Amazon Set to Increase Prime Membership Fee By 17% for US Customers
Amazon is increasing its Prime membership subscription prices in the U.S., the company has revealed in its Q4 2021 earnings results.
According to the company, the fee for a Prime subscription is set to increase for the first time in four years, rising to $15 per month (up from $13), or $139 per year (up from $119).
The price hike, representing an almost 17% increase, will go into effect for new customers starting February 18, 2022, while current members will see their plans go up after March 25, 2022.
Amazon says the increase will pay for the "continued expansion" of Prime perks, along with higher employee salaries and more expensive shipping costs. Amazon hasn't said whether the Prime price change will apply in other countries.
An Amazon Prime subscription includes "free" one-day shipping on purchases made on Amazon, access to Prime Video, Prime Music, and other Amazon digital platforms and services.
As noted by Engadget, Amazon's recent Prime Video spends are also likely to have been a factor, with the upcoming first season of the new "The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power" series reportedly expected to cost $465 million. Amazon last year also acquired Hollywood studio MGM for $8.5 billion.
Amazon's net profit jumped nearly 57% in 2021 to $33.4 billion, due in part to the lingering effects of the global health crisis, which has had a positive effect on Amazon's core shopping business. Amazon stock jumped 13% in pre-market trading on Friday following its strong fourth-quarter earnings.
Popular Stories
Last year, Apple launched CarPlay Ultra, the long-awaited next-generation version of its CarPlay software system for vehicles. Nearly nine months later, CarPlay Ultra is still limited to Aston Martin's latest luxury vehicles, but that should change fairly soon.
In May 2025, Apple said many other vehicle brands planned to offer CarPlay Ultra, including Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis.
In his Powe...
Apple today confirmed to Reuters that it has acquired Q.ai, an Israeli startup that is working on artificial intelligence technology for audio.
Apple paid close to $2 billion for Q.ai, according to sources cited by the Financial Times. That would make this Apple's second-biggest acquisition ever, after it paid $3 billion for the popular headphone and audio brand Beats in 2014.
Q.ai has...
The calendar has turned to February, and a new report indicates that Apple's next product launch is "imminent," in the form of new MacBook Pro models.
"All signs point to an imminent launch of next-generation MacBook Pros that retain the current form factor but deliver faster chips," Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said on Sunday. "I'm told the new models — code-named J714 and J716 — are slated...
Apple recently updated its online store with a new ordering process for Macs, including the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac mini, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro.
There used to be a handful of standard configurations available for each Mac, but now you must configure a Mac entirely from scratch on a feature-by-feature basis. In other words, ordering a new Mac now works much like ordering an...
Apple is planning to launch new MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips alongside macOS 26.3, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
"Apple's faster MacBook Pros are planned for the macOS 26.3 release cycle," wrote Gurman, in his Power On newsletter today.
"I'm told the new models — code-named J714 and J716 — are slated for the macOS 26.3 software cycle, which runs from...
