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I can't speak to whether or not Amazon loses/makes money on each ebook sale, but I can offer the following observations:
1. When Amazon started, it was common to hear that it lost money on sales so it could 'buy market share', 'establish its position against bricks and mortar rivals', 'discount because customers don't trust or understand e-commerce' and various other theories that sound extremely plausible in the conference room at a flip-chart.
2. Amazon makes lots (and lots) of money
3. Amazon is now such a big player in bookselling that it can exercise a major influence on the direction and style of the whole market, which is pretty much the marketing dictionary's definition of 'dominant'
My conclusion is that Amazon knows how to run its business; that makes it different from most publishers, who don't.
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