shoot targets was mentioned as well. I can *so* see that happening! And the cost... both of manufacturing and putting them into service. Not cheap. I'll stick with UPS. If you didn't read this, it was December Forbes if you want to look it up.
This is an idea that is in line with the needs of Amazon as a whole. As JR wrote above, the profit margins are slim, and they need to think of either innovating the delivery systems or basically becoming a carrier themselves. This type of delivery method would be for metro areas only...cities and their direct surroundings.
I would have thought cities would be more dangerous, no? More things already in the general area which could cause a drone to get caught up in-telephone lines, apartment fire escapes etc-not to mention that it would be a lot easier to perform a smash and grab on one in a city.
I would think they'd have to stay away from cities... like how would a drone deliver to floor 110 apartment F in a high rise apartment building? If they're going to take a risk of leaving it with the doorman, why not just use UPS?
Okay, in a rural area, I could see this idea working with minimal liability issues popping up. In the city, it's virtually impossible, and you still have to safeguard the navigation systems from hackers or people that want to cause some mischief. Drones are expensive, and convincing the government that a company can use them in such a widespread manner would be close to impossible, as things stand now.
