Among iPod, iPhone and the iPad, iPad was the one product that was slammed the worst during launch. iPod and the iPhone had their detractors as well but iPad was laughed at the most.
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Apple Watch Received Estimated 1 Million Pre-Orders in U.S. on April 10
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Among iPod, iPhone and the iPad, iPad was the one product that was slammed the worst during launch. iPod and the iPhone had their detractors as well but iPad was laughed at the most.
The original sentence was:
"This is kind of selfish of me, but I wish they would have just launched it in the US first. haha."
I guess it's true didn't exactly explain it. He was joking. The idea is if it had just launched in the US first, it wouldn't have run out so fast, and he'd get his sooner. Which, like he says, is kind of selfish. But he's just joking around, hence "haha".
For perspective, 1 in every 300 people already own an Apple Watch and they aren't even out yet.
It was the same with iPhone. Many here thought it should have come with a 40GB mechanical hard drive like iPod! LOL!
I agree but this is a totally different device. The iPad didn't require it be tethered to an iPhone either.
Honestly, I'm very biased that without a sim card it's not going to grab nearly the interest it could otherwise.
Apple aquired a lot of new customers in 2010, I would say easily 2.4 times what it had in 2009 due to the new iPad and iPhone in 2010. I would argue that here were a lot of new customers to apple just due to the iPhone 4 that purchased thier new iPad which was the iPad 2.
That's a telco's wet dream: a SIM card in every device, a monthly bill for life.
As for grabbing the interest, there's a backlog of orders already, it's my impression the interest is well exceeding availability. More interest isn't what they need at this point, more supply is, satisfied only by time (to produce adequate supplies).
1 million orders? And they couldn't make 2 million watches with 10 million iphones sold they couldn't make at least 1/4 so people like me who ordered within 2 mins of the release of the watch weren't gonna have to wait a month for it? ugh. I Apple disappoints me more and more every month that Jobs is gone.
If you are a guy, get the 42mm. Period. I thought about ordering both the black aluminum with black sport band and the SS with milanese loop and then canceling whichever one later but you have to be careful with Apple ordering because once something flips to "preparing for shipment" there is no way to stop it and I really don't need 2 watches right now so I'll stick with my black aluminum 42mm with black sport band and maybe I'll add a $149 milanese loop band later. I won't get mine till June either and I ordered at 5am eastern. It turns out I was ordering the most popular model so 2 hours after 3:01am (PST) launch turned out to be too long for me to wait to preorder.
I'm not terribly happy with the delay either but if Jobs was still at Apple we might still have nothing but 4 inch iPhones and full size iPads and nothing in between. He was a brilliant man and I'm grateful for all he did but he wasn't infallible.
One can simply look at userbase numbers. It seems like the iOS userbase grew around 2x from 2010 to 2011. But obviously not all those people did purchase iPads. That's the total iOS userbase growth. Unfortunately that number does not help with the iPad userbase.
But with all first gen products many people do wait. So it's not weird to assume they did the same with the first iPad.
And he was joking too, so he's not one of the impatient ones. But it sounds like you might enjoy this interview between Conan O'Brien and Louis C.K. (About how people are so impatient these days - it's pretty funny if you haven't seen it before)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=uEY58fiSK8E
everyone's needs will vary, but for me and my family, lots.
Working in the yard yesterday mowing, etc., I don't need my phone on me. No BT and Wifi do not reach there. I still got my text messages and my calls with ease. I was building a shed last fall, up on the roof and I easily called my wife to grab me a drink
Riding bikes with the kids, I don't need to have a phone in my pocket. Throwing the football with my daughter yesterday, the same thing. Think about it; having the ability to glance at your wrist is great but what's the point if you need your phone in your pocket? Coming up on Summer Time, the last thing I want to have in my pocket is a phone.
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For a mere $10mo, $5 for some carriers, it's well worth it. I love being able to run errands around town, especially in the summer and not having to take a device in my pocket yet still not being disconnected from it.
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I agree the numbers spoken of aren't "soft" but the above devices didn't require a tethering to another one. How well would the iPad have done if it required it be connected to an iPhone?
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How would they know what 2 million to make? New product, no sales history like iPhone.
Only a million? I would have expected more, and you would think with only a million pre-orders they'd have enough stock to fulfill them.
It's great that the Apple Watch has sold this well, the more they sell now the more money Apple will dedicate to developing it for the future.
It's a good product and I'm sure most people will be very happy with theirs. For me however I will wait till it has built in GPS and is fully waterproof so you can swim with it and run in a deluge without worries. For now I'll make do with my Garmin Vivoactive, it's got 2 weeks battery life, GPS, and is waterproof. On top of that of course it's also a smart watch that will receive your messages and e-mails. Of course this is more of a fitness device than a fashion watch but for the money it's amazing what it does.
In a couple of years time when the Apple Watch have these for me important features thanks to all the early adopters I'll jump in. In the meantime hope you guys enjoy your shiny new watches.
It's a good product and I'm sure most people will be very happy with theirs. For me however I will wait till it has built in GPS and is fully waterproof so you can swim with it and run in a deluge without worries. For now I'll make do with my Garmin Vivoactive, it's got 2 weeks battery life, GPS, and is waterproof. On top of that of course it's also a smart watch that will receive your messages and e-mails. Of course this is more of a fitness device than a fashion watch but for the money it's amazing what it does.
In a couple of years time when the Apple Watch have these for me important features thanks to all the early adopters I'll jump in. In the meantime hope you guys enjoy your shiny new watches.
You of course have data to back up your statement.... right? OR are you just talking out of your 4th point of contact?
^^ completely agree. for years people talked about all the other watches as a solution looking for a problem to fix, yet slap an
logo on it and things somehow change. It really does speak to the power of a brand.
The above estimate was for the U.S. So they might easily have hit 2 million in world wide sales during the first 12 hours.
everyone's needs will vary, but for me and my family, lots.
Working in the yard yesterday mowing, etc., I don't need my phone on me. No BT and Wifi do not reach there. I still got my text messages and my calls with ease. I was building a shed last fall, up on the roof and I easily called my wife to grab me a drink
Riding bikes with the kids, I don't need to have a phone in my pocket. Throwing the football with my daughter yesterday, the same thing. Think about it; having the ability to glance at your wrist is great but what's the point if you need your phone in your pocket? Coming up on Summer Time, the last thing I want to have in my pocket is a phone.
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For a mere $10mo, $5 for some carriers, it's well worth it. I love being able to run errands around town, especially in the summer and not having to take a device in my pocket yet still not being disconnected from it.
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I agree the numbers spoken of aren't "soft" but the above devices didn't require a tethering to another one. How well would the iPad have done if it required it be connected to an iPhone?
Spend more time with your kids and not looking at text messages!
All good and well but that would come at a battery drain and the watch would be thicker. I don't disagree that future generation watches will be stand alone like the iPhone became (it lost its need for iTunes syncing) but all in good time.
The tethering element I don't see as a huge issue. I think like you say it adds value but not needing to take the phone out the pocket. You just glance at your watch to receive notifications.
These are some bold statements based on guesswork.
First off you are confusing global sales of the iPhone over years, versus a guesstimate of online orders within a few hours of the Apple Watch release.
As you pointed out, the vast majority of people who ordered online have not even tried the product out yet, or even seen one in real life. So for that many orders to happen sight unseen is pretty amazing.
I also don't think you can possible make the prediction that the 'majority' of people who bought online will return the product. Apart from anything else they could probably sell for a premium on eBay while supply is outstripping demand.
Sorry, but you have filled in quite a lot of blanks and made quite a lot of reaches to form your conclusions.
Kind of harsh, don't you think?
And my data is my experience. The general mindset of the press with the iPad was the same as the iPhone... "We'll see sales grow, as people upgrade every two years..."
Then, Tim Cook, when asked about the iPad upgrade sales not looking like iPhone sales (YoY growth), said that Apple was still finding the sweet spot for the upgrade cycle.
The nice thing about the Apple products I own are the longevity of them, and here is the list of the ones that I have purchased:
Newton 2000 - I wish I still had it. I loved that PDA
iPod - 2005 - Dead, but lasted until 2012
iMac - 2008 - Still use it for the kids
iPhone 3GS 2009 - Still use it for Apple TV remote
iMac - 2009 - Wife still uses it
iPad 1 - 2010 - Still use it
iPhone 5 2012 - Kids use it
iPhone 5S 2013 - Wife's phone
iPad Mini 2 - Wife still uses it (not sure if it's a mini or a mini 2)
Apple TV 3 - Still use both of them (OK, one is 2 years old, and one is 2 months old)
iPhone 6+ - 2014 My phone
I guess what I'm saying is that these things last longer than the upgrade cycle, and in my own opinion, that watch won't warrant a replacement. Plus, phones have the carrier subsidy (I know, you pay for it over 2 years), so that helps sales as well. So, I guess that is my 4th point of contact, as you so eloquently pointed out.
So, to restate, I don't think that most people will plunk down $500 every two years to buy a watch.
I don't really believe that.
You really think that the typical buyer is ordering 2-3 of them with the intention of returning 1-2?
Apart from anything else, while supplies are tight you'd profit from selling on eBay rather than going in for a refund.