This feels somewhat like a Kickstarter system, Meaning, Apple didn't know what demand would be, so is waiting on production until paid orders come in. The wait times are starting to rival a special order for a new Audi or BMW.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Watch Pre-Order Shipping Estimates Slipping Rapidly to 4-6 Weeks or Later
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Not exactly. Marketing plays an important role in how consumers see value in a product. Controling supply is one way to increase desirability. Controling supply also enhances AAPL share value as it gives the appearance of high consumer demand for AAPL products. It's a calculated balance between supply and profit.
Ha ha. I kind of feel the same way. I'm definitely ready to do a 1st gen product, because the iPod, iPhone and iPad 1st gen products were all amazing. But maybe first batch of first gen is not what I want to drop a ton of money on.
Oh come on
Apple seems to be the only company on the planet that consistently underestimate the future sales of their product , year after year, for EVERY single iOs product they've launched.
So either :
1 - they have some totally incompetent people working in their sales&marketing department, who still manage not to get fired after all these years. ( highly unlikely )
2- they constrain initial supply on purpose to create hype. Basic marketing 101 ( very likely )
or 3, it's completely impractical to build, tool & staff production facilities to meet massive initial demand and then shut, ramp down and fire the staff.
Yes they could spend time building up inventory before the release, but that would delay the product. With a product like the
watch, they have no idea how popular it will be and what model people will want. You can't expect apple to build huge stocks. What I suspect they do is build enough models to meet their internal expectations as to sales, then use those figures to tune the supply chain accordingly. If I was a shareholder, I'd be royally pissed if apple spent billions building up stock, that might take time to shift. Overstock has killed companies in the past.It's often not known, but for computer stuff - on an auction eBay charges ~20% margin, but a buy it now only listing they charge ~10%....I only do buy it now. As others have pointed out you have add PayPal's 2% on top of that of course.
Previously there was a setting so a potential buyer of a buy it now listing wouldn't be able to "buy" the item unless they had paid for it - not sure if that's still around (been a while since I've listed).
Or as we've been hearing, they're having yield issues (i.e. lots of throwaway) and can't get the quantity they were expecting...given how long this has been since announcement, this is what I'd bet on.
Last edited:
I ordered through the Apple Store on my iPhone from my bed at 3:03AM...
Apple Watch 42mm Stainless Steel Case with Black Sport Band. Yeah I am being cheap right now... but so far it's stay saying 4/24-5/8. Hopefully it stays that way.
I'll order the leather or Milanese Loop strap later...
Apple Watch 42mm Stainless Steel Case with Black Sport Band. Yeah I am being cheap right now... but so far it's stay saying 4/24-5/8. Hopefully it stays that way.
I'll order the leather or Milanese Loop strap later...
Well, actually that's exactly what i was saying. They know their business, they are not incompetent people. They can accurately predict their sales. Wich is why the only explaination is that they are artificially constraining supply at launch for all their products because this technique WORKS. Scarcity creates more desire ,more hype, and more sales later on. And as long as this technique works they have no reason to stop. Why would they ?
I can assure that the day this artificial scarcity stop working on the customer's psyche, their supply will miraculously become equivalent to the demand, on day one.
No it is not. This stuff is all made up. Happens every year with the iPhone, Apple is limiting supply to make lame refresh seem desirable yada yada yada. Then Apple reports massive sales numbers and it turns out it was solely a demand issue there were in fact huge supply.
The iPhone supply chain, which is stretched at every launch, has had years to be built up and streamlined. The workers in China dedicated to making iPhones or some component would make a decent sized city. Guess what? That did not exist for the Apple Watch. It is getting created, but it will take years. And it depends on how many of these units Apple can move. Which no one knows right now.
----------
I can assure you that you have no idea what you are talking about.
To keep costs reasonable, the manufacturing process needs to make the same number every day for six or more months. So you can't set up facilities that basically just run for a month to build up launch day supplies and then turn them off, send all the workers back home (do you think you can just put workers into storage and take them out once a year for launch day?)
AAPL is down slightly in premarket trading so I think you can color investors and traders as not too impressed.
Rogifan is correct - Apple would rather have units to deliver launch day than IOUs for some date weeks after. Any experienced marketing pro will tell you artificially limiting supply does not pump up additional demand, it only risks actual sales, especially when the product is an impulse buy. It's also expensive because it forces manufacturing to be less productive.
Suckers are born every minute
I find it hard to respect any one that buys an electronic watch, for 400+ knowing that it comes with no accidental damage warranty unless you pay, is very expensive to repair, it will break easily, it will become old in 1 year and useless in 3 (incompatibility and upgrades).
so unless you can afford a new one at least every 5 years minimum, you are very not smart, when was the last time anyone spent 600+ on watches every 5 years? i am talking non collectible watches, because we both know this will not be a watch that you can pass it down to your grand kids.
I find it hard to respect any one that buys an electronic watch, for 400+ knowing that it comes with no accidental damage warranty unless you pay, is very expensive to repair, it will break easily, it will become old in 1 year and useless in 3 (incompatibility and upgrades).
so unless you can afford a new one at least every 5 years minimum, you are very not smart, when was the last time anyone spent 600+ on watches every 5 years? i am talking non collectible watches, because we both know this will not be a watch that you can pass it down to your grand kids.
The did, Apple does this initially... Apple will be all over the news today about how pre-orders are 2mons out because the demand was so high. Apple will come back next week stating how happy they are for the demand... then state how they will be increasing production. Usually a 4-6 will drop to half that.
I agree that delivery estimates will improve soon. More hype. I put one in a cart and got a 4-6 week estimate. It's not released for another two weeks, so I'll bet two weeks after release or earlier for most (stateside) orders. Just a guess of course.
And, some of the shipping times are slipping into JULY for SS. Mannnn, this is crazy! I'm not sure if Apple expected this type of demand. It's only been available for SIX hours...hell by the end of the weekend, shipping times for Sport/SS/Edition may be well in August!
This is a manufactured hype to look good to investors and to sell more. People tend to buy something in demand and if this is not selling out the demand would be weak and product would fail
Well, these "production issues" have ( artificially ) constrained supply for EVERY iOs product since the first iPhone. It's time to call them with their real name : Marketing
Oh come on
Apple seems to be the only company on the planet that consistently underestimate the future sales of their product , year after year, for EVERY single iOs product they've launched.
So either :
1 - they have some totally incompetent people working in their sales&marketing department, who still manage not to get fired after all these years. ( highly unlikely )
2- they constrain initial supply on purpose to create hype. Basic marketing 101 ( very likely )
And you guys are all experts in supply management I suppose? You all know what it takes to have an international product launch that will satisfy the peak initial demand without stockpiling for months in advance? Have you ever thought about what it actually involves to announce a product like the iPhone and have it in stores on day one and in the sort of quantities the market wants? I'm sometimes critical of Apple too, but I'm actually pretty darn amazed they manage to get the iPhone into the hands of so many people around the world each launch day.
I do partly agree with AppleInTheMud though... I'm guessing once the actual sales figures for the watch emerge, they will be modest. Only time will tell but it does sound like there are some very serious supply constraints here, and that Apple felt the pressure to launch before this thing was fully baked. Consider all the reports of serious performance issues in reviews, and the talk of Apple promising to improve things. By launching now in very limited supply, they can at least say they met the promised 'early[ish] 2015' timeframe, while they're still frantically trying to fix things behind the scenes. Apple has such high demands of its own products, they surely can't be happy with the watch's current performance (even if Tim comes out and says 'we couldn't be happier'.) They'll now also have a better feel for the demand based on preorders, whereas before it must have been a bit of a scary unknown for them.
when it came to 5:01 i ordered the black 42mm sport. i paid with a split payment (apple gift card and credit card) which slowed down my progress. when the order was completed i was annoyed to see my order pushed out 4-6 weeks.
i saw the white 42mm sport watch still had delivery on the 24th. i ordered this with the idea that if that blew out 4-6 weeks i can cancel the white one. the order processed and gave me a delivery for the 24th.
i cancelled the black one and will buy a black band later on
i saw the white 42mm sport watch still had delivery on the 24th. i ordered this with the idea that if that blew out 4-6 weeks i can cancel the white one. the order processed and gave me a delivery for the 24th.
i cancelled the black one and will buy a black band later on
Not 4-6 weeks though. Tim Cook is all about just in time manufacturing. He doesn't want warehouses full of watches that might never ship. There's no way in you know what that Tim Cook and Phil Schiller intentionally planned a 4-6 week delay. So it's one of 3 things: manufacturing issues, more demand than expected or these estimates are inaccurate and will come down soon.
And they still can't deliver enough at launch...mmm.... Wanna bet it will be the same for iPhone 6s/7 ?
Look, i'm not saying that what they're doing is wrong. It's not. I would do the same. It works, period. They are VERY good at this game, better than anyone else in the world. They understand how to increase lust and desire, and it's no small feat.
Others have tried to copy this scarcity technique and miserably failed ( they just got laughed at and sat there with tons of unsold stock in their hands)
And i still want a Sport model.
I bought the Sport b/c it was all I "needed" and also consider it disposable. Credit card will extend warranty one year, so gives me two covered years. After then either AW will be no more or something much more than it is now. Either way nothing off my back.
The repair prices are a bit nuts but so is much of everything connected with AW. It has Angela Ahrendts fingerprints all over it. It worked with Burberry we'll see it it translates to Apple.
How is it the pink leather SS says available to ship in June but the SS with the SS band is available to ship 4-6 weeks? I would think the latter would be the most popular choice and not the pink one? Frustrating! When I pre-ordered my iPhone 6 on the preorder date, I received it the day of launch. Why not for the watch?! Did they not produce too much? I get the hype and marketing strategy but if you preorder on the preorder date you should at least get yours the day of launch or even a week after. But almost 2 months away is a bit ridiculous.
Pretty annoyed. Alumin space grey Ordered at 8.05am UK - the online shipping date said 24th April on the web receipt - this now says 8th-26th may!?
But I think I had that with a phone too once. Then actually came on time. Anyone else?
But I think I had that with a phone too once. Then actually came on time. Anyone else?