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Apple Watch Pop-Up Shop Also Planned for London's Selfridges Department Store
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Apple will probably have less problems offloading the cheaper Apple Watch variants. It might be the more expensive models like the gold version which require more marketing.
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It's also a niche market who has proven to be more willing to spend.
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My guess is that the Apple retailers might get the entry level Apple Watch models and the cheaper bands. The more expensive versions would be limited to more upmarket places.
I have my reservations about the Apple Watch, and been back and forth on whether to buy one. But you can't deny they are going about it the right way in terms of marketing as usual.
This is akin to NOTHING Apple's done before, and certainly not akin to "iPhone case kiosks."
The Apple Watch may start out being dependent upon an iPhone, but, like the first iPhones which didn't support third-party apps but which yet produced long lines at Apple and AT&T stores at un-subsidized prices, it is no mere accessory.
The majority of initial Apple Watch customers will already own iPhone 6s.
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What high end product DOES sell itself? Gimme a break. Imagine the cost and effort that goes into selling a Ferrari or a Rolls-Royce!
"... people who own an iPhone..." In the USA and the UK, that is 50% of the population, and 90% of the population that can afford an Apple Watch.
Oh yes they will!
If I were going to plunk down $10K or so for an Watch Edition, I'd want some quality personal attention from a knowledgeable sales person in pleasant quiet surroundings, NOT in a typical Apple store, having to wait in line to fiddle with a tethered product sample which has already been fiddled with by hundreds of sticky fingers.
I'd also drive a hundred miles to a decent venue to do so.
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All the better for the queue to run out the door for a month or so.
Interesting, no, that one of the features of the impending Apple Watch is that other vendors seem to be raising their prices. Or at least it seems to be that way.
Case in point, the Garmin fenix 'wearable fitness watch'. The prices for the CES announced fenix 3 are $100 higher, and they are also selling a 'Sapphire with Metal Band' version for another hundred dollar premium.
But anyway...
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For the 'local' Apple Store, I already have to drive 100 miles, plus...
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You know your Apple marketing. I bought a 6+ last fall, online, at the Apple website, from the Chicago store. Was amazed, actually bought two. Got there, and still saw people lined up out the door and halfway down the side. Don't those people have computers? Can't they check online?
Will the Apple Stores only stock the plastic banded
Watch? I wonder. Classism at its best...
But, yes, there will be enough lines, and enough coverage of those lines to build up the release to a fever pitch for people that just HAVE TO HAVE THE LATEST APPLE PRODUCT NOW DAMMIT, NOW!!!
Case in point, the Garmin fenix 'wearable fitness watch'. The prices for the CES announced fenix 3 are $100 higher, and they are also selling a 'Sapphire with Metal Band' version for another hundred dollar premium.
But anyway...
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For the 'local' Apple Store, I already have to drive 100 miles, plus...
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You know your Apple marketing. I bought a 6+ last fall, online, at the Apple website, from the Chicago store. Was amazed, actually bought two. Got there, and still saw people lined up out the door and halfway down the side. Don't those people have computers? Can't they check online?
Will the Apple Stores only stock the plastic banded
Watch? I wonder. Classism at its best...But, yes, there will be enough lines, and enough coverage of those lines to build up the release to a fever pitch for people that just HAVE TO HAVE THE LATEST APPLE PRODUCT NOW DAMMIT, NOW!!!
Keep trying.
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They will be the very expensive ones that you won't be lining up for.
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They've never sold a product like this before. Apple has proven its willingness to change its own behavior. Many times, in fact.
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looks like its both, to me. The $349 version is a straight tech device I'm interested in. The others are more jewelry like.
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What indications do you see of that? Separating the high-end sku from the $349 sku isn't one of them.
Why does that make it at reason not to get it? Did the iPhone 6 not having Apple Pay stop the huge lines?
Surely you are being facetious and just forgot your /sarc tag. There are over 200m total iPhone 5, 5C, 5S, 6 and 6S in the wild and that number grows daily. Hardly a niche base to work from. Surely some of those 200m phones are in the UK, no?
Selfrdiges is normally full of both tourists buying anything just to get a Selfridges bag and above average wealthy people who shop there regularly.
As for the lack of Apple pay here, its my main reason for not getting thewatch at release. I bought the 6S mainly because I've had every iPhone at release.
As for the lack of Apple pay here, its my main reason for not getting the
watch at release. I bought the 6S mainly because I've had every iPhone at release.Nope, but UK still lags in Apple services, still no iTunes Radio after 2+ years
Given the wide Chip&Pin deployment here (and lots of stores taking NFC) I'd hoped Apple could get their act together quicker this time
It's probably what's going to happen, but people need to understand that its functionality is not limited to being tied with an iPhone. The iPhone is rather an extension for the Apple Watch.
If it makes people who are unsure whether they need to buy an iPhone or a Samsung, they'll be sure to buy an iPhone and it'll make Apple happy to have one more sale of their biggest market. It's a strong tactic.
Technically they did.
They invented the modern conception of it.
Before the iPad, the tablet category was floundering for a long time. Windows XP Tablet Edition in a heavy, plastic case with a desktop interface that is supplemented by a stylus?
That failed tremendously.
online
Is anyone else thinking like me that these watches are not going to be available for sale online?. I've got a few reasons that I think this. First, many people will want to try it on. Since Apple has generous return policy, folks might buy five of them to try on at home and return four. Im also sure that these luxury locations don't want to compete with a mail order product. Finally, I think at least initially Apple really wants the buzz. So having lines that persist for days to get the watch will help. Pre-order would decrease that buzz a lot. And buzz is important.
Apple can use the excuse that this product is so different that you must hold it in your hand to make the best choice for you. So they will force you to buy it in person.
Is anyone else thinking like me that these watches are not going to be available for sale online?. I've got a few reasons that I think this. First, many people will want to try it on. Since Apple has generous return policy, folks might buy five of them to try on at home and return four. Im also sure that these luxury locations don't want to compete with a mail order product. Finally, I think at least initially Apple really wants the buzz. So having lines that persist for days to get the watch will help. Pre-order would decrease that buzz a lot. And buzz is important.
Apple can use the excuse that this product is so different that you must hold it in your hand to make the best choice for you. So they will force you to buy it in person.
Good point, which made me think about the one thing that watch buyers may expect that Apple will undoubtedly have to deal with - watch band sizing per customer. A lot of consumers will not be able to pull pins out to adjust size, expecting a store employee to do so. That could certainly slow down the process at Apple stores, but at department stores it's a typical part of the process.
Nothing sells itself to a wide market. But especially something like the Apple Watch, which is essentially a new product category, does require consumer education. That doesn't mean Apple thinks it won't sell in huge #s. If Cook and Co. thought that they wouldn't have it make such an extremely high profile entrance into the marketplace; they would "hobby" it with a soft launch like the original AppleTV.
You have to understand that Cook, Ive, Schiller, & Ahrendts are putting A LOT of their personal professional credibility on the line pushing it in general fashion and fitness magazines and elaborate showcases in not just non-Apple stores but the most high end luxury stores in Europe. It's a high risk/reward gambit, but these are not desperate people, but rather confident. They have to be given the benefit of the doubt here based on the sum of their prior accomplishments.
I've been thinking the same thing. Given all the choices I'm curious how Apple is going to handle the initial launch. Surely allowing ordering online will result in a lot of profit killing returns and exchanges. But having customers lineup outside the store doesn't work either if the avg sale is going to take 20-30 min compared to an iPhone or iPad sale that takes 5-10.
I wonder if maybe Apple will have try-on dummies in store ahead of the launch or maybe some sort of cut-out model you can print at home for sizing purposes.
I won't be too surprised instead of "pre-ordering" customers can only pre-reserve a fitting, similar to reserving an appt. with the "Genius."
Did anyone catch this article?
http://www.techfor.us/2015/02/apple-watch-price-from-349usd-to-20000usd/
Claim that prices will start at $349 (38mm and 42mm will have different prices) and go up to, get this: up to $20K for the gold editions....
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Ah, I think the "Edition" watches will run up to $20K....
http://www.techfor.us/2015/02/apple-watch-price-from-349usd-to-20000usd/
http://www.techfor.us/2015/02/apple-watch-price-from-349usd-to-20000usd/
Claim that prices will start at $349 (38mm and 42mm will have different prices) and go up to, get this: up to $20K for the gold editions....
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Ah, I think the "Edition" watches will run up to $20K....
http://www.techfor.us/2015/02/apple-watch-price-from-349usd-to-20000usd/
I was being sarcastic and agreeing you, dec. That's why I questioned the odds of people owning the ubiquitous iPhone. Then I posited five and seven 'odds' as a guess'odds' being a unit of measurement I just made up.
Marketing is necessary to sell products, no matter how good they are.
This is something most Android manufacturers don't understand. They think that if they make something great, the customers will come. That's not true. You need to make people know your product exists, create a buzz and make people WANT it. Apple clearly understands this.
It's hard to get the buzz started, but once you get it going, your product then markets itself due to everyone talking about it, writing articles about it.