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Apple Watch Orders Exclusively Online at Launch, Demand Expected to Exceed Supply

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Apr 12, 2001
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Apple issued a reminder on Thursday that Apple Watch pre-orders and try-on appointments begin April 10, with retail chief Angela Ahrendts stating that Apple Watch orders will be taken exclusively online at launch to ensure that customers have the best selection and experience possible.

Apple also believes that "tremendous interest" in the Apple Watch will result in demand exceeding supply at launch. Yesterday, it was reported that some Apple Watch models may be unavailable for April 24 delivery based on shipping times that briefly appeared on the Apple Online Store in the United Kingdom and Germany.
"We are excited to welcome customers tomorrow and introduce them to Apple Watch, our most personal device yet. Based on the tremendous interest from people visiting our stores, as well as the number of customers who have gone to the Apple Online Store to mark their favorite Apple Watch ahead of availability, we expect that strong customer demand will exceed our supply at launch," said Angela Ahrendts, Apple's senior vice president of Retail and Online Stores. "To provide the best experience and selection to as many customers as we can, we will be taking orders for Apple Watch exclusively online during the initial launch period."
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Apple Watch pre-orders begin on April 10 at 12:01 AM Pacific, or equivalent local times in other countries, in the United States, Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan and United Kingdom. Apple Watch officially goes on sale April 24 in the aforementioned launch countries, although in-store pickup will not be accepted without a reservation.

Article Link: Apple Watch Orders Exclusively Online at Launch, Demand Expected to Exceed Supply
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2015/04/09/apple-watch-supply-demand-launch/
I was hoping for a smooth ride. It looks like I won't be having one. Hopefully, after waking up at 2AM and spamming refresh I'll be able to get mine on launch day. Any delays in the time they release pre-orders will make me pretty sore.
 
Of course Apple is "expecting" this demand. But the markets, tech news sites, etc. appear not.

I wonder if this time Apple with withhold supply to make the appearance of demand, thereby creating a market of lemmings wanting to buy it because they cannot have it.

Also, FWIW, I'm 100% Apple, love Apple products, etc. But the iWatch is a solution to a non-existent problem.
 
> Apple Expects Apple Watch Demand to Exceed Supply at Launch

You don't say ? I expected Apple's marketing department to tell us that they don't expect demand to be that high...
 
In other news, research has shown rain is actually falling water :p

Of course demand will outstrip supply. We've already had reports of low yeilds from manufacturing and a lot of demand for for it.
 
I'm getting up and ordering one for myself and one for my wife but I go on record to say I'm still 50/50 after the recent round of reviews. I want to see for myself if it fits into my routine and plan to go with the sport for both. I wish we had a release at 9AM my time, that would be easier than 2AM.
 
Hopefully they learned from things from the busy iPhone 6 launch. I see they changed the language to say 'Pre-order *after* 12:01.' If the site comes responsive around 12:20, well, that IS after 12:01. ;)

And this time round they made the pre-order time very clear for Australia. For the iPhone we were guessing/hoping all day that they might turn it based on our local time instead of based on Cupertino time.
 
I wondered (and hoped) that when we had the option to "mark our favorites" in the online store, that Apple would use the data to see configurations with the highest consumer interest and then bump up manufacturing accordingly.

I wonder if interest in certain watch configurations has been on par with Apple's expectations? 42mm Space Gray Sport, for example.
 
So much $pay, so little impact....

Translation from $overpaid Ahrends-speak to English: "To provide the best experience and selection to as many customers as we can, we will be taking orders for Apple Watch exclusively online during the initial launch period." = "I may personally be making $millions out of Apple but I still can't provide a satisfying retail experience". Google Translate really needs to have an additional option for translating Apple-speak.
 
gsmornot said:
I'm getting up and ordering one for myself and one for my wife but I go on record to say I'm still 50/50 after the recent round of reviews. I want to see for myself if it fits into my routine and plan to go with the sport for both. I wish we had a release at 9AM my time, that would be easier than 2AM.
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Last I heard, they believed it'd be only 1 watch order per person. Unless either that's been disproved now or you're using two separate Apple accounts to pre-order.
 
Also, you know how Apple likes to launch things on a Friday and how they said 'early 2015' for the watch. Well their 'early' finishes at the end of April.

Ship one week later and they'd have to admit they shipped late and have to explain why. Maybe they have launched before they've been able to make as many as they would like.
 
gsmornot said:
I'm getting up and ordering one for myself and one for my wife but I go on record to say I'm still 50/50 after the recent round of reviews. I want to see for myself if it fits into my routine and plan to go with the sport for both. I wish we had a release at 9AM my time, that would be easier than 2AM.
Click to expand...

Same here. Although we are ordering extra sport bands for a color change. Hope this goes without a glitch.
 
Australia might be the real winners here; we get 8hrs to try them on before pre-orders start at 5pm for us. Those in the States of America - if they hope for launch day stock - have to pre-order before they can try them on.
 
HobeSoundDarryl said:
Could you edit this post and make the font about 50 times larger? When does Apple roll out a product well prepared for demand?
Click to expand...

When does Apple release a product that does break record sales? Doesn't seem to hurt their bottom line or customer demand. Either that or Apple is a marketing master.
 
Well, shoot.

I think my wife is planning to get me one of these for my birthday, which is mid-June. Well, if she can take a hint she is.

Now I doubt I'll get it on time.

Oh well. Isn't there some saying about patience being a virtue? Does that mean all I'm getting for my birthday is some virtue!? No thanks.
 
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