Amazon.com Inc.'s sales in Japan surged 18.6% on the year to 7.8 billion dollars in the year ended Dec. 31, making the U.S. giant the top Internet retailer here.
Amazon.com's country-based sales were made public for the first time through an annual report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The Japanese sales tally, totaling roughly 730 billion yen based on the current exchange rate, would put Amazon.com at No. 10 or so among brick-and-mortar and online retailers here, lifting it past consumer electronics seller Edion Corp.'s (2730) projected 720 billion yen for the year ending March 31.
Rakuten Inc. (4755) is the largest Japanese online retailer, with its virtual mall, travel-booking business and other Internet-based services ringing up sales of 285.8 billion yen for the year ended Dec. 31.
But its revenue comes primarily from commissions from virtual mall tenants and other sources, while Amazon.com procures a wide range of products and sells them to consumers.
Participating stores in Rakuten's virtual mall have combined sales of roughly 1.3 trillion yen.
Amazon.com, which made its Japanese debut in 2000, does not release its total online sales including those from independent sellers in its Amazon Marketplace. If these sales are included, the U.S. firm may likely come close to Rakuten in total sales.
Japan's online retail market is expected to grow 15.9% to roughly 10.2 trillion yen in fiscal 2012, according to the Nomura Research Institute (4307).
Amazon.com's country-based sales were made public for the first time through an annual report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The Japanese sales tally, totaling roughly 730 billion yen based on the current exchange rate, would put Amazon.com at No. 10 or so among brick-and-mortar and online retailers here, lifting it past consumer electronics seller Edion Corp.'s (2730) projected 720 billion yen for the year ending March 31.
Rakuten Inc. (4755) is the largest Japanese online retailer, with its virtual mall, travel-booking business and other Internet-based services ringing up sales of 285.8 billion yen for the year ended Dec. 31.
But its revenue comes primarily from commissions from virtual mall tenants and other sources, while Amazon.com procures a wide range of products and sells them to consumers.
Participating stores in Rakuten's virtual mall have combined sales of roughly 1.3 trillion yen.
Amazon.com, which made its Japanese debut in 2000, does not release its total online sales including those from independent sellers in its Amazon Marketplace. If these sales are included, the U.S. firm may likely come close to Rakuten in total sales.
Japan's online retail market is expected to grow 15.9% to roughly 10.2 trillion yen in fiscal 2012, according to the Nomura Research Institute (4307).
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