To reach customers more quickly, Amazon continued to invest in fulfillment centers and other facilities around the world (see Exhibit 3b). It had also acquired robot maker Kiva Systems in 2012 to improve productivity. By October 2019, Amazon operated 342 fulfillment centers in 20 countries and was planning 58 more. It also operated 457 other materials handling facilities. One of its biggest commitments was India, where it operated 52 fulfillment centers, 18 sorting centers, and 250 delivery stations. In India, Amazon competed with local leader Flipkart. In May 2018, Walmart acquired 77% of Flipkart for $16 billion. Flipkart was founded in 2007 by two former Amazon employees.
As it expanded in the United States, Amazon lost its advantage of not being required to levy sales tax on customer purchases. Starting April 1, 2017, it collected taxes in all US states that had a sales tax. This change did not affect third-party sellers on Marketplace.
In late 2015, The Wall Street Journal reported that Amazon was in discussions to lease aircraft to supply its own air freight in competition with UPS, FedEx, and the US Postal Service, who counted Amazon among their biggest customers. In August 2016, Amazon revealed its first aircraft, branded Prime Air, and announced that it would lease a total of 40.In February 2017, Amazon announced it was to build an air cargo hub in Kentucky for $1.5 billion. A year later, The Wall Street Journal reported that Amazon was preparing to launch a new B2C service called Shipping with Amazon (SWA), directly competing with UPS and FedEx.
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