• Business Insider, Monday, January 9, 2012 11:50 AM

How did an aging ecommerce giant like Amazon become one of the hottest company’s in Silicon Valley? Along with a brand new cutting-edge campus, and a strong track record of employee loyalty and sound business practices, Amazon has become much bigger than books. In addition to Web Services -- which is now estimated to be a billion-dollar business powering back-end operations for some high-profile startups -- the company has established itself as a leading mobile and media powerhouse.

“It's not like being in Hollywood for movies or New York for publishing, but Amazon is increasingly looking more like a big media company,” writes Business Insider. “For instance, Amazon Prime has morphed from a discounted shipping deal to an online video streaming service with thousands of movies.”

The company also boasts a thriving online music store and related music locker service, as well as a publishing house that plans to put out more than 100 books this quarter. Meanwhile, “Amazon has rolled out mobile apps for all major mobile platforms” BI adds. Along with the success of its Kindle e-readers and Kindle Fire, Amazon is rumored to be designing a mobile phone for a 2012 debut.

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