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An In-Depth Look at Apple Watch Band Options and Potential Pricing
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Exactly. The whole Gruber article suggests we'll be limited, but the photo I posted clearly shows someone "in the wild" wearing a configuration not explicitly stated on Apple's site.
I understand Apple wanting to steer people in the "correct" fashion direction, but what's to stop people from coming up with whatever combination suits them? Not to mention all the 3rd party straps that are sure to come.
Apple already sells over 100 million iPhone's a year without a watch. People jumping ship isn't a concern.
Lol, you misunderstood what I said. I know plenty about density, mass, weight etc.
I didn't say that a 2 oz golden watch is heavier than a 2 oz plastic one. What I said was that without knowing the exact mass of the goldenWatch, any comparisons with the objects of the similar size (and known mass) are useless.
I guess we are misunderstanding each other. I replied to you based on your reply to Lord Vic. He wasn't comparing the weight of the
watch to the Moto360, Pebble, or Gear. He was using those as a gauge of the weight of the watch. As in if the watch falls into the weight range from 1.9-2.3 oz, the amount of gold would most likely not exceed 1 oz. Knowing Apple and their obsession with anorexic products, 1 oz in the case alone may be an overestimation.
For now, yes. Who knows what the future may bring. For a company like apple who is so dependant on the iPhone for the bulk of their revenue, I won't fault them for wanting to protect their future revenue stream by locking users deeper into their ecosystem.
I'm hoping you are right. I was hoping Gruber had some leaked data when he made his $5K estimate but it appears he was just guessing like the rest of us. My issue with his new estimate is the WSJ article that implies that Apple has ordered 1 million Edition watches. At $20K that's $20 billion of revenue, which, sorry, the SEC won't allow to be buried in with Apple TV and iPhone case revenue in "Accessories." They'll be incredulous that Apple management views the sale of a $20K watch the same way they do the sale of a $99 Apple TV or $29 iPhone case.
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Years ago Gruber was hand picked and anointed by Steve Jobs himself, as a "chosen insider". Ushered into Steve Jobs inner circle, he is privy to information that if leaked serves Apple well by wetting buyers appetites in advance of various Apple product releases. Therefore it's not unusual for his prognostications to be very accurate.
Think of him as another part of Apple's skillfully orchestrated marketing strategy. Much like the way Steve groomed and used Walt Mossberg, an older guy with next to no tech skill or knowledge until groomed by Steve and Apple so as to draw in the older demographic. It didn't hurt that Walt was already working as a non-technical writer with the New York Times. Jobs didn't miss a trick when it came to loading the dice in his favor.
It's highly likely that true to past practice, Grubers "speculation on prices" was sourced straight from the horses mouth.
If that were the case he'd have clued us in on the $20k price in October, not now.
Maybe they should change the name to MacFACTS!
That would take all the fun out of it...
I've actually had a sneaking suspicion that this is correct for a while now.
My personal plan, which matches lots of others, is to get the black stainless model. That is clearly the top of the line without going to the Edition, so that's my target. My budget for this? 1K. That's because Apple always, and I mean always, finds ways to tack on extra charges until the thing you are buying is twice what you thought it was going to be.
Has anyone considered that there might be different memory configurations for the watches? Like how many songs can it store without a connection to an iPhone. Not once have they said anything about the memory specs, and this is one of the main ways Apple bumps up the price, and the margins, and makes money. Want the little 8 MB watch? Great. That one is $349, just like we promised. Want 16 MB so it is usable? That's more. How about 32 MB so you don't need a new one a year from now? More. 64 MB because you are a geek and want bragging rights? More.
AppleCare+ because if something goes wrong, we are going to make you mortgage your house to fix it. More.
I know the pattern. I know this watch is going to cost 1K out of the gate. I'm okay with that. Heck, I'm a shareholder too, so I get a little of the money back.
Now, about the Edition. I know exactly what this is. It is a flagship model. They don't expect to sell many of them, but that isn't the point. It is to justify the high prices of the lower models. And, folks, I'm telling you, it is a tried and true formula, and it works.
Mercedes really doesn't expect to sell many of the S Class, BMW the 700 series, or Lexus the LS. They sell some, to be sure (I have an LS, so I'm one of them), but not all that many. In fact, they won't recoup the development costs for any of these vehicles because they can't possibly sell enough of them to recover them, even with the great margins they've set. The development costs are simply too high to justify the existence of these cars.
So, are they stupid? No. When a customer comes in, they know all about the flagship, and what it costs, and they've already ruled it out because even though they want it, they can't afford it. But, the lesser model, which is overpriced, now seems like a great value. They end up buying the closest they can afford to the flagship. If they can afford one down, that's what they'll do. If they can't, they'll go down another step. But, what happens is the flagship raises the value of all the steps.
And that's how they make money.
Apple is clearly doing this. I've never seen it done before in the tech industry, but in other luxury goods it is done all the time. It is done with planes, boats, cars, and, yes, watches. Heck, even water fixture companies do it. Kohler has a $6400 toilet. Why? Because of the reasons I just stated.
And that's why you (probably) won't be able to afford an Edition. But, you'll feel better about your 1K purchase of the black stainless model because of it.
Sean
My personal plan, which matches lots of others, is to get the black stainless model. That is clearly the top of the line without going to the Edition, so that's my target. My budget for this? 1K. That's because Apple always, and I mean always, finds ways to tack on extra charges until the thing you are buying is twice what you thought it was going to be.
Has anyone considered that there might be different memory configurations for the watches? Like how many songs can it store without a connection to an iPhone. Not once have they said anything about the memory specs, and this is one of the main ways Apple bumps up the price, and the margins, and makes money. Want the little 8 MB watch? Great. That one is $349, just like we promised. Want 16 MB so it is usable? That's more. How about 32 MB so you don't need a new one a year from now? More. 64 MB because you are a geek and want bragging rights? More.
AppleCare+ because if something goes wrong, we are going to make you mortgage your house to fix it. More.
I know the pattern. I know this watch is going to cost 1K out of the gate. I'm okay with that. Heck, I'm a shareholder too, so I get a little of the money back.
Now, about the Edition. I know exactly what this is. It is a flagship model. They don't expect to sell many of them, but that isn't the point. It is to justify the high prices of the lower models. And, folks, I'm telling you, it is a tried and true formula, and it works.
Mercedes really doesn't expect to sell many of the S Class, BMW the 700 series, or Lexus the LS. They sell some, to be sure (I have an LS, so I'm one of them), but not all that many. In fact, they won't recoup the development costs for any of these vehicles because they can't possibly sell enough of them to recover them, even with the great margins they've set. The development costs are simply too high to justify the existence of these cars.
So, are they stupid? No. When a customer comes in, they know all about the flagship, and what it costs, and they've already ruled it out because even though they want it, they can't afford it. But, the lesser model, which is overpriced, now seems like a great value. They end up buying the closest they can afford to the flagship. If they can afford one down, that's what they'll do. If they can't, they'll go down another step. But, what happens is the flagship raises the value of all the steps.
And that's how they make money.
Apple is clearly doing this. I've never seen it done before in the tech industry, but in other luxury goods it is done all the time. It is done with planes, boats, cars, and, yes, watches. Heck, even water fixture companies do it. Kohler has a $6400 toilet. Why? Because of the reasons I just stated.
And that's why you (probably) won't be able to afford an Edition. But, you'll feel better about your 1K purchase of the black stainless model because of it.
Sean
I think the Apple car is part of the same strategy. You spend $50,000 or more (who knows) on an Apple car and it doesn't play all that nice with Android phones, so they've got you hooked--for as long as you own that car.
This is post Steve Apple. Wouldn't economies of scale come into play with a sub $5000 watch? $10,000-20,000 won't yield the same net sales. For every person who would spend 10k on 1 watch, there will be 20+ people who will pay $ 2999 for a watch.
If the flagship was something that left me completely gobsmacked with it's design, maybe I could see them really driving the market with the edition model, but come on, it really isn't that amazing a design when you compare the unit-fashion wise to high end watches from the top Swiss watchmakers that are true works of art.
If the flagship was something that left me completely gobsmacked with it's design, maybe I could see them really driving the market with the edition model, but come on, it really isn't that amazing a design when you compare the unit-fashion wise to high end watches from the top Swiss watchmakers that are true works of art.
I took another look at the web page and it does look like some of the buttons on the digital crown match some of the the band colors...so how does this factor in. I guess time will tell lol
This is certainly a very likely reason for a 20K AppleWatch, however I don't think it will work the same way. The top-tier cars are say 2-3 times the cost of the more basic options, but are faster, better equipped, and handle better. If the rumours are true, the gold AppleWatch may be well over 20 times more expensive than the standard AppleWatch, but when it comes down to it, they are the same.
Not that I intend to buy one (I don't have an iPhone, and even if I did, I don't think it justifies the price yet) but for sanity's sake, I hope the "Edition' is gold plated (and that "..case crafted from 18-karat gold..." is a bit of an exaggeration), not solid gold, and priced at a reasonable point. Say around $1K. Maybe 2.
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Perhaps you will not be able to buy these in-store off the shelf and still get to choose whatever configuration you want. There is always the option of getting it BTO if you want something uncommon, just like many other Apple products have been doing for years.
What's interesting (and what should be talked about) is the warranty structure... If they're going to be this expensive, this could easily be the first time Apple provides standard, longer-term warranties. They'll have to unless they really expect even the dullest of the dull to spend that kind of money on a watch with a one-year warranty (extended to two (like the iPhone) or three (like Macs) years if you want to, etc.).
So what's it going to be? And what will they cover? Electronics? Software? Hardware upgrades? Just the hardware? Just mechanical pieces?
So what's it going to be? And what will they cover? Electronics? Software? Hardware upgrades? Just the hardware? Just mechanical pieces?
While I've always seen Apple products as relatively expensive, I've also seen them as a good value. This is not a good value to me.
IF Gruber's prices are right regarding the Watch Sport and Watch models (~$1000 for the latter), then I'm sorry but the Watch could be headed for a major backlash and this ties in with the New Yorker Ive profile about the pushback he received within Apple regarding positioning these devices for the uber-wealthy or not so wealthy. Really a stainless steel Apple watch, which I assume to be the standard midrange model, costing 1k just breaks that $500 psychological barrier.
The trick with Apple so far has been that they've been able to avoid these kinds of missteps, premium enough but not so expensive that it turns off your core customer base. But the more I think of the article, and how it made clear that this was Jony Ive's pet project plus there was an instructive comment in there about how 'he's always been a bit bling', and Jony's taste for luxury automobiles, the more I get uneasy about this Watch. It could be a punt too far.
As for the Watch Edition, I think the market and price bracket it seems to be aiming for are generally of no import/consequence to the rank and file Apple customer.
Time will tell.
The trick with Apple so far has been that they've been able to avoid these kinds of missteps, premium enough but not so expensive that it turns off your core customer base. But the more I think of the article, and how it made clear that this was Jony Ive's pet project plus there was an instructive comment in there about how 'he's always been a bit bling', and Jony's taste for luxury automobiles, the more I get uneasy about this Watch. It could be a punt too far.
As for the Watch Edition, I think the market and price bracket it seems to be aiming for are generally of no import/consequence to the rank and file Apple customer.
Time will tell.
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Straps will be purchasable seperately , again the ability to change them for me is the most attractive part of this watch. The high tier models will likely be in 7-10k range but not 20k as this will price Apple out of the designer market.
There is a fad in the fashion industry at the moment with the Apple Watch but nobody really expects it to replace true designer pieces and this first Gen can't compete it simply isn't "elegant" enough.
Standard watch I think we are talking iPad money which for me is a lot for a device that is still tethered to your iPhonr, lacks the sensors we hoped and has so far single day battery life. A fact that floored me because if there was one thing Apple needed to crush the competition was to sort battery life for the smartwatch.
There is a fad in the fashion industry at the moment with the Apple Watch but nobody really expects it to replace true designer pieces and this first Gen can't compete it simply isn't "elegant" enough.
Standard watch I think we are talking iPad money which for me is a lot for a device that is still tethered to your iPhonr, lacks the sensors we hoped and has so far single day battery life. A fact that floored me because if there was one thing Apple needed to crush the competition was to sort battery life for the smartwatch.
Nope, dont agree.
Im guessing Apple IS going to shake up the premium watch world and price the gold watch around what its actually worth.
Apple has moved so far away from "premium pricing just because we can" I would hope they dont reverse course.
Time will tell.
Im guessing Apple IS going to shake up the premium watch world and price the gold watch around what its actually worth.
Apple has moved so far away from "premium pricing just because we can" I would hope they dont reverse course.
Time will tell.
The difference in price for a stainless steel and a white gold Rolex may be $15k. Same watch, no difference except minor changes to the dial and for the keen-eyed shades of silver. And yet people have bought white gold Rolex watches just because they like it for whatever reason. If you don't understand that, well... You won't.
Same thing may be true for people who want a gold apple watch. They'll be willing to pay for Thousands more for essentially the same watch as the $349 model. However obscene that may be to your sensibilities.
But personally I think apple will keep the gold watches without solid gold-linked strap to keep price down to a somewhat realistic level. Around 4-5k.
Same thing may be true for people who want a gold apple watch. They'll be willing to pay for Thousands more for essentially the same watch as the $349 model. However obscene that may be to your sensibilities.
But personally I think apple will keep the gold watches without solid gold-linked strap to keep price down to a somewhat realistic level. Around 4-5k.
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While I personally don't believe Apple is stupid enough to sale a $10,000 smartwatch I do believe that the highest end model will still be $1000 plus which is ridiculous in my head. It's a shame that Apple didn't focus on a sub $250 price tag to dominate the market first and then start releasing these uber models for people with disposable money. Their making the same initial price mistake like they did in the beginning with the first iPhone. Only problem now is that people will buy this product because of the Apple logo which is going to make the sales look great.
Can't wait to see what pebble has in store for us in the next few days. Apple is off its rocker this time around and they need to come back down to Earth. Maybe because of Apple companies will produce much better options which will totally undercut them. Hopefully Apple won't try to block the competition.
Can't wait to see what pebble has in store for us in the next few days. Apple is off its rocker this time around and they need to come back down to Earth. Maybe because of Apple companies will produce much better options which will totally undercut them. Hopefully Apple won't try to block the competition.
One more thing never liked gold color to begin with. It just looks gay and unnatural to me.
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Maybe the watch will harness iEnergy from closest parallel universe.
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Maybe the watch will harness iEnergy from closest parallel universe.