Analyst: Apple Watch launch was 'botched'

[kupkakez]

I've visited Apple Store couple times to tried on the watch and noticed that very few interested in Apple watch

I have noticed the same thing. I live in a rather "techy" town and yesterday when I was at the store to pickup a MacBook there was 1 person trying on Friday night.

I like my watch a lot but I think it's a hard sell for someone that isn't into gadgets etc.

 

[BillyTrimble]

Apple pay... What is there to say? From a security standpoint I see the pros. From an ease of use POV it's a toss up. Is it easier to grab your phone, open passbook, and hold it to the reader, and then assume the clerk even knows what you're doing? Idk, seems like my wallet and CC are simpler at times.

You're commenting on a process that you don't even know how to use. Read about apple pay. Learn the procedure. Then come back and talk about it.

 

[RogueApple]

Have you actually used Apple Pay? You don't have to open passbook, or even unlock your phone. Just hold it to the reader and put your finger on the TouchID sensor. With the watch, just double press the side button and hold it to the reader.

Honestly, there's so few places near me that accept it that I didn't even know it was that simple! But thanks, I will definitely take advantage of that ease.

And hey I get the cost factor being an issue for some, most, all... Fortunately cost is subjective and with a watch you know what you're paying. Not $200 for that guy, $350 for your friend and $700 for you (depending on your contract eligibility).

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You're commenting on a process that you don't even know how to use. Read about apple pay. Learn the procedure. Then come back and talk about it.

I'm commenting about my experience with Apple Pay. Not yours. If you frequent McDonald's enough to use Apple Pay everyday then more power to you. Enjoy life in your moms basement... But be careful, that lack of fresh air seems to be making you a bit aggressive.

 

[dotnet]

The analyst is talking out of an orifice not intended for talking out of (as analysts traditionally do when it comes to Apple). As far as I can tell, the Apple Watch launch was a resounding success.

I was given a pre-order date and a very convenient (for me) pre-order time of 5pm (thanks Tim an Angela). I was able to arrange for myself to be ready at the nominated time and succeeded in ordering two watches, due for shipment 24th April - 8th May. They both arrived before lunch time on 24th April. I was kept informed about the order, as well as the watch itself, all the way through. I couldn't have asked for things to go any better.

The watches I received were everything I hoped for, and free from defects, as far as I can tell after a week.

I can understand the disappointment of people who missed out on the first shipment, but hey, at least there will be more shipments soon. Unlike with tickets for ComiCon/Cher/Björk/One Direction. With those, if you're too slow on the trigger (or shoot for the wrong ticket) you miss out entirely and have to wait till next year.

*see, it works both ways

**this post is obviously not meant as a jab against those who quietly and patiently await their watches

 

[SixtyK]

"Pebble sold 400,000 smartwatches last year..."
Source: Fortune.com

"Samsung sold 500,000 smartwatches in Q1 2014..."
Source: AndroidBeat.com

"Apple Watch: nearly 1 million people pre-order smartwatch on first day"
Source: The Independent

Conclusion: Apple Watch is a flop... obviously.

 

[cai4651]

"Pebble sold 400,000 smartwatches last year..."
Source: Fortune.com

"Samsung sold 500,000 smartwatches in Q1 2014..."
Source: AndroidBeat.com

"Apple Watch: nearly 1 million people pre-order smartwatch on first day"
Source: The Independent

Conclusion: Apple Watch is a flop... obviously.

I think that you are right, but for a product announced by september 2014, i think that they expected more sales. My 2 cents, there was a lot of hype with this watch that seems to me needs more "cook time" . Anyway is a great start if you compare with others, of course.

 

[Kavier]

I don't see where multiple SKUs are a factor right now.

I do agree that multiple SKUs are not a big factor now, but my comment was referring to the fact that Apple decided not to make the watch available in stores on launch day. Even if Apple didn't have the manufacturing problems which led to the delays we are experiencing now, I still don't think the watch would have been available in stores on launch day which I do see as having a negative impact on Apple's image and the buzz around the watch.

 

[Black Belt]

The most oft-quoted estimate of first weekend Apple Watch orders was 2.3 million. (With an average of 1.3 devices per order, it could be that up to 1/3 were done as double orders with the intention of returning whichever model was not liked as much. But let's go with the 2.3 million.)

Pro-Apple site AI claimed in February that there were 6.8 million smartwatches sold just in 2014. So, using their figures, the Apple Watch sold 1/3 as many of just those. Not more than all smartwatches ever sold.

Of course, it'll also take months to deliver all those Apple Watch orders, and Apple can't count them as sales until they are.

So yes it sold very well at first. But not more than all others ever sold. Perhaps you left out some parameters, like "more than all Pebbles and Android Wear ever sold through the end of 2014." Now that would very likely be true. Pebble was a Kickstarter project and Android Wear didn't start selling until the latter part of 2014.

Delivered to and sitting unbought in retail stores is not sold. No one wears Android watches, they are unusable.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

I do agree that multiple SKUs are not a big factor now, but my comment was referring to the fact that Apple decided not to make the watch available in stores on launch day. Even if Apple didn't have the manufacturing problems which led to the delays we are experiencing now, I still don't think the watch would have been available in stores on launch day which I do see as having a negative impact on Apple's image and the buzz around the watch.

You can't predict what would have happened "if." The fact is Apple didn't have the watch available on launch day because they lost significant production time after the Taptic Engine fail. No one can say what would have happened "if" that did not occur. However, historically, Apple has never before had a launch and not had product in stores. Even the iPad Mini Retina which was also in short supply at launch was available on Day 1 but had to be ordered online for in-store pickup.

Apple is an experienced company so I don't think they would willy nilly elect to sell so many SKUs if they felt it would cause logistic issues. They previously announced the Edition watches would only be sold in select stores.

 

[Antiloop]

I do agree that multiple SKUs are not a big factor now, but my comment was referring to the fact that Apple decided not to make the watch available in stores on launch day. Even if Apple didn't have the manufacturing problems which led to the delays we are experiencing now, I still don't think the watch would have been available in stores on launch day which I do see as having a negative impact on Apple's image and the buzz around the watch.

I think people here overestimate how much people outside this forum actually care or know about the watch yet. Other then the people who have to wait for their watches no one cares that some people pre-ordered something and aren't going to get it right away.

Right now all that really matters is that they have watches in store for people to try on and see. most people are not going to buy this sight unseen. Those that would already placed their order in the first 15 minutes of pre-ordering. For everyone else the adoption process is much slower. A lot of people won't even know about the watch until the fall when they go into a store for back to school or to perhaps do some early Christmas shopping.

This launch is not botched. The launch is only just getting started. It is running into issues that are very typical of a completely brand new product being released.

And I am willing to be the next round of doom comments will come in the summer when attention for the watch dies down....because it's summer and people have other, more important things to worry about and enjoy. But then fall will come and the attention will return and everyone will be excited because it's popular again etc,etc, etc. The watch will be just fine and people will just move on to complaining about something else.

 

[Kavier]

Apple is an experienced company so I don't think they would willy nilly elect to sell so many SKUs if they felt it would cause logistic issues. They previously announced the Edition watches would only be sold in select stores.

Apple indeed is an experienced company; however, they have never launched a product with this many possible combinations before. It would be extremely hard for them to predict what band + watch combinations would sell best at each and every one of their stores. Allowing ppl to order online for a while will let Apple see what sells best in different regions and give them the data needed to more accurately allocate inventory to stores once watches are available to buy at a store.

 

[mightyjabba]

This launch is not botched. The launch is only just getting started.

The launch was botched. I don't think anyone would seriously argue that Apple wanted things to turn out this way. That certainly doesn't mean that the product itself will fail, but you can't just arbitrarily say that the first 6 months or a year counts as the product's "launch."

Much of this may have been out of Apple's hands. I'm sure they didn't expect to run into this (apparently) catastrophic fault in half of the taptic engines that were produced. But that's certainly not the only issue, since if it were, there would be plenty of extra bands to go around, but they're as scarce as the watches themselves.

 

[Dennison]

They sold more in one day that all the other smartwatches sold over two years. I don't see how that is anything remotely like a flop.

It's already been said, but: This.

 

[mightyjabba]

It's already been said, but: This.

It's also not accurate, as has been pointed out above. And the thing is, with Apple being Apple, a botched launch is still going to be HUGE.

 

[Dennison]

It's also not accurate, as has been pointed out above. And the thing is, with Apple being Apple, a botched launch is still going to be HUGE.

The word 'botched' isn't accurate at all either.

probably didn't expect to sell as many as they did. Didn't every single model of the different Watches sell out within hours? That's unheard of. This is a totally new product. They should've done a couple things differently. Launches are tough as nails to get right when you're a company of their sheer size, not to mention the hype dominated by their products.

Everything that I've read on the forums about the launch really only amounts to some disdain that hardcore fans have because they don't have their watch yet. Which does suck. I don't have mine yet either. I can wait. Some people can't, because it's too exciting, I certainly understand that!

"Pebble sold 400,000 smartwatches last year..."
Source: Fortune.com

"Samsung sold 500,000 smartwatches in Q1 2014..."
Source: AndroidBeat.com

"Apple Watch: nearly 1 million people pre-order smartwatch on first day"
Source: The Independent

Conclusion: Apple Watch is a flop... obviously.

Number's aren't everything, but this takes the notion that this launch was "botched" and throws it out the window.

 

[Mtmspa]

Always remember that the first four letters in analyst is ANAL.

 

[mightyjabba]

The word 'botched' isn't accurate at all either.

No? The fault with the taptic engine apparently means that they are making literally half as many watches as they had expected to make at this point. And this isn't the only manufacturing snag they've hit. If it were, bands would be plentiful, but they are not. This meant that they can't fulfill most preorders, leaving some people who ordered on the first day in the lurch for weeks or months. (Not me, for the record -- I got mine on launch day.) Their communication with customers about whether the watches would be available in stores was also very unclear.

Sure, they presold quite a few of them, but is that alone enough to make it a success? I think that would've happened regardless, given Apple's loyal customer base (including me). Put another way, do you think this is the way Apple wanted things to turn out? Of course not. The fact is that it did not go very well.

 

[J.gerbes]

Best way to interpret an analysts report is as a joke.

 

[Antiloop]

No? The fault with the taptic engine apparently means that they are making literally half as many watches as they had expected to make at this point. And this isn't the only manufacturing snag they've hit. If it were, bands would be plentiful, but they are not. This meant that they can't fulfill most preorders, leaving some people who ordered on the first day in the lurch for weeks or months. (Not me, for the record -- I got mine on launch day.) Their communication with customers about whether the watches would be available in stores was also very unclear.

Sure, they presold quite a few of them, but is that alone enough to make it a success? I think that would've happened regardless, given Apple's loyal customer base (including me). Put another way, do you think this is the way Apple wanted things to turn out? Of course not. The fact is that it did not go very well.

Your right that this is probably not how they expected things to turn out. But...I think that they probably didn't expect their "loyalist" base to be so eager to pre-order and actually buy one.

The question I have wondered in the past week is how many people on this forum got one simply because they just wanted to get something new that Apple made for the simple reason that it was from Apple? Because they just wanted to maintain their status of getting something before everyone else? Who were more upset that they didn't get to show off their new toy on launch day then about the watch itself? Looking around the forum I see a lot of people that have a lot of rage over the launch but really don't care about the watch itself.

If you take out that group of Apple fanatics that got it just because Apple made it and because they wanted to be the first to have something and never had much of an interest in the watch in the first place then the launch is just a normal product launch of something new that doesn't quite have the supply to meet the demand. Was it textbook perfect? No. Was it botched? Only if getting it on day one mattered more then anything else. In pretty much every other case it was just fine.

 

[Spetsnazos]

"Pebble sold 400,000 smartwatches last year..."
Source: Fortune.com

"Samsung sold 500,000 smartwatches in Q1 2014..."
Source: AndroidBeat.com

"Apple Watch: nearly 1 million people pre-order smartwatch on first day"
Source: The Independent

Conclusion: Apple Watch is a flop... obviously.

If Apple announced a new laser pointer it would sell over 1 million in the first day. It has nothing to do with the product...

 

[rweed]

...but I think as of right now, it's simply a statement "hey I got the new Apple Watch!" rather than anything actually useful.

Nailed it.

 

[SixtyK]

If Apple announced a new laser pointer it would sell over 1 million in the first day. It has nothing to do with the product...

Sales are sales, regardless of the userbase.

 

[dannyyankou]

Analysts are just average people who are given a soapbox to give their opinions.

 

[Lustan]

Analysts are just average people who are given a soapbox to give their opinions.

Almost like these forums...

It's like rain on your wedding day.

 

[RRuxin]

Your right that this is probably not how they expected things to turn out. But...I think that they probably didn't expect their "loyalist" base to be so eager to pre-order and actually buy one.

The question I have wondered in the past week is how many people on this forum got one simply because they just wanted to get something new that Apple made for the simple reason that it was from Apple? Because they just wanted to maintain their status of getting something before everyone else? Who were more upset that they didn't get to show off their new toy on launch day then about the watch itself? Looking around the forum I see a lot of people that have a lot of rage over the launch but really don't care about the watch itself.

If you take out that group of Apple fanatics that got it just because Apple made it and because they wanted to be the first to have something and never had much of an interest in the watch in the first place then the launch is just a normal product launch of something new that doesn't quite have the supply to meet the demand. Was it textbook perfect? No. Was it botched? Only if getting it on day one mattered more then anything else. In pretty much every other case it was just fine.

Couldn't agree more. Apple products are about status to so many Apple fanboys, it's not about the actual product and what it does.