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Apple Watch Revenue Will Likely Be Dominated by Expensive Gold Edition

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macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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30,783



Gold-Apple-Watch-250x255.jpg
Earlier this week, in a report about the Apple Watch's missing health features, The Wall Street Journal claimed that Apple has placed 5 to 6 million Apple Watch orders with overseas suppliers ahead of the wrist-worn device's launch in April.

The report specified that half of the first-quarter orders will be allocated to the entry-level Apple Watch Sport, while one-third of shipments will be for the mid-tier Apple Watch. The remaining orders will be for the expensive Apple Watch Edition.

While the Apple Watch Edition will have the least amount of orders among the three models, with between 850,000 to 1 million units shipped, well-known Apple pundit John Gruber of Daring Fireball believes that the expensive gold model could account for the majority of Apple Watch revenue. Multiple reports claim that the Apple Watch Edition will cost over $4,000, making it one of the most expensive products the company has ever sold.
"So as a business -- if the WSJ's sources are correct, and if Apple is correctly predicting demand -- Apple Watch revenue will be dominated by the gold Edition units, accounting for double or more of the revenue from all the other models combined. The Edition models would thus do to the Apple Watch lineup as a whole what the iPhone, iPad, and Macintosh do to the entire phone, tablet, and PC industries, respectively: achieve a decided majority of the profits with a decided minority of the unit sales."
Click to expand...
Apple Watch will start at $349 for the entry-level Sport model, while pricing information for the other two models has not been confirmed. Apple will reportedly increase production of the Apple Watch Edition to over 1 million units per month in the second quarter, indicating that demand could be strong for the company's first new product since the iPad in 2010. Early sales predictions for the Apple Watch have been all over the map, ranging from between 8 million to over 26 million units during 2015.

Article Link: Apple Watch Revenue Will Likely Be Dominated by Expensive Gold Edition
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2015/02/18/apple-watch-revenue-split/
T

TypeEE

macrumors member
Jun 10, 2009
72
16
I am sure the 10000 people who buys the gold edition will dominate apple's revenue.
 
H

hlfway2anywhere

Cancelled
Jul 15, 2006
1,544
2,338
For a device a little more powerful than the AppleTV and less functional than iPod touch, it should be priced accordingly. $249 entry level and i'd be in line on launch day. $349...it's just above my instant-buy threshold. I have to think about it.
 
Tankmaze

Tankmaze

macrumors 68000
Mar 7, 2012
1,707
351
The gold edition is more expensive than a mac pro !!
If I have that kind of money to spend on a watch, would surely go with omega and buy the sport edition apple watch. But that just me.
 
JoEw

JoEw

macrumors 68000
Nov 29, 2009
1,583
1,291
Tankmaze said:
The gold edition is more expensive than a mac pro !!
If I have that kind of money to spend on a watch, would surely go with omega and buy the sport edition apple watch. But that just me.
Click to expand...

Lots of silicon valley rich nerds I suppose.
 
M

Michael73

macrumors 65816
Feb 27, 2007
1,082
41
I can see spending $4k+ on an heirloom timepiece but not on something that will be outdated in a span of months or even a couple years.

I haven't heard of a substantive difference in the technology between the different models. As a result, it seems like you'd be better off buying a Sport Model and investing the rest in a couple of gold coins.
 
Z

Zxxv

macrumors 68040
Nov 13, 2011
3,558
1,104
UK
pricing goes like this

entry watch------$349
stainless watch--$1000
gold watch-------$4000

and you get to choose the strap that goes with the model you like. The strap costs extra. If you don't want a strap you have a pocket watch on a string.
 
MICHAELSD

MICHAELSD

macrumors 603
Jul 13, 2008
5,414
3,407
NJ
Producing a million of the Edition Watch makes it much less appealing. At $4,000+ I can entirely understand if it was a limited run but for a mass-produced timepiece I would rather buy a standard Watch and invest the rest in a Rolex-level brand.

Although speculatively if the report is correct I believe the price may surprise at well under $3,000 at that quantity. A million watches per month at $4,000 does not seem realistic to me, even for Apple.
 
F

FrankieTDouglas

macrumors 68000
Mar 10, 2005
1,554
2,882
Given Apple's track record, there's no way I'd drop thousands on a low-functionality device, only to have it abandoned by a new model within two years.
 
mattopotamus

mattopotamus

macrumors G5
Jun 12, 2012
14,666
5,879
Zxxv said:
pricing goes like this

entry watch------$349
stainless watch--$1000
gold watch-------$4000

and you get to choose the strap that goes with the model you like. The strap costs extra. If you don't want a strap you have a pocket watch on a string.
Click to expand...

no way they are pricing the stainless steel at more than $599. A $100-$200 premium over the sport is more like it.
 
MHenr

MHenr

macrumors regular
Dec 22, 2008
116
146
That's insane, those predictions would mean the Edition model alone would generate 3.5 billion $ in sales.

I don't know, we'll see I guess...
 
DrJohnnyN

DrJohnnyN

Suspended
Jan 27, 2010
1,443
2,027
Zxxv said:
pricing goes like this

entry watch------$349
stainless watch--$1000
gold watch-------$4000

and you get to choose the strap that goes with the model you like. The strap costs extra. If you don't want a strap you have a pocket watch on a string.
Click to expand...

Wouldn't mind paying $10K for the Apple Edition RG. :eek:
 
MICHAELSD

MICHAELSD

macrumors 603
Jul 13, 2008
5,414
3,407
NJ
FrankieTDouglas said:
Given Apple's track record, there's no way I'd drop thousands on a low-functionality device, only to have it abandoned by a new model within two years.
Click to expand...

Not to mention how if Apple produces millions of Edition Watches the resale market will be flooded with first-gens at a fraction of the price.
 
IJ Reilly

IJ Reilly

macrumors P6
Jul 16, 2002
17,909
1,496
Palookaville
Only in the land of rumors could features that were only a matter of speculation, were never promised, announced, or even hinted at, be called "missing."
 
Traverse

Traverse

macrumors 604
Mar 11, 2013
7,688
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Here
I wonder (realistically) how much you would get from a gold Apple Watch once the batter is shot in 2/3 years. I wonder if Apple will buy them back.
 
H

heryqk

macrumors newbie
Jul 1, 2014
8
62
Michael73 said:
I can see spending $4k+ on an heirloom timepiece but not on something that will be outdated in a span of months or even a couple years.

I haven't heard of a substantive difference in the technology between the different models. As a result, it seems like you'd be better off buying a Sport Model and investing the rest in a couple of gold coins.
Click to expand...

I agree. The Apple Watch will never go up in value. As technologically advanced as it is, the value will be based on its features and will be absolute after 2 or 3 generations. Look at the first gen iPhone. No one would want to use it. Now imagine if you paid $4000 for it.
 
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