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solamar

macrumors regular
Dec 30, 2008
179
72
Alternative: Consumers are getting Robbed.

Only robbed if they don't have a choice.. plenty of choices out there.. don't like it, don't get it or buy something else.

The $350 at $175 is actually very nice deal for the sport.

That said, based on some early costs leaks, the Apple Watch Sport is costing Apple around ~$200 - $250 to make.. It's not until the Steel that they start getting to 50% margin.. In which case they are barley breaking even (Steel models) or losing (Sport models) at the 50% off..

Miniaturized technology like this is not cheep.. The S1 SoC alone cost more than the current iPhone.. Estimated $50-75 for just that..

This is more about getting buz / excitement among employees.. which will spread to customers. It's what in business, is often termed, lost leader. Worth the loss now, to gain the momentum ...

Harden steel, not cheep.. heavy to transport.. twice as much as aluminum..

They make their real money on bands that employe's, excitedly, up-sell.

EDIT: Don't get me wrong.. a year from now, Apple's Supply Chain machine will likely have the cost to produce this current generation of Apple Watch's down by half and all sport models will be at least 40% magian, steel even more. This is just how it is with a new product category for a company.. Apple has the cash, they might as well as fling it at employee's to get them buzzing..
 
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Taz Mangus

macrumors 604
Mar 10, 2011
7,815
3,504
Looking to drive more sales. I think Apple is nervous. :apple:

Where do people get this. Apple has, for as long as I remember, offered discounts to their employess on Apple hardware. Apple has given employees free iPhones in the past.

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50% is unprecedented for Retail Employees. :apple:

So is giving a free iPhone to the employees.

EDIT: I will say this, Apple wants employees to show off the watch and what better way to have a knowledgeable Apple store employee who owns one and is familar with how it works.
 

iJandro

macrumors regular
Oct 13, 2010
155
80
San Francisco, CA
All of a sudden, I'm looking my friend who works at Apple in a totally different way...
439296_o.gif
 

jumanji

macrumors regular
Sep 12, 2003
205
315
Austin, TX
any apple employee out there want to buy one for me? i'll pay for it and give you $50 on top of it. i'm looking at the 42 milanese one.
 

Taz Mangus

macrumors 604
Mar 10, 2011
7,815
3,504
All of a sudden, I'm looking my friend who works at Apple in a totally different way...
Image

LOL! Good one. However, I doubt an employee will be able to pass on the discount to friends. They could give you the watch for what they paid for it though.
 

ZCT

macrumors 6502
Sep 15, 2014
358
173
Minneapolis, MN
That said, based on some early costs leaks, the Apple Watch Sport is costing Apple around ~$250 to make.. It's not until the Steel that that start getting to 50% margin.. In which case they are breaking even or losing at the 50% off..
.

Even if these numbers are accurate, how much did it cost to design? How much did it cost to produce the prototypes and test them? How much did it cost to set up the robots that carve the cases out? How much did the work on designing the metals to be use cost?

Bottom line, if Apple can make their watch for around $250, they still have to recover the millions they spent figuring out how to make it for $250. And they have retail overheads too.
 

uid15

Suspended
Mar 9, 2015
1,186
637
Nobody is "being robbed" you silly buffoons. You have two choices; to buy one or not to buy one, and you used free will for either of those choices. Such a ridiculous statement to make.

Only Apple make Apple watch, so either buy one, or... don't.
 

avanpelt

macrumors 68030
Jun 2, 2010
2,956
3,877
However, IMO, they are nervous about people waiting to see reviews, and make a decision say, 30-90 days out. :apple:

It will be interesting to see what the availability of watch appointments is, say, around the end of April. In my area (Metro Atlanta), there are five Apple Stores. If even one or two of those stores has plenty of watch appointment availability three weeks from now, Apple should be concerned.

I wonder if they won't show watch appointment availability until after you've already purchased the watch online? That would seem to be one way to keep the average Joe from trying to get a sense of how well it's selling.
 

ZCT

macrumors 6502
Sep 15, 2014
358
173
Minneapolis, MN
LOL! Good one. However, I doubt an employee will be able to pass on the discount to friends. They could give you the watch for what they paid for it though.

The letter says, "...a special Employee Purchase Plan will offer a 50% discount on any Apple Watch or Apple Watch Sport for your personal use."

I'm not sure that buying it, and then immediately selling it to someone else counts as personal use. Even if no profit is made.

Those watches also have serial numbers, would not be hard for Apple to track employee purchases and notice when an employee purchased watch is suddenly being synced to someone else's iTunes account.
 

Kissaragi

macrumors 68020
Nov 16, 2006
2,340
370
It would be a nice gesture if apple employees got 50% off of everything apple. Would also encourage them to buy more apple products so they would be more familiar with everything. Not exactly going to put a dent in the bottom line.
 

576316

macrumors 601
May 19, 2011
4,056
2,556
Do we know if this is restricted to one Watch per employee or a 50% discount on all Watches purchased?

Ps. I wonder how many customers, whilst talking to an employee about purchasing a product, have said, "No, but you can apply your employee discount to my purchase...right?" :rolleyes:
 

Glideslope

macrumors 604
Dec 7, 2007
7,948
5,379
The Adirondacks.
Where do people get this. Apple has, for as long as I remember, offered discounts to their employess on Apple hardware. Apple has given employees free iPhones in the past.

----------



So is giving a free iPhone to the employees.

EDIT: I will say this, Apple wants employees to show off the watch and what better way to have a knowledgeable Apple store employee who owns one and is familar with how it works.

The free iPhone was not in the "Post SJ" era. Were talking June 2007 Taz.
a 50% discount in the TC era is BIG IMO. I presume the historic Media Blitz running up to the 10th was an inadequate amount of "showing off?"

Apple is concerned about sales in the first 90 days. Big time. ;)
 

Taz Mangus

macrumors 604
Mar 10, 2011
7,815
3,504
The letter says, "...a special Employee Purchase Plan will offer a 50% discount on any Apple Watch or Apple Watch Sport for your personal use."

I'm not sure that buying it, and then immediately selling it to someone else counts as personal use. Even if no profit is made.

Those watches also have serial numbers, would not be hard for Apple to track employee purchases and notice when an employee purchased watch is suddenly being synced to someone else's iTunes account.

I never thought of that and it makes sense especially in the case of the new product launch.
 

2457282

Suspended
Dec 6, 2012
3,327
3,015
So does this mean that I can wait for an Apple employee to buy one and sell it on ebay? Maybe saving a few bucks?

Probably not...
 

mi7chy

macrumors G4
Oct 24, 2014
10,495
11,155
Apple seem to treat employees lower since they give them to the media for free.
 

Taz Mangus

macrumors 604
Mar 10, 2011
7,815
3,504
The free iPhone was not in the "Post SJ" era. Were talking June 2007 Taz.
a 50% discount in the TC era is BIG IMO. I presume the historic Media Blitz running up to the 10th was an inadequate amount of "showing off?"

Apple is concerned about sales in the first m90 days. Big time. ;)

As of 2014 Apple employees over 72,000 employees. You really think 72,000+ sales to employees will really make a difference in the reported sales figures.
 
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