Did you ever wonder what, if anything, will inevitably defeat Amazon?

I was recently flying home from vacation, and I started talking with the guy next to me. He was the CTO of his company, and we started talking about his tech infrastructure.

He was using Amazon Web Services (AWS) to support his site, and we got to talking about just how ubiquitous Amazon has gotten. Amazon is quickly moving into nearly every area of business there is, and they rarely fail. This should give most small businesses pause, as they consider whether or not Amazon is a competitor.

As big as Amazon is becoming, everything fails right? There are all sorts of giant companies who seemed unbeatable in their day that are gone now: Kodak, Motorola, Toys ‘R’ Us, and Blockbuster, to name a few. They all failed because technology made them ancient.

But Amazon IS technology. They’re developing many systems they use internally that are inspiring similar products available in the marketplace.

Amazon is trending upward, and we were trying to figure out, how does it end for Amazon? What unseats them? Who or what comes along to knock them down or out?

Government break up was as close as we came to an answer. Our Congress or President (this or future ones) decide Amazon has too much control and splits up the business. It seems the most likely scenario.

What do you think? What could come along to take them out?

(If you think of anything, you may want to start raising money and get to work…)