Amazon's Prime Day Reportedly Delayed

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Amazon's Prime Day Reportedly Delayed

Amazon's Prime Day is a big deal: The frenzied summer sale includes a literal music festival headlined by artists like Taylor Swift, Dua Lupa, and SZA. Reuters reports that due to the COVID-19 outbreak, Amazon will postpone the event until at least August.

According to the report, the postponement will leave Amazon with 5 million extra devices, such as the voice-controlled Echo speaker, which it may be forced to sell at a discount. David Zapolsky, Amazon's senior vice president and general counsel, wrote in a meeting memo obtained by Reuters that the delay could result in a loss of up to $300 million, but a $100 million loss is more likely.

This, incidentally, represents about 0.01% of the $1 trillion market valuation Amazon achieved in January.

The report of the delay seems to come from the same note as Zapolsky, who, as reported by Vice, strategized a campaign to discredit fired warehouse worker Christian Smalls as "not smart or articulate." Smalls was fired earlier this week after leading a walkout at a Staten Island distribution warehouse over workplace safety concerns related to a coronavirus outbreak. Amazon said Smalls was fired for violating a self-isolation order after he was found to be in close contact with another worker who was confirmed to be infected with Covid-19.

An Amazon representative declined to comment on the report.

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