technology news: Amazon to delay Prime Day amid COVID-19, could cost the company millions

Amazon will likely delay this year's Prime Day event for at least a month. According to Reuters, Amazon will make this decision in response to the current coronavirus pandemic, postponing the event until August.

The company's summer shopping sale traditionally takes place in mid-July, but delaying Prime Day will likely lead to massive profit loss. The company expects this decision to cost it $100 million since it will probably have to sell an extra five million devices at discounted prices.

Last year's Amazon Prime Day sales eclipsed 2018's Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales combined. It also led to the two biggest days for Amazon Prime membership sign-ups in the company's history.

Unfortunately, this Prime Day delay wouldn't only affect Amazon. Third-party merchants are expected to take a hit too, which pulled in $2 billion in sales during 2019's Prime Day.

This would be the first time we've seen Amazon delay Prime Day since its inception in 2015. The company has yet to make an official announcement and declined to comment when approached by Reuters.