Apple Responds to Concerns About Apple Watch Launch: Deliveries Could Arrive Sooner Than Estimated

[wizard]

I suspect that Apple has real concerns about the launch lines.

Let's face it in the USA if something happened in one of these lines, some fat lawyer would find a way to make Apple responsible. I wouldn't be surprised at all to find that they take a similar approach with the next iPhone release.

If they do so, hopefully they better engage the public to inform them of why they are trying reduce launch day lines.

 

[cmichaelb]

I love the idea of the watch, I think it can offer a lot of useful benefits and have ordered two but my biggest concern is it's thickness...I'm really concerned it's going to look ridiculous, I'm desperately hoping I'm wrong

Unless you have really tiny wrist you will be fine.

I have a 6th gen nano in a Lunatik Lynk band, and it is about the same thickness as the  watch and a little wider and longer and it's not bad at all.

 

[Chrjy]

Unless you have really tiny wrist you will be fine.

I have a 6th gen nano in a Lunatik Lynk band, and it is about the same thickness as the  watch and a little wider and longer and it's not bad at all.

Thanks...I really hope you're right. I'm excited but apprehensive at the same time.

 

[darkslide29]

Not just the 42mm. I ordered a 38mm SG Sport with a black band as soon as the store went live. I received an email confirmation with a 5/13-5/24 ship date. Why did I get up early again?!?

So that you get it 5/13-5/24 instead of June.

 

[filmantopia]

Could this launch get any weirder?

Doesn't seem to weird to me to be honest. It's just a different product at a different point in time, so it has different requirements.

If there is one thing to consistently expect about Apple it's that they are always growing and changing.

 

[Mazeman]

He was also mocked for sending a long email. People told him no one would read it it was too long, he was a whiner, etc. He remained classy even though he was being mocked.

We had a user here who originally broke the antennagate story and got the famous "don't hold it that way" reply fromSteve Jobs. He too was mocked and basically insulted.

I got an equally terse (although not as newsworthy) response from Steve in2007.

That's how I knew it was him.

 

[bdkennedy1]

Apple can solve this problem by having enough product to supply before the launch. Every product launch they have is marred by not having enough inventory.

 

[thekeyring]

In terms of Andrew being mocked for thinking that Tim might respond, that's simply wrong.

I e-mailed Tim a couple weeks ago (during the Indiana law brouhaha) and got a response, signed "Tim".

So just like Steve, he *does* respond to an occasional e-mail.

Because I'm nosy, what did you ask and what was his reply? dm me using the forum if you want.

 

[Mazeman]

Apple can solve this problem by having enough product to supply before the launch. Every product launch they have is marred by not having enough inventory.

It's not that simple.

To "have enough supply" at launch, they'd either have to delay the launch (which doesn't go over well), or ramp up production capability (which then would inefficiently go unused once the initial rush is over). Not to mention that they'd have to accurately predict demand.

IMO, this was done about right.

 

[bnekic]

Good job Andrew Turko I really do believe Apple listens and responds to e-mails seriously. Back when the iPhone 5 came out and was coming to customers scratched out of the box I emailed Apple executives and they promptly contacted me to fix the issue. Then a week later MacRumors reported Apple was improving quality control on the iPhone 5.

 

[MUWarrior10]

Definitely frustrated with the launch and shipping dates. I had been planning on buying a watch since last year, but given the expected delay my plans have definitely changed.

 

[AppleScruff1]

I got an equally terse (although not as newsworthy) response from Steve in2007.

That's how I knew it was him.

Yeah, his replies weren't the warmest or friendliest.

 

[usarioclave]

They should have installed the in-store displays before the pre-order. As it is, people (myself included) were ordering blind. I was in the store the other day on a try-on appt, and probably would have bought another model than the one I bought. As it is, I cancelled the extra band.

Live and learn for Apple, I guess. To be fair, nobody really has done this before, but still...a little forethought would have helped the process a bit.

 

[asiga]

Definitely frustrated with the launch and shipping dates. I had been planning on buying a watch since last year, but given the expected delay my plans have definitely changed.

Don't worry. You'll get yours in no more than a couple of weeks. They're just playing the show.

 

[Tiltasauras]

I love the idea of the watch, I think it can offer a lot of useful benefits and have ordered two but my biggest concern is it's thickness...I'm really concerned it's going to look ridiculous, I'm desperately hoping I'm wrong

It's not thick at all. It's thinner than my Seiko automatic, which is itself not a very thick watch.

 

[PhiLLoW]

They are complaining because the general public sees the  watch commercials showing the 24 April date and expect to be able to walk into a store and buy one.

It s like when the Avengers opens 1 May. You expect the movie to be in the theater, buy a ticket, and watch it. Not place an order for a ticket for a movie that you cannot view, except a trailer, and then get that ticket in a week, a month, two months and then get to see the movie.

The people complaining are the one's that show up at the cinema 2 minutes before the movie starts and complain that there are no tickets available and can't wait for another show which starts 2 hours later.

It's even worse because the first movie haven't even started yet. People complain about the fact that they might can't see the first movie because of a high demand.

When there's a worldwide demand for a new product it's totally normal that not everyone can get one on release date.

 

[stanhope]

I told you so

From second one, I said that Angela Ahrendts would be to Apple what Ron Johnson was to JC Penney. A Burberry experience is in no way translatable to an Apple one. The head set of the consumer base is drastically different as is that of the staff. As was said in the article, the staff gave wildly different accounts of what was to happen. One such notion, often repeated, was that we could pre-order and pick up our merchandise in any Apple store we selected. I asked this repeatedly of many different Apple sales people as I am headed on vacation and will be away from my primary residence on April 24. Some of the staff indicated that the bands were not interchangeable. I could go with illustrations of misinformation on but suffice it to say that the launch was a retail disaster. The formidable sales have more to do with the product that the "Cartier" style launch. If you think about it for a moment with anything resembling a clear head, what company on Earth would not want the FREE publicity in every national media vehicle and all of the local ones where there is an Apple store in market generated by the lines waiting for the newest Apple thing. The people interviewed in line always say glowing things about Apple and I have never seen one say anything negative. The local reporters ruminate on how Apple employees hand out water to those in line and coffee when it is cold. You'd swap this for what I experienced in the 2 stores I visited on launch day i.e. Skokie and Northbrook? Since the "try ons" were at a communal table, I was able to see the vastly different experiences different clerks gave. Someone at Apple with half a marketing brain and the other half a deep understanding of the Apple core customer needs to intervene and right this insane concept. I completely agree, if there is no product available at the Apple retail stores on April 24 then "launch" was not a mistake, it was a lie. In one day they have turned goodwill into a horror.

 

[Iconoclysm]

If this is true then it does show that Apple have made a right mess of this launch. There seems to be so much uncertainty amongst the Apple execs about production and roll out of their new product.

This is normally their forte and they have had years of experience of product launches. I am not sure how they got it so wrong....oh hang on, the one thing thats changed is the introduction of that woman, Angela.

Very few companies have ever had a product launch with this many iterations. It's difficult enough when there are two colors of phones, let alone sizes, colors, matches, and whatnot. The fact that it has gone even this smoothly is pretty much amazing.

 

[carrrrrlos]

My Apple Watch should get here by the time they announce the Apple WatchS.

 

[freediverx]

I love the idea of the watch, I think it can offer a lot of useful benefits and have ordered two but my biggest concern is it's thickness...I'm really concerned it's going to look ridiculous, I'm desperately hoping I'm wrong

It's not too thick and it seems smaller in person than in photos. The most obvious thing anyone will notice is the fact that it's a largish rectangular watch with what at most times will be a black glass face. In other words, it will be readily apparent that you're wearing a smartwatch, not that you're wearing an awkwardly thick watch.

 

[LeslieM825]

that would be awesome if I got it BY the 24th......I have 2 milanese loop coming in the mail ..I ordered them on 4/10 @ 3:05 a.m. shipping is estimated between 4/24-5/8 can't wait they're beautiful!!!... watching to see when they hit my CC then i will know its shipping...BUT i HAVE gotten stuff before they charge my card that would work for me too :^) BTW they are REALLY NICE I was at the mall that day and stopped in to see them and the 42mm is NOT too much bigger ..I was nervous it would be too "manly big"

 

[Tiltasauras]

Apple can solve this problem by having enough product to supply before the launch. Every product launch they have is marred by not having enough inventory.

I would bet that they are indeed having yield issues and that's why they had such a small amount. Plus this was a global launch.

 

[DayOfChaos]

Just my opinion...

If CEO Cook is kind enough to read a customer's email and forward it to the executive response team, do not make it public.

I feel it slightly violates the trust, and people may get no response in the future if Apple fears it will make news headlines if they respond.

I think it's awesome the reader wrote Cook and the team cared enough to respond, but why make it public news?

I totally understand your point, but I think it made news because it was a question and issue millions of people questioned. If it was a personal issue, like my iCloud files were hacked by so and so and Apple did nothing I don't think personal issues like that would happen. But, the author did make the issue public before Apple even replied so it started with the author, but your point is valid.

 

[Chrjy]

It's not too thick and it seems smaller in person than in photos. The most obvious thing anyone will notice is the fact that it's a largish rectangular watch with what at most times will be a black glass face. In other words, it will be readily apparent that you're wearing a smartwatch, not that you're wearing an awkwardly thick watch.

I can easily accept that people may realise I'm wearing a smartwatch as it will likely become pretty normal in the near future. If it's not too thick as you say, I'll be happy.

 

[cmichaelb]

The people complaining are the one's that show up at the cinema 2 minutes before the movie starts and complain that there are no tickets available and can't wait for another show which starts 2 hours later.

It's even worse because the first movie haven't even started yet. People complain about the fact that they might can't see the first movie because of a high demand.

When there's a worldwide demand for a new product it's totally normal that not everyone can get one on release date.

Totally missed my point.

But the movie is in the theater if you get there in plenty of time OR preorder your ticket and pick it up when you arrive on 1 May. The product is still there to consume. Can everyone see any showing they want? No, but some get to see it on the day promised that it became available.

In the case of the watch, it's not.