Year after year we have to hear about how Apple doesn't have enough product to sell at launch. It gets old. It does seem that this is the most botched rollout I've seen from Apple. First announced in September 2014. Announced again in March. You can try it on April 10th but can't have one. You can preorder for delivery on April 24th if your one of the first few to get online, if not, you can't get one until June. And full production will not occur until some time around September probably? At this point, if your the type that follows Apple and their product launches, fatigue starts to set in just reading all the gyrations Apple goes through to sell a product. What would be new, would be to hear Apple say they have a new product (category) and it's available in stores today. Now that would be real news.
Didn't Apple have select third party boutique retail partners? I've been trying to go back and find the articles that said which they would be but can't find it. I remember one jewelry store in Los Angeles in particular.
I recall in many of the statements from Apple about release day, that the watch would be available in the Apple Stores to preview on the 10th, and would be available at their retail partners on the 24th. So does this mean, those third party retailers will actually have some inventory? And who are they besides the major foreign Apple stores within a store they have set up in places like Selfridges, et al? Why not more coverage for launch day partners, or is Apple letting the third party merchants contact their customers discreetly?
I've been following this daily, but I have to admit I'm really confused as to exactly what's happening.
it's not confusing at all. all sales are online only until they have more inventory.
Year after year we have to hear about how Apple doesn't have enough product to sell at launch. It gets old. It does seem that this is the most botched rollout I've seen from Apple. First announced in September 2014. Announced again in March. You can try it on April 10th but can't have one. You can preorder for delivery on April 24th if your one of the first few to get online, if not, you can't get one until June. And full production will not occur until some time around September probably? At this point, if your the type that follows Apple and their product launches, fatigue starts to set in just reading all the gyrations Apple goes through to sell a product. What would be new, would be to hear Apple say they have a new product (category) and it's available in stores today. Now that would be real news.
yes and it should run on unicorn tears. that would be boss.
Year after year we have to hear about how Apple doesn't have enough product to sell at launch. It gets old. It does seem that this is the most botched rollout I've seen from Apple. First announced in September 2014. Announced again in March. You can try it on April 10th but can't have one. You can preorder for delivery on April 24th if your one of the first few to get online, if not, you can't get one until June. And full production will not occur until some time around September probably? At this point, if your the type that follows Apple and their product launches, fatigue starts to set in just reading all the gyrations Apple goes through to sell a product. What would be new, would be to hear Apple say they have a new product (category) and it's available in stores today. Now that would be real news.
Rollout after rollout someone claims "this was the most botched rollout ever" despite the fact that the person saying has no ability to even imagine the numbers of product Apple is shipping.
Apple conceived of, designed, manufactured, and will ship watches in numbers that would make your head spin if you could think about those numbers, but you likely can't. To misquote Louie CK, you can't even imagine how they put air in the tires of the planes they ship on. Half the naysayers claim that all this is to build hype, and half claim they are sick of hearing about the product now. But the simple fact is that Apple, more than anyone, has mastered this.
The average person hasn't read about the ?Watch every day for the last year, they have heard it mentioned a few times, seen one ad, gotten curious, looked at the Apple store, and are thinking about whether they might buy one. They might have heard that they are only up for preorder right now. They may have gone to a store and tried one on. Maybe, just maybe they ordered one there, on their own phone, with an employees help. If they have thought about the delay to get one at all, they thought something like, "wow, they must be popular. Glad I ordered when I did."
All the complaining about how bad a rollout of millions of a product that nobody could know the order numbers for is just an exercise in selfishness. Apples rollout didn't fit your life and expectations perfectly. We get it. They are a failure.
Honestly, the things people bitch about.
We let companies do things nobody should be allowed to get away with. And we just watch it happen. But when they enter an impossible situation, and then handle it very well indeed, we judge them and complain.
Don't misunderstand me though. Keep posting. I am getting a laugh from it.
Since when has that stopped Apple? Remember my personal favorite -- 'the iPhone doesn't have a physical keyboard so it will fail'?
Since different bands cost real money whether as part of the watch or separately, what's to stop people from buying the cheapest watch with the sports band and plan to buy another band later, but then decide it's good enough? That's not how it's going down though. People want the other bands. What difference does it make if it comes in the same box already attached to the watch or not? Assuming everyone will be happy with the sport band if they don't order the nicer bands initially completely ignores the fashion aspect of this watch. I see a tech geek deciding a sport band is 'good enough', but I don't see that from business executive. And looking at it your way, there's only two conclusions one can make, Apple is greedy and trying to make as much money as they can from each sale, or they're trying to compete on the fashion angle and the ?Watch is more of a watch (a fashion item) than people around here are willing to accept. And people are used to getting watches fully assembled in nice boxes. Apple could have changed that, but they didn't for obvious reasons. They could have very easily performed a concierge service in their stores, where like a jewelry store you came in, picked your watch, the jeweler went into the back and assembled your selection and then presented it to you, and helped you learn how to use it. But that won't work for mail order, and it would slow down sales in stores. But there's one way it would be better -- if Apple has the watch case in stock, but they don't happen to have the band you want, there's a good chance you'll still buy a watch with another band you weren't planning to. With the watches preassembeled in boxes already, the customer is limited only to the combinations on hand, not the full range were the bands to be sold separately.
I'm sure just about any company wishes they had Apple's problems. People waiting in lines for a new product. People willing to spend money are your products even with a higher profit margin then others. Never having to drop your prices a few months later and continue to drop threw the year. Bringing in billions!!!!
" we expect that strong customer demand will exceed our supply at launch," said Angela Ahrendts, Apple's senior vice president of Retail and Online Stores. "To provide the best experience and selection to as many customers as we can, we will be taking orders for Apple Watch exclusively online during the initial launch period."
Also beginning April 24, the Apple Watch will be available at boutiques in major cities including colette in Paris, Dover Street Market in London and Tokyo, Maxfield in Los Angeles and The Corner in Berlin, and select Apple Authorized Resellers in China and Japan.
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So, on the 24th, what does Maxfield in Los Angeles get? Do they just get the preview watches to show to customers who then have to go online to place an order? Or will they have actual watches on hand? The latest leaked employee memo says watches won't be available in "stores" but what stores? Apple Stores, Apple affiliated stores like the dedicated spaces in Selfridges, and/or these boutiques in major cities?
According to the Maxfield website the watch will be "in store 4/24". http://www.maxfieldla.com Does this mean you can walk in and buy one? Or can you only look at one and then place an order on your iPhone? It's a pretty misleading and confusing advertisement, if you won't be able to walk out with one.
An official press release explaining the current procedure, detailing all the merchants who will be handling it an how would be appreciated at this point. An internal memo leaves one with the impression that these decisions are in flux.
Having the capacity to manufacturer 2.3 million watches at once would be foolish in the long-run. After the initial surge in demand, a lot of that capacity would be wasted. That's why every Apple product is constrained at launch.
Unless AppleInsider is acting as a promoter for Ming Chi Quo, in my opinion he should merely be referred to as an "Apple analyst". There is absolutely no reason to call him "well-connected". His track record should speak for him.
I suspect there are multiple reasons for the decision not to make them available in stores until later.
The large number of SKUs is one, I'm sure. They might have been better off to package the watch and the band separately. As it is, with watch and band packaged together, there are just too many SKUs to be able to stock them in sufficient quantity to ensure buyers get what they want at retail.
From all appearances, demand has greatly outstripped the initial supply, as well. It's a great problem to have, provided it's managed properly. If they're smart, they will delay making them available at retail until they've cleared the backlog of pre-orders. Hopefully, this will also result in units scheduled for shipment in the May-June (and later) time frame to be shipped earlier.
Occam’s Razor... All things being equal the simplest answer tends to be the correct one. So what is the simplest answer to explain the “constrained” meme?
1. Apple vastly underestimated the demand for the new product and simply didn’t make enough.
2. The rumors about production problems are true.
3. The entire situation was engineered to create hype, stoke demand, stay in the headlines.
Hey, you forgot the simplest one of all, and the one most cited: Tim hates inventory! He's the Atilla the Hun of inventory!.
Never mind that there are reports that production of the watch was supposed to start in September 2014, then in November, then in January, so Quanta workers would be working through Chinese New Year, and then yesterday, we hear from Kuo (who's a lot closer to Taiwan manufacturing than other analysts, including keyboard observers here) that mass production of the watch only began in March.
Unfortunately the simplest explanation, that Tim hates inventory, and by extension the satisfaction of his customers, can also be the wrongest (dumbest) one.
For some reason, the fact that this is the hardest product Apple and its suppliers have ever made escapes people.
Apple already said in an April 9th press release that orders would be online only for the initial launch period. They don't need to release anything else. What's the worst that can happen? Someone shows up at an Apple Store on the 24th looking to buy and they're told the watch isn't available in store yet but can be ordered online. And then offer a try-on appointment or direct the customer to the demo units so they can play around with the device. Are people really going to throw a hissy fit over that?
For some reason, the fact that this is the hardest product Apple and its suppliers have ever made escapes people.
I'm just waiting for the FUD and D&G crowd to say Tim need to reign in Jony and his complex manufacturing. Forgetting of course that one of the reasons people pay a premium for Apple products is because of the way they're built, the incredible engineering that goes into each one.
The watch is a product that not too long ago the naysayers were telling us was stupid, not necessary and won't sell. Now they're bitching because not everyone will get one on the 24th. :rolleyes:
Apple already said in an April 9th press release that orders would be online only for the initial launch period. They don't need to release anything else. What's the worst that can happen? Someone shows up at an Apple Store on the 24th looking to buy and they're told the watch isn't available in store yet but can be ordered online. And then offer a try-on appointment or direct the customer to the demo units so they can play around with the device. Are people really going to throw a hissy fit over that?
It's not about a customer being unreasonable it's about the appearance of organization.
And "the initial launch period" is vague. What is that? So now we know -- it's not just a couple of weeks after launch, it's an entire month and maybe longer. But it's not an official release. It only addresses Apple employees to presumably only Apple Stores. What about heir retail partners? This ad from Maxfield suggests there might be a line around the block Friday morning hoping to get a watch. So how does the news media report this? "apple's botched rollout" comes to mind. So yeah, an official release might be in order at this point.
Not even close to a fair comparison. Selling a Watch without a band is like selling a car without tires.
Its called product differentiation. Apple does not want to encourage people to buy the Sport watch face and then buy a seperate Leather/Metal band. Notice that none of the pictures from Apple show a Sport watch with a leather/metal band. They want to show a clear distinction between the Sport and the Steel models. If you sold the watch face seperately that distinction would not be as noticeable.
The same thing can be said about the Edition. Apple does not want people using the exclusive edition bands with Steel or Sport watch faces.
Trying to up sell is not being greedy. Its good business. Analysis are already predicting that the Sport model will be 75-90% of the units sold. Does that sound like Apple is being greedy?
Of course the Watch is a fashion item. But it is also a tech item. You need BOTH to be successful as a wearable. Without fashion this would fail just like all the ugly Android watches. Most people won't wear something every day that looks clownish no matter how practical it is.
If Apple just sold the watch face alone there would be too many people who would buy it and then buy a crappy 3rd party band from China. For the Sport/Steel line I can almost guarantee they are making higher margins on the band then on the watch face. So you want Apple to get hurt financially? If they sold the watch face seperately I can almost guarantee the face would cost more than $300 and $350 for the sport to make up for the lost margin from not selling the band.
Exactly. There's no way Apple would ever sell the watch without a band. Sure they could have sold each watch with sport band as default but then they know a lot of people wouldn't buy another band as the sport would be "good enough". Apple clearly wanted to present this watch in a certain way and I don't think this launch is any different than any other, including the typical complaining because demand is outpacing supply.
It's not about a customer being unreasonable it's about the appearance of organization.
And "the initial launch period" is vague. What is that? So now we know. But it's not an official release. It only addresses Apple employees to presumably only Apple Stores. What about heir retail partners? This ad from Maxfield suggests there might be a line around the block Friday morning hoping to get a watch. So how does the news media report this? "apple's botched rollout" comes to mind. So yeah, an official release might be in order at this point.
You really think people are going to be lining up around the block to get an ?Watch at Maxfield? I don't and I don't think Apple does either. Initial launch period is vague because Apple might not know at this point how soon they'll have stock in store.
This isn't a "new" approach for the rest of the world! Small manufacturers often make a prototype to demonstrate feasibility to potential customers. This is done on Kickstart all the time. They take orders and know exactly what their production run will be. The Apple Watch is not a toy. It's a unique accessory requiring the iPhone user to commit to completely. It's going to have to prove its need in the field unlike the iPhone which was preceded by many phones before it. Such is the uphill road of the Apple Watch.
Exactly. There's no way Apple would ever sell the watch without a band. Sure they could have sold each watch with sport band as default but then they know a lot of people wouldn't buy another band as the sport would be "good enough".
My first iPod came with a cable, AC charger, dock and case. My last iPod came with just a cable.
I could see Apple releasing a later generation of watch without a band.
Apple already said in an April 9th press release that orders would be online only for the initial launch period. They don't need to release anything else. What's the worst that can happen? Someone shows up at an Apple Store on the 24th looking to buy and they're told the watch isn't available in store yet but can be ordered online. And then offer a try-on appointment or direct the customer to the demo units so they can play around with the device. Are people really going to throw a hissy fit over that?
Probably not until they get into an online forum, where hissy-fits are normative behavior.
Comments
it's not confusing at all. all sales are online only until they have more inventory.
yes and it should run on unicorn tears. that would be boss.
Year after year we have to hear about how Apple doesn't have enough product to sell at launch. It gets old. It does seem that this is the most botched rollout I've seen from Apple. First announced in September 2014. Announced again in March. You can try it on April 10th but can't have one. You can preorder for delivery on April 24th if your one of the first few to get online, if not, you can't get one until June. And full production will not occur until some time around September probably? At this point, if your the type that follows Apple and their product launches, fatigue starts to set in just reading all the gyrations Apple goes through to sell a product. What would be new, would be to hear Apple say they have a new product (category) and it's available in stores today. Now that would be real news.
Rollout after rollout someone claims "this was the most botched rollout ever" despite the fact that the person saying has no ability to even imagine the numbers of product Apple is shipping.
Apple conceived of, designed, manufactured, and will ship watches in numbers that would make your head spin if you could think about those numbers, but you likely can't. To misquote Louie CK, you can't even imagine how they put air in the tires of the planes they ship on. Half the naysayers claim that all this is to build hype, and half claim they are sick of hearing about the product now. But the simple fact is that Apple, more than anyone, has mastered this.
The average person hasn't read about the ?Watch every day for the last year, they have heard it mentioned a few times, seen one ad, gotten curious, looked at the Apple store, and are thinking about whether they might buy one. They might have heard that they are only up for preorder right now. They may have gone to a store and tried one on. Maybe, just maybe they ordered one there, on their own phone, with an employees help. If they have thought about the delay to get one at all, they thought something like, "wow, they must be popular. Glad I ordered when I did."
All the complaining about how bad a rollout of millions of a product that nobody could know the order numbers for is just an exercise in selfishness. Apples rollout didn't fit your life and expectations perfectly. We get it. They are a failure.
Honestly, the things people bitch about.
We let companies do things nobody should be allowed to get away with. And we just watch it happen. But when they enter an impossible situation, and then handle it very well indeed, we judge them and complain.
Don't misunderstand me though. Keep posting. I am getting a laugh from it.
yes and it should run on unicorn tears. that would be boss.
But then you have to recharge it in the other room, because otherwise the soft sound of unicorn sobbing keeps me awake...
Since different bands cost real money whether as part of the watch or separately, what's to stop people from buying the cheapest watch with the sports band and plan to buy another band later, but then decide it's good enough? That's not how it's going down though. People want the other bands. What difference does it make if it comes in the same box already attached to the watch or not? Assuming everyone will be happy with the sport band if they don't order the nicer bands initially completely ignores the fashion aspect of this watch. I see a tech geek deciding a sport band is 'good enough', but I don't see that from business executive. And looking at it your way, there's only two conclusions one can make, Apple is greedy and trying to make as much money as they can from each sale, or they're trying to compete on the fashion angle and the ?Watch is more of a watch (a fashion item) than people around here are willing to accept. And people are used to getting watches fully assembled in nice boxes. Apple could have changed that, but they didn't for obvious reasons. They could have very easily performed a concierge service in their stores, where like a jewelry store you came in, picked your watch, the jeweler went into the back and assembled your selection and then presented it to you, and helped you learn how to use it. But that won't work for mail order, and it would slow down sales in stores. But there's one way it would be better -- if Apple has the watch case in stock, but they don't happen to have the band you want, there's a good chance you'll still buy a watch with another band you weren't planning to. With the watches preassembeled in boxes already, the customer is limited only to the combinations on hand, not the full range were the bands to be sold separately.
I wish I had Apples problems.
I'm sure just about any company wishes they had Apple's problems. People waiting in lines for a new product. People willing to spend money are your products even with a higher profit margin then others. Never having to drop your prices a few months later and continue to drop threw the year. Bringing in billions!!!!
http://forums.appleinsider.com/t/185678/apple-watch-orders-will-be-online-only-during-launch-period-due-to-strong-demand
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So, on the 24th, what does Maxfield in Los Angeles get? Do they just get the preview watches to show to customers who then have to go online to place an order? Or will they have actual watches on hand? The latest leaked employee memo says watches won't be available in "stores" but what stores? Apple Stores, Apple affiliated stores like the dedicated spaces in Selfridges, and/or these boutiques in major cities?
According to the Maxfield website the watch will be "in store 4/24". http://www.maxfieldla.com Does this mean you can walk in and buy one? Or can you only look at one and then place an order on your iPhone? It's a pretty misleading and confusing advertisement, if you won't be able to walk out with one.
An official press release explaining the current procedure, detailing all the merchants who will be handling it an how would be appreciated at this point. An internal memo leaves one with the impression that these decisions are in flux.
Having the capacity to manufacturer 2.3 million watches at once would be foolish in the long-run. After the initial surge in demand, a lot of that capacity would be wasted. That's why every Apple product is constrained at launch.
The large number of SKUs is one, I'm sure. They might have been better off to package the watch and the band separately. As it is, with watch and band packaged together, there are just too many SKUs to be able to stock them in sufficient quantity to ensure buyers get what they want at retail.
From all appearances, demand has greatly outstripped the initial supply, as well. It's a great problem to have, provided it's managed properly. If they're smart, they will delay making them available at retail until they've cleared the backlog of pre-orders. Hopefully, this will also result in units scheduled for shipment in the May-June (and later) time frame to be shipped earlier.
Hey, you forgot the simplest one of all, and the one most cited: Tim hates inventory! He's the Atilla the Hun of inventory!.
Never mind that there are reports that production of the watch was supposed to start in September 2014, then in November, then in January, so Quanta workers would be working through Chinese New Year, and then yesterday, we hear from Kuo (who's a lot closer to Taiwan manufacturing than other analysts, including keyboard observers here) that mass production of the watch only began in March.
Unfortunately the simplest explanation, that Tim hates inventory, and by extension the satisfaction of his customers, can also be the wrongest (dumbest) one.
For some reason, the fact that this is the hardest product Apple and its suppliers have ever made escapes people.
I'm just waiting for the FUD and D&G crowd to say Tim need to reign in Jony and his complex manufacturing. Forgetting of course that one of the reasons people pay a premium for Apple products is because of the way they're built, the incredible engineering that goes into each one.
The watch is a product that not too long ago the naysayers were telling us was stupid, not necessary and won't sell. Now they're bitching because not everyone will get one on the 24th. :rolleyes:
And "the initial launch period" is vague. What is that? So now we know -- it's not just a couple of weeks after launch, it's an entire month and maybe longer. But it's not an official release. It only addresses Apple employees to presumably only Apple Stores. What about heir retail partners? This ad from Maxfield suggests there might be a line around the block Friday morning hoping to get a watch. So how does the news media report this? "apple's botched rollout" comes to mind. So yeah, an official release might be in order at this point.
Exactly. There's no way Apple would ever sell the watch without a band. Sure they could have sold each watch with sport band as default but then they know a lot of people wouldn't buy another band as the sport would be "good enough". Apple clearly wanted to present this watch in a certain way and I don't think this launch is any different than any other, including the typical complaining because demand is outpacing supply.
You really think people are going to be lining up around the block to get an ?Watch at Maxfield? I don't and I don't think Apple does either. Initial launch period is vague because Apple might not know at this point how soon they'll have stock in store.
Exactly. There's no way Apple would ever sell the watch without a band. Sure they could have sold each watch with sport band as default but then they know a lot of people wouldn't buy another band as the sport would be "good enough".
My first iPod came with a cable, AC charger, dock and case. My last iPod came with just a cable.
I could see Apple releasing a later generation of watch without a band.
Apple already said in an April 9th press release that orders would be online only for the initial launch period. They don't need to release anything else. What's the worst that can happen? Someone shows up at an Apple Store on the 24th looking to buy and they're told the watch isn't available in store yet but can be ordered online. And then offer a try-on appointment or direct the customer to the demo units so they can play around with the device. Are people really going to throw a hissy fit over that?
Probably not until they get into an online forum, where hissy-fits are normative behavior.