Apple knows people want the Apple watch.. They only ship a few and keep the rest on " back order " so more people can talk about it and want it more!
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Apple does this on purpose!
- Thread starter supernet33
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Yeah I doubt that they wanted to not be able to have any available in store and have combinations that weren't even able to make it on launch... 
You found out their master plan! Although what they actually wanted was for no one to be able to buy any -- I'm sure some heads rolled when Tim Cook found that a few had actually been shipped.
Yes ofcourse. They can't bill until they ship and obviously a machine the size of Apple would rather sit on $100's of millions in inventory rather than collect the positive cash flow. That's how all successful businesses run.
Yes ofcourse. They can't bill until they ship and obviously a machine the size of Apple would rather sit on $100's of millions in inventory rather than collect the positive cash flow. That's how all successful businesses run.
maybe I should open a hot dog stand and not have any hotdogs for sale so people can want them more!
They also make the first generation not that good but make the second generation awesome. Ordered the apple watch coming soon!
Yes ofcourse. They can't bill until they ship and obviously a machine the size of Apple would rather sit on $100's of millions inn inventory rather than collect the positive cash flow. That's how all successful businesses run.
Hundreds of millions is truly a drop in the bucket short-term for Apple, the globe's 15th-largest corporation and sitting on a massive amount of cash.
We say this every product launch. Simply more demand than they can supply. Or, for the news. Who knows. Just order early, or suffer! LOL
Food for Thought
As funny as this might sound, if I were in charge of a first time product launch as intricate as the Apple Watch I'd purposely hold back supply.
Let the small, initial set of customers who received the watch be the guinea pigs, testing for inevitable flaws not even Apple could've predicted before the masses ever have the chance to experience them. This'll give them an opportunity to patch everything up nicely before the millions of others get their hands on the watch.
It's better for the rest of us to wait longer for a completely stable product than get instant gratification just to be the first to use it, buggy and all.
Sure, it's unfair for the first customers to have a buggy product, but someone has to be first. Better it be few, not many.
As funny as this might sound, if I were in charge of a first time product launch as intricate as the Apple Watch I'd purposely hold back supply.
Let the small, initial set of customers who received the watch be the guinea pigs, testing for inevitable flaws not even Apple could've predicted before the masses ever have the chance to experience them. This'll give them an opportunity to patch everything up nicely before the millions of others get their hands on the watch.
It's better for the rest of us to wait longer for a completely stable product than get instant gratification just to be the first to use it, buggy and all.
Sure, it's unfair for the first customers to have a buggy product, but someone has to be first. Better it be few, not many.
It's sad I knew what the thread was about from just this title...
I do not think that Apple does anything like this on purpose!!!!! If they have watches they ship them. If they don't they don't!
I do not think that Apple does anything like this on purpose!!!!! If they have watches they ship them. If they don't they don't!
While that makes a kind of sense, if that was what they were trying to do it would've been better to start small and just release the Sport with a couple of colors of bands, then branch out into the more expensive versions after more of the bugs had been worked out.
Sure, but there are material issues to look for in all models as well.
Apple did extensive testing for all of this, but nothing compares to real world use. Just look at how the sport bands are discoloring already.
This is brilliant. Would you be able to handle my investments so I can make enough to retire in two years?
True enough, although in my experience the watch is almost flawless physically, but rather shaky in terms of the software.
With all the different combinations, how exactly would you expect Apple to know which models would be popular. Market research can only do so much.
I'm sure apple would prefer sales to pre orders.
They are improving lead times for customers which surly means they are doing what they can to sort it out.
I'm sure apple would prefer sales to pre orders.
They are improving lead times for customers which surly means they are doing what they can to sort it out.
I think Apple was unsure, and maybe still is unsure, of what the demand will be for these watches. I was at an Apple Store today in a Chicago suburb and I noticed something. There were about 50-60 customers in the store looking at all kinds of products. Not one of them was looking at the watches. That could be a timing coincidence. It probably doesn't mean much. It just made made me wonder about how much interest there is.
Apple could have made things a lot easier on themselves by shipping the watch and bands separately but this would have taken away from the premium look and feel of getting your watch (well, for the apple, watch and edition anyway). They made more work for themselves by boxing and labelling each particular model and band combo so these SKUs make each watch almost like a BTO. I'm sure that's why they kept these out of the shops until such time as they are confident they will only be stocking models which will sell rather than sit on the shelves.
Who knows, they may even modify the packaging so that certain combinations can be put together in-store.
Who knows, they may even modify the packaging so that certain combinations can be put together in-store.
If you had millions at launch, and once the die hard fans fot them all, comes the moment of truth, in relation to if the average joe blow cares. This way they create demand and an illusion of popularity . They did not produce enough for launch for whatever reason, though at the same time it does have positive consequences for them, the people complaining are going to wait anyway, and apple knows that . They did not botch this launch, they knew what they were doing, and the media will report that they are in short supply etc. seeing as some June orders are moving, apple was very cheeky with thier estimates.
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You than face the out cry from fans that have watches sitting at home, waiting for bands, a worse solution.