Amazon.com, Inc., provides the following explanation of its revenue recognition policies in its 2010 \(10-\mathrm{K}\) report.

Required

a. What is a multiple-element contract? What product did Amazon sell that involved a multipleelement contract? Explain.

b. Explain how companies account for multiple-element contracts, in general.

c. Compare the accounting for the Kindle under the old and new accounting standards for revenue recognition. Amazon disclosed that \(\$ 508\) million of previously deferred revenue would now be recognized earlier. Explain.

d. Assume that Amazon sold a Kindle with 3G capabilities for \(\$ 180\) and the company estimated a selling price (ESP) of \(\$ 20\) per unit for \(3 \mathrm{G}\) access and future software upgrades. Compute the revenue that Amazon would recognize at the point of sale under the old and the new accounting standards.

e. Use the financial statement effects template to record the initial sale of a Kindle and the accounting adjustment required at the end of the first quarter for the new accounting standards.

adjustment required at the end of the first quarter for the new accounting standards.

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On January 1, 2010, we prospectively adopted ASU 2009-13, which amends Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC") Topic 605, Revenue Recognition. Under this new standard, we allocate revenue in arrangements with multiple deliverables using estimated selling prices (ESP) if we do not have vendor-specific objective evidence or third-party evidence of the selling prices of the deliverables. Estimated selling prices are management's best estimates of the prices that we would charge our customers if we were to sell the standalone elements separately. Sales of our Kindle e-reader are considered arrangements with multiple deliverables, consisting of the device, 3G wireless access and delivery for some models, and software upgrades. Under the prior accounting standard, we accounted for sales of the Kindle ratably over the average estimated life of the device. Accordingly, revenue and associated product cost of the device through December 31, 2009, were deferred at the time of sale and recognized on a straight-line basis over the two-year average estimated economic life. As of January 2010, we account for the sale of the Kindle as multiple deliverables. The revenue related to the device, which is the substantial portion of the total sale price, and related. costs are recognized upon delivery. Revenue related to 3G wireless access and delivery and software upgrades is amortized over the average life of the device, which remains estimated at two years. Because we have adopted ASU 2009-13 prospectively, we are recognizing $508 million throughout 2010 and 2011 for revenue previously deferred under the prior accounting standard.