Where Amazon isn't so scary

[Bloomberg] [Fully Charged]( From [Bloomberg](   [FOLLOW US [Facebook Share]]([Twitter Share]( [SUBSCRIBE [Subscribe]](  Hi, everyone. It's [Shira](mailto:sovide@bloomberg.net). Without question, this has been a peak year for Amazon.com Inc. paranoia. The company seems to be everywhere, eager to [crush]( or absorb anything in its path. For you "Star Trek" nerds, Amazon is the Borg. But this fear has obscured a harsh reality: Unlike most other U.S. technology superpowers, Amazon is not very worldly. Almost two-thirds of Amazon's revenue comes from sales in the U.S. Amazon Prime is available in a dozen or so countries, but it's not big in many of them. Just four countries -- the U.S., Germany, Japan and the U.K. -- contributed 92 percent of Amazon's $136 billion in revenue for 2016. Amazon is global in theory but successful in only a few places. For comparison, 15 percent of Facebook's daily users, and almost half its revenue, came from the U.S. and Canada last year. Both Facebook and Google apps are ubiquitous in many countries. About 80 percent of Intel Corp.'s revenue comes from outside the U.S. Netflix Inc. now has [more subscribers overseas]( than in its home country. Conforming with Amazon's Borg reputation, the company doesn't intend to stay home-bound for long. And with a glass-half-full view, Amazon's geographic concentration is an opportunity for more riches as the company looks to break out of its domestic bliss. The biggest global prize is India, where Amazon has pledged to spend $5 billion to break into what many technology companies see as a future goldmine. Read [Saritha Rai's excellent stories]( about Amazon adapting to shoppers' needs in the country by building warehouse capacity, plunging into digital payments and coming up with tricks to make deliveries on India's chaotic roads. Amazon on Wednesday also [said]( it would sell some of its Echo voice-activated speakers in India for the first time, with a new (English language) voice with local pronunciations. Amazon's failures to crack e-commerce in China are legendary, and it doesn't want a repeat. And Amazon isn't stopping there. This week, publications in France have been packed with [news]( and rumors that Amazon is looking to team up with or take over companies involved in grocery sales or food distribution. Amazon's globe-trotting inevitably will spark backlash, as Google and Facebook know well. Amazon has already [felt this heat](, most recently in the form of a [250 million euro bill]( over what European officials deemed to be illegal tax breaks from Luxembourg. This isn't specific to Amazon Web Services, but some European customers defected to local cloud computing providers after revelations that U.S. intelligence agencies collected data from U.S. tech companies. Changing Amazon's parochial present is going to take some savvy work, and no doubt the company will fall on its face occasionally. But if Jeff Bezos fulfills his ambition, the world and not just nearly every American industry will feel the fear of Amazon. [--Shira Ovide](  And here's what you need to know in global technology news First Google became a verb. Now it wants to sell gadgets. The web search company rolled out a number of homegrown devices including a new version of its Pixel smartphone, voice-activated [home speakers](, a [laptop]( and a [digital camera](. Google, Amazon and others are jousting to steer a [software-powered computing future]( that leaves screens -- and maybe[ open competition]( -- behind.  The most bitter fight in technology started with a quiet meeting between Apple and Samsung executives. That led to a court battle over a $30-per-device fee Apple pays computer chip company Qualcomm. Apple's grinding, tactical control over its suppliers [faces its stiffest test yet]( against an equally savvy Qualcomm.  Following Facebook's disclosures of Russian propagandists employing its advertising tools to sow dissent in the U.S., the company pledged more transparency. But that was only after [Facebook fought to avoid political ad disclosure rules](. And tech writer Ben Thompson has [suggestions]( to make Facebook's transparency pledge real.  As tech companies prep driverless car prototypes for real-world roads, one startup has turned to unlikely testing grounds: retirement communities. [Old folk are putting robot-driven cars to the test]( against hazards like golf carts.    You received this message because you are subscribed to the Bloomberg Technology newsletter Fully Charged. You can tell your friends to [sign up here](.  [Unsubscribe]( | [Bloomberg.com]( | [Contact Us]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022