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What a huge understatement.

"Ahrendts again told employees that the Apple Watch is only available online due to global demand exceeding supply."

How can this happen in only 5 minutes...
 
Tim Cook was praised by Steve Jobs as a supply chain genius. He's been dropping the ball on this as CEO. Anticipating demand is very difficult but that's why Tim Cook was considered almost super human in that regard.

Well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see how you run the multi billion dollar business after Tim.

You can't even begin to imagine the scale of his responsibilities. Back Seat CEOs, all of you.

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"Ahrendts again told employees that the Apple Watch is only available online due to global demand exceeding supply."

How can this happen in only 5 minutes...

Watch will continue to be online because of global demand. That was in response to when they will be sold in stores.
 
"...And the first time we've ever previewed a product two weeks before availability."

What's this supposed to mean? Apple unveiled the Watch like 6 months ago.

Durrrr... Previewed as in, you get to walk in and put hands onto the product weeks prior to delivery. You could cancel the order even before getting the product..
 
I think the difference is in the customizability. You buy an iPhone, it's pretty straight forward. You buy a mac, you add ram and up the HD but still pretty standard. Here you have to try it on, get the right size, right color etc. When I went in, I thought my wife was going to want the silver with white band. She tried it on and immediately hated it. She wanted the black on black so this saved me from returning it. I think that's what they are trying to avoid. A whole bunch or returns.

the problem was that pre-orders started before you could 'preview' them in-store, this means people had to order several watches because they weren't sure which one they wanted till they tried them on.
would have been MUCH more efficient, and saved a lot of cancellations/returns if they'd started previews a week before pre-orders.
 
Jesus that's badly produced, it's like car crash TV.

I get that not everyone is good at speaking in situations like that so either do take after take till she nails each little bit or get someone who is good at this stuff to do it. It looks so amateur.
 
saving face for such a blunder of a launch.

We didn't mind the lines, we didn't mind the low supply, it was at least consistent and we knew what to expect. This? This is madness.

Madness is going on the online store and ordering the model you want? It says the estimated delivery date when you order.
 
Tim Cook was praised by Steve Jobs as a supply chain genius. He's been dropping the ball on this as CEO. Anticipating demand is very difficult but that's why Tim Cook was considered almost super human in that regard.

How many companies sell millions of products at launch and get them shipped to arrive at their destinations around the world all on the same day. I don't know of any company that has consistently gotten products in the right hands on day 1.

Have they made too little of each product each launch, yes but the entire Android watch market has sold a fraction of what is being shipped in the next few days.

What companies can take millions of orders of anything in one day?
 
Video was missing several key phrases:

"We're sorry"
"We messed up"
"We're trying our best to catch up with demand"
 
I don't remember Craig getting much backlash with the iOS 8 bugs. I don't understand this Angela hate. None of us has the scope of what she ultimately wants to do. And I don't see any disaster. Can someone point me to the ****up she caused? :confused:
 
2 months from now we're going to see a report that basically says "one of the core pieces of technology used in the Watch had major supply/defect issues and Apple was forced to reduce supply significantly as a result for launch."

People need to lay off of Ahrendts. She has no control over supply or demand. I'm sure they're making the best decisions that they can given whatever circumstances that have presented themselves. I can promise you that we haven't heard even half of the story (and maybe never will).
 
Durrrr... Previewed as in, you get to walk in and put hands onto the product weeks prior to delivery. You could cancel the order even before getting the product..

I'd say it was implemented badly then. If they wanted to make a difference, previewing should have started before preordering, not after.

In either case, we've been preordering our iDevices in the past sight unseen and guess what, they actually arrived on launch day.
 
How is this a blunder? Apple has always faced extreme demand pressures with new product launches. Even iPhones are still constrained when the new revision comes out, and that's there most successful product.

Stores are far less efficient than online ordering, so it makes sense when faced with constrained supply to deal with it that way.

They've never put themselves in a position where they have to forego in-store sales to meet pre-order demands...and it continues to appear they may fall well short of their goals with preorders as well, even with the supply boost from not selling in stores.
 
A blunder because it didn't match YOUR expectation and changed the paradigm?

You need to read the book "Who Moved My Cheese". LOL.

saving face for such a blunder of a launch.

We didn't mind the lines, we didn't mind the low supply, it was at least consistent and we knew what to expect. This? This is madness.
 
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So far I've been extremely positive about Angela Ahrendts because she is doing good job at managing the retail.

She has already brought in a lot of her industry experience and has done the great job at exposing herself to the retail staff, which is required for a position such as this one.

A lot of people are giving grief because they're not getting their devices on launch day, but I hate to say that she is not responsible for overwhelming demand. :confused:

A lot of people forget she was partially responsible for the turn around and salvation of Burberry, which has once again started shift the high end fashion industry's direction
 
"unforgettable launch"

That's true alright. People trying on watches they had purchased on-line the night before by staying up until 3am and hitting refresh and praying?

How is that personally guiding anyone the day AFTER they've bought it before seeing it or trying it on?

Not so sure about the 'Unforgettable launch' but sure is an unforgettable, unprofessional video from a highly paid nervous, dancing, echoing Apple Executive. :eek::eek::eek:
 
Video was missing several key phrases:

"We're sorry"
"We messed up"
"We're trying our best to catch up with demand"

saving face for such a blunder of a launch.

We didn't mind the lines, we didn't mind the low supply, it was at least consistent and we knew what to expect. This? This is madness.

"Angela Ahrendts today sent out a video to Apple retail employees,..."
 
Well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see how you run the multi billion dollar business after Tim.

You can't even begin to imagine the scale of his responsibilities. Back Seat CEOs, all of you.

blablabla anyone with half a brain can do the job. He's a manager, not an entrepeneur. The difference is when I screw up I get a kick in the nuts, while his like get a golden parachute. So much for responsibility.
 
How is this a blunder? Apple has always faced extreme demand pressures with new product launches. Even iPhones are still constrained when the new revision comes out, and that's there most successful product.

Stores are far less efficient than online ordering, so it makes sense when faced with constrained supply to deal with it that way.

Frankly, I think this was a blunder for two reasons. First, becasue on the 24th, which is "launch day," you cannot walk into a store and get one. Constrained supply is expected, but no supply is a blunder.

The second reason is the decision to package the band with the watch before shipping. This assembly at the last minute is probably a significant constraint. They could have simply sent the watch in one box and the band in a seperate box. That way they could have built up inventory and shipped faster.

A bonus blunder (one that we can only surmize from other events) is that they woefuly understimated demand and launched without enough inventory to even get to launch date. An alternate to this blunder is that Tim rushed this out before they were ready.

All in All this was a blunder. Long lines, low supply - not a blunder.
No supply and stupid packaging decisions, defenitely a blunder.
 
the problem was that pre-orders started before you could 'preview' them in-store, this means people had to order several watches because they weren't sure which one they wanted till they tried them on.
would have been MUCH more efficient, and saved a lot of cancellations/returns if they'd started previews a week before pre-orders.


YES! Clearly one week of instore viewing and try-on appointments and THEN open pre-orders would've been better. They look VERY different in person and ordering something you're going to wear sight unseen is difficult.

There are loads of appointments available because who wants an appointment? You've either ordered already and will get it between 24/4 and the end of May OR you haven't and why would you try on now to get one in June?? These appointments make no sense.
 
blablabla anyone with half a brain can do the job. He's a manager, not an entrepeneur. The difference is when I screw up I get a kick in the nuts, while his like get a golden parachute. So much for responsibility.

Such short memories around here. We've all forgotten about the time a few years ago when the stock was down, Apple was DOOMED, and people were calling for Tim's head.

You're right about one thing, though - anyone with half a brain can do the job. Just ask Gil Ameilo. It doesn't mean they stick around very long.
 
So far I've been extremely positive about Angela Ahrendts because she is doing good job at managing the retail.

She has already brought in a lot of her industry experience and has done the great job at exposing herself to the retail staff, which is required for a position such as this one.

A lot of people are giving grief because they're not getting their devices on launch day, but I hate to say that she is not responsible for overwhelming demand. :confused:

A lot of people forget she was partially responsible for the turn around and salvation of Burberry, which has once again started shift the high end fashion industry's direction


plus... having everyone with the watch on the first day destroys the exclusivity that an expensive watch is supposed to imply. For all the kvetching, imagine the fashion cred people are going to try and claim for actually having it ahead of others.

That sort of buzz is exactly what the fashion watch segment dreams of. Sure there might be problems.. but from a strictly product-perception point of view they're doing what people really want even if they dont say it, creating exclusivity.

It's just a watch but if everyone has it immediately, it would cheapen the fashion allure.

just my 2c and I wouldn't go so far as to claim it's 100% true.
 
How many companies sell millions of products at launch and get them shipped to arrive at their destinations around the world all on the same day. I don't know of any company that has consistently gotten products in the right hands on day 1.

Have they made too little of each product each launch, yes but the entire Android watch market has sold a fraction of what is being shipped in the next few days.

What companies can take millions of orders of anything in one day?

Amazon.... Wal-Mart....
 
Wow Apple retail is leaking like a sieve these days. Tim Cook must be furious.
 
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