The Kindle Fire is only $199.
How can Amazon sell this nice of a tablet with so many online extras and make any money?
They don’t.
Andrew Rassweiler of the research firm IHS iSuppli has a pretty good idea. He added up the price of the components in the tablet and came up with a cost of $209.63 for materials and manufacturing per tablet.
And Rassweiler’s estimate doesn’t include the licensing deals Amazon cuts to stream content, or the marketing to promote the Fire.
So, why would a company lose money on a product?
Amazon’s Business
They’re not in the business of selling tech hardware.
The Kindle Fire is a means to an end. The Kindle Fire makes it easy to buy books, music and movies, and that’s what Amazon is in the business of selling.
It’s the same model printer manufacturers take. Sell a printer for a loss, and then sell ink at $4,731 per gallon.
True story.
Amazon’s Investment
Amazon isn’t selling a tablet, they’re making an investment. They’re investing in customers.
This should be the model the Church uses.
We should be about investing in people, not selling to them.
Just as Amazon customers find themselves completely dedicated and immersed in the Amazon ecosystem, so should Christians feel completely dedicated and immersed in the Christian ecosystem.
Instead, many look to gain more members, sell more books and record more albums.
By investing in people, the long term dividends far outweigh any short term gains.
The Amazon Church Model
You can sell a tablet and make $50, or you can sell a tablet at a loss, and gain over 10 times the amount invested in the tablet by selling books, music and movies.
As the Church, let’s take a hard look at how we are doing things, and begin to invest in others. Take the same approach that Amazon has.
We can gain a member for 50 weeks, or we can pour into the community at our own loss, and add 10 times more souls into the Kingdom of God.
Thoughts?
[via NPR]
MGalloway says
Good comparison. This may not be the popular thing to say, but sadly, I’ve seen a lot of situations where the greater focus is “getting people in the door” rather than doing the difficult work of long-term discipleship.
Eric Dye says
Sad, but true.
MGalloway says
The other side of this, though, is that helping people grow is very rewarding. Then watching God work through them to help others is even more amazing.
Eric Dye says
Still investing in others 😉
Jeremy Smith says
Great assessment of Amazon. They are way ahead of the game and have the potential to be in a more viable marketing than Apple and their iTunes.
Looking at this application for the church, this works great. Youth ministries should be taking a bit of the cost for a ski trip to get my students there. We are not in the business of making money but pointing to the Kingdom. “Big church” has the potential to invest in the community they are at. Staff need to do the leg work and let the congregation only focus on the serving. We are not in the business of doing yard work, but we are pointing to the one who saves.
Eric Dye says
Amen.
Daniel Berman says
I worked for Amazon, and thus I have a lot of respect for them. Still if I was to ask for chapter and verse, as to where we could find this example in the Bible where would we head?
Eric Dye says
From discipleship to taking care of the widows and orphans, there’s a lot to chose from.