Does Amazon Own Audible In 2024? The Full Story
Yes, Amazon has fully owned Audible since acquiring the company for $300 million in early 2008. Originally founded in 1995 as an independent audiobook company, Audible now operates as a subsidiary with tight integration into Amazon’s Kindle, Alexa and overall digital media ecosystems.
Over 15 years since the acquisition, Audible has grown into the undisputed market leader in audiobooks, claiming over 90% market share in the US. As both the audiobook category and Audible continue to expand rapidly, the acquisition has proven a huge win for Amazon thus far.
A Deep Dive on Audible’s History and Why Amazon Acquired Them
Audible pioneered the digital audiobook space, launching in 1995 with the vision of being the "Amazon.com of spoken audio entertainment."
The company steadily grew as an independent firm, hitting key milestones like:
- 1997: Launch of the first Audible Player for downloading audiobooks
- 2000: Introduction of Audible‘s still-running Gold membership program
- 2005: Audible content first included on Apple‘s iTunes store
By 2008 when it was acquired, Audible had:
- More than 425,000 titles available
- Approximately 80% market share of digital audiobooks
- An estimated annual revenue around $75 million
Amazon acquired Audible for two primary reasons:
Boost Its Digital Media Offerings: Amazon wanted to expand beyond ebooks and music into audiobooks. Buying Audible allowed Amazon to instantly gain market leadership.
Integrate Audiobooks into The Kindle: The first Kindle e-reader had launched one year earlier in 2007. Acquiring Audible let Amazon bundle audiobooks into the Kindle ecosystem.
The synergies between selling ebooks on Kindle and pairing them with Audible audiobooks were clear early on.
How Being Acquired Accelerated Audible’s Growth
Since being bought by Amazon, Audible‘s growth trajectory has skyrocketed:
Audible‘s title catalog has expanded over 10x from ~425,000 titles in 2008 to over 5 million as of 2023, according to Audible data. This allows them to offer the largest selection of audiobooks globally.
The market has greatly expanded beyond early adopters. Over 78 million Americans now listen to audiobooks as of 2021, per an Ipsos study.
As both the clear market leader and on Amazon‘s massive platform, Audible now claims over 90% market share of audiobook sales.
Revenue and subscriber numbers are harder to confirm, but analysts estimate:
- Over 6 million paying Audible subscribers globally
- $1 billion+ in annual audiobook revenue attributable to Audible
Without Amazon‘s vast distribution and cross-promotion capabilities, it‘s unlikely Audible would have grown so large or dominated the explosively growing audiobook market so thoroughly.
How Amazon Generates Billions from Audible Today
Audible has become a major contributor to Amazon‘s bottom line according to recent financial analysts. Here‘s a breakdown of how Amazon monetizes Audible across several key channels:
| Revenue Channel | Details | Contribution |
|---|---|---|
| Membership Fees | $14.95 monthly fee from subscribers | Estimated hundreds of millions per year |
| Audiobook Sales | Commissions off all audiobook units sold through Audible | Likely over $1 billion annually |
| Audible Originals | Unique, Audible-exclusive listens | Significantly incrementally adds to sales |
| Advertising | Audio ads on the Audible app | Smaller, but high-margin income stream |
In total, one Citigroup analysis believes Audible accounts for roughly 10% of Amazon‘s entire book business revenue. This equates to billions in attributable profit as Amazon‘s book sales near $30 billion per year.
As the wider audiobook market expects to continue growing 20%+ annually for years to come, Audible appears well-positioned to keep driving major profits as an Amazon subsidiary.
Final Thoughts
With over 15 years of hindsight since acquiring Audible for $300 million in 2008, Amazon‘s purchase price has proven to be a tremendous bargain.
Owning the runaway market leader in Audible has benefited Amazon enormously to diversify its revenue streams into audiobooks just as the format enters a renaissance.
And being a part of Amazon has let Audible distribution, title breadth, brand reach that may never have been possible otherwise.
For any Amazon shareholder or executive, acquiring Audible stands as one of Amazon‘s most successful purchases. With the audiobook and podcast boom still in early phases, this deal may someday be remembered as one of Amazon‘s most transformative and visionary acquisitions playing out over decades.
