Apple Watch to be sold at Best Buy on Aug. 7

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in Apple Watch edited July 2015
It was announced Sunday that Apple will be making Apple Watch available at more than 100 Best Buy stores in the U.S. on Aug. 7, making the big box electronics retailer the first major outlet to carry Watch outside of Apple's own stores.




Best Buy will start stocking Watch through its online store and at select locations, with plans to expand to over 300 outlet before the lucrative holiday shopping season. Since launching in April, Apple has limited sales to its own online and brick-and-mortar outlets, international pop-up shops and a few token third-party boutiques.

When Best Buy starts sales, customers will be able to choose from Apple Watch Sport and stainless steel Apple Watch models, as well as official Apple accessories like straps. Solid gold Apple Watch Edition versions, which start at $10,000, are not part of Best Buy's initial Watch offering.

Extending Watch availability to a broader customer base is obviously a key factor to steady sales growth, but early manufacturing hurdles slowed initial production to negatively impact stock on hand. To deal with supply constraints, Apple limited Watch orders to those placed online and only started stocking the wearable on its own shelves in mid-June. Including Apple Stores, Watch is currently available at 680 points of sale.

During Apple's quarterly conference call for the third fiscal quarter of 2015, CEO Tim Cook denied reports of "collapsing" Watch sales, saying post-launch shipments have held steady and actually peaked in June.

"We're convinced that the Watch is going to be one of the top gifts of the holiday season," Cook said.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 55
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    I saw this in my Twitter feed. I'll be curious to see how these are displayed in store. The Apple sections at Best Buy stores is pretty small, but I can't imagine Apple wanting the Watch to be displayed along side other smart watches and fitness bands. I think iPhones are usually in the smart phone section but the last time I was at a Best Buy they had been moved to the Apple section of the store right by the Macs and iPads.
  • Reply 2 of 55
    9secondko9secondko Posts: 929member
    Watch sales must be healthy if best buy wants in.

    So there's that.
  • Reply 3 of 55
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    9secondko wrote: »
    Watch sales must be healthy if best buy wants in.

    So there's that.

    Yeah I wonder if this will shut up the Apple Watch is Doomed™ crowd. My guess is no. They'll just find some other data point to prove its failure.
  • Reply 4 of 55
    jameskatt2jameskatt2 Posts: 720member
    There probably will be a special Apple Section with Apple Watches, iPhones, and Macs. They will be manned by staff who may be Apple employees rather than Best Buy employees.
  • Reply 5 of 55
    anantksundaramanantksundaram Posts: 20,404member

    Can you use ApplePay to pay for it at Best Buy?

  • Reply 6 of 55
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    anantksundaram wrote: »
    Can you use ApplePay to pay for it at Best Buy?

    Supposedly coming this fall.
  • Reply 7 of 55
    danielswdanielsw Posts: 906member

    This is great news!

     

    Yet another fact to validate the Apple Watch as a viable new Apple product.

     

    Apple staff must be very proud that the watch project which was in the works for so long is finally bearing fruit.

  • Reply 8 of 55
    anantksundaramanantksundaram Posts: 20,404member
    rogifan wrote: »

    Supposedly coming this fall.

    I thought Best Buy was part of the CurrentC consortium?
  • Reply 9 of 55
    john.bjohn.b Posts: 2,742member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Rogifan View Post

     
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by anantksundaram View Post



    Can you use ApplePay to pay for it at Best Buy?




    Supposedly coming this fall.

     

    Apple should've held back the Apple Watch from Worst Buy until Apple Pay was available.

     

    Disclosure: I'm an "ElitePlus" member.

  • Reply 10 of 55
    jungmarkjungmark Posts: 6,926member
    rogifan wrote: »
    Yeah I wonder if this will shut up the Apple Watch is Doomed™ crowd. My guess is no. They'll just find some other data point to prove its failure.

    Headline: Apple desperate for Apple watch sales with Best Buy deal.
  • Reply 11 of 55
    slurpyslurpy Posts: 5,384member

    Apple can't even sell the Watch at their own stores, so now they're giving it to BB out of sheer desperation. 

     

    /s

  • Reply 12 of 55
    woodycurmudgeonwoodycurmudgeon Posts: 99member
    Clearly Apple's high fashion play is working well, Best Buy has always been known as a hotbed of haute couture.
  • Reply 13 of 55
    calicali Posts: 3,494member
    jameskatt2 wrote: »
    There probably will be a special Apple Section with Apple Watches, iPhones, and Macs. They will be manned by staff who may be Apple employees rather than Best Buy employees.

    I hope so. Best buy employees are the worst.
    They sell electronics they don't understand.
    jungmark wrote: »
    Headline: Apple desperate for Apple watch sales with Best Buy deal.

    The droid knockoff losers said the IBM enterprise deal was desperation from Apple.
  • Reply 14 of 55
    konqerrorkonqerror Posts: 685member

    People buy things at Best Buy? I thought it was an Amazon showroom.

    Actually there is one market I see consistently: people who are too poor or don't have papers for bank accounts, so they have to pay in cash. (Marketing term is "unbanked") Same with Wal-Mart.

  • Reply 15 of 55
    mac_128mac_128 Posts: 3,454member
    jameskatt2 wrote: »
    There probably will be a special Apple Section with Apple Watches, iPhones, and Macs. They will be manned by staff who may be Apple employees rather than Best Buy employees.
    This has not been the case at any other third party retailers for the ?Watch. Apple trained the salespeople working for the department stores and boutiques, but they are the employees of the retailer, not Apple. I saw this first hand at Maxfield LA. There were Apple reps, but they did very little, other than observe. I would be surprised if Best Buy agrees to, and Apple hires and pays employees to work in another retailers stores indefinitely.
  • Reply 16 of 55
    mac_128mac_128 Posts: 3,454member
    woodycurmudgeon wrote: »
    Clearly Apple's high fashion play is working well, Best Buy has always been known as a hotbed of haute couture.
    LOL agreed. I am somewhat surprised that the stainless Watch will be sold at BestBuy. I imagined the Sport would be the only watch sold at big box retailers at first, so this is a little surprising.
  • Reply 17 of 55
    zabazaba Posts: 226member
    They'll need extra security, I wonder if their staff have the bag search.
  • Reply 18 of 55
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,093member

    Just like iPads, next in line will be youtube vides of pimple-faced BestBuy employees smashing Apple Watches in the parking lot.  Wait for it...

  • Reply 19 of 55
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    woodycurmudgeon wrote: »
    Clearly Apple's high fashion play is working well, Best Buy has always been known as a hotbed of haute couture.

    Yep I knew it wouldn't take long for the snark to show up.
  • Reply 20 of 55
    redgeminiparedgeminipa Posts: 555member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by anantksundaram View Post





    I thought Best Buy was part of the CurrentC consortium?



    The 3 year deal is set to expire soon, opening the floodgates for retailers who initially refused ApplePay to finally start using it without fear of the CurrentC contract. That's why Best Buy is offering it "later this year."

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