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Apple Watch Sold Out in Less Than 6 Hours as Shipping Times Slip on All Models

That's a great start.
I am waiting for a waterproof version and eventually one that is independent for the most part from the iPhone. Only a successful product will demand the R&D so I hoping the watch will continue to be a success down the road.
 
Mac21ND said:
Actually, I have a masters degree in it and work for a prominent tech company. :cool:

Whether it's intentional scarcity or not, it all works the same. You can either spin it as "scarcity" marketing, or you can spin it as "crud, we can't make enough faster."
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Or there might not be any spin. Maybe they don't really know how the market will accept it and playing it carefully by not making too many of version 1 ?

Good for you that you have a job.
 
The Apple Watch is off to a great start. The more people see what it can do (much of which has yet to be seen) the more people will want it. I'm going to wait till I can see it in store to decide which one I want.

On a side note, it would be fun to have a forum where people who want to discuss Apple products and rumors could talk amongst themselves without so much trolling. I can't imagine how sad my life would be if I joined a Samsung Rumors forum just to badmouth every thing they do and talk down to people who like their products. Seriously, some people need to rethink how they spend their time.
 
Mac21ND said:
Scarcity effect. Marketing 101.
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As I'm sure you believe was the case with the iPhone 6 and 6 plus.

People posting here that this is all made up by Apple are idiots. Many of you said the same about iPhone 6. Grow up already. Apple sells a lot of product. Get used to it.
 
H2SO4 said:
But my point still stands. If you are a supply chain genius you will know what your yield is likely to be an can, (if you so choose), account for it.
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You do, by easily showing the slipping ship dates for the products as the pre-orders go forward. The fact that the store never shows "sold out" is a dead giveaway that they're not trying to use "sold out" as a way to drive up demand.
 
Google Form for pre-order shipping data ... someone did similar for iPhone 6 and it was a good idea:

http:// goo . gl/forms/lwVpwDdeoc
 
MH01 said:
This is a new product, would it be plausible that apple would control supply, therefore generate demand, and creating the impression it's popular . It's in thier interest that this gen 1 product is successful. Also if you are unsure about a product , do you produce too many? Or test the waters with controlled demand? This is not an iPhone . Could be wrong but plausible.
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I could be plausible they don't want to make too many, balancing the supply with the demand. But its a far cry from saying they are purposely withholding watches to appear more popular and trying to create demand. Tim Cook has stated in the past he does not purposely create a shortage for buzz. I don't see him doing it now.
 
samcraig said:
I haven't read all the posts in this thread. But tell me - have we had any posters noticeably upset because something they've never had before is suddenly something they are entitled to have on the day of launch vs having some patience and waiting?
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I don't get it. It's not like this is a gotta have day one product. Since this is a brand new product with no history and does contain quite a few SKUs it only makes sense for Apple to be conservative at the outset. It will take some time for them to get a handle on which configurations are most popular.
 
Mac21ND said:
Actually, I have a masters degree in it and work for a prominent tech company. :cool:

Whether it's intentional scarcity or not, it all works the same. You can either spin it as "scarcity" marketing, or you can spin it as "crud, we can't make enough faster."
Click to expand...

Needing to "spin" it at all is a real problem
 
Yes!

gugy said:
That's a great start.
I am waiting for a waterproof version and eventually one that is independent for the most part from the iPhone. Only a successful product will demand the R&D so I hoping the watch will continue to be a success down the road.
Click to expand...

Yep, totally agreed.

I'm not a watch fan, but I do wear a Garmin while running. If the Apple Watch Sport could do everything it did, plus all that it does, I'd be interested.

But like you said, that depends on early models to sell well.

Buy buy buy everyone!
 
Apple says I can't get one.
But I don't want one.

Unless, it costs $99 and has a front facing camera.
Oh, the waiting game… Apple is killing me!
 
Lars T. said:
Kids,if you've actually taken Marketing 101 and think this is how the "scarcity effect" works: ask your money back.

It tries to make you buy something that you can get now by implying you may not be able to buy it later. Not the other way around.

The key point to look for is the the term "Almost sold out" instead of "Sold out (for now). Come back later."
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There are different forms of scarcity. It's a very effective strategy to make something appear sold out, the people that were on the verge to buy now feel like the missed out. And when you send them an email saying "we just found another box of them then in the back, you're very lucky here is a chance to buy again. And don't miss out this time, because as you saw, we're serious about selling out." the prospect on the verge is very likely to buy.

I'm not saying apple is doing this, they have no reason to. But it's certainly a form of scarcity marketing.
 
Enough with your logic

Rogifan said:
I don't get it. It's not like this is a gotta have day one product. Since this is a brand new product with no history and does contain quite a few SKUs it only makes sense for Apple to be conservative at the outset. It will take some time for them to get a handle on which configurations are most popular.
Click to expand...

Your well-reasoned thinking is not going to stick on launch day.
 
gugy said:
That's a great start.
I am waiting for a waterproof version and eventually one that is independent for the most part from the iPhone. Only a successful product will demand the R&D so I hoping the watch will continue to be a success down the road.
Click to expand...

Waterpoofing a watch with a crown (stem) is tough. It's best done with a screw-down crown. However, when a crown is screwed down to seal it from water, it's not usable to twist & turn as necessary here for UI interaction (without unscrewing it, using it and then screwing it back down again). If you look at divers watches, this is pretty much THE way they achieve true waterproofing.

That's not the only way to do it but it's the best way. As such, I doubt Apple can go waterproof with this Watch unless they can evolve away from using the Crown for the UI as currently implemented.
 
AppleScruff1 said:
Where are the articles about all the shipping space being bought up by Apple months ago? Did they sell a million watches on the first day of pre orders? Is the demand as great as that for the iPhone?
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There is no way the demand is as great as the demand for the iPhone, especially when you consider that having an iPhone is a barrier for entry. You'll probably hear numbers by Monday morning.
 
Gooberton said:
It was CLEARLY in short supply not high demand , I don't know a single person that ordered one. When iPhone drops I can name 10-20 people who preorder
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iPhone sells in volumes that no other manufacturer could match as it is already. Short supply does not mean "less than iPhone" in the case of any other product on the planet.
 
No In-Store Pickup via App?

It will be interesting to see if Apple posts sales numbers on the different models for launch day. I would guess 80% sport, 20% Watch and <1% Edition.

I was on the app at launch time and was able to place an order for the SS version with black sport band within the first few mins to confirm a Apr 24-May 8 two week delivery window.

However, I was not able to select in-store pick-up. I heard you could only do that from the website. Why not let you select that from the app if it appears to have that functionality built-in?

Now we just have to wait for the tracking numbers. Here is to hoping I get one on the 22nd.
 
samcraig said:
I haven't read all the posts in this thread. But tell me - have we had any posters noticeably upset because something they've never had before is suddenly something they are entitled to have on the day of launch vs having some patience and waiting?
Click to expand...

I've read them all, not a single post like that.
 
Again, one thing that seems constantly lost in debating is that artificial scarcity does NOT imply that there was no demand for the product in the first place.

The Apple Watch might very well be more in demand than all the Android wear models combined, by far ( and it seems to be the case ), and Apple may still want to drive the desire for it to even more stratospheric heights by constraining availability a bit upon launch... Wich I believe have been the case for most iOs products they launched..
 
Lars T. said:
Kids,if you've actually taken Marketing 101 and think this is how the "scarcity effect" works: ask your money back.

It tries to make you buy something that you can get now by implying you may not be able to buy it later. Not the other way around.

The key point to look for is the the term "Almost sold out" instead of "Sold out (for now). Come back later."
Click to expand...

Woah, that guy with the masters and working for a prominent tech company may need to read this.
 
This artificial hype discussion always comes up for every single iPhone. But then every iPhone breaks the old record for most sold. I'm not saying they are completely innocent, but it would be a different discussion if each release wasn't record breaking growth.

I think there are either production issues that prevented having more units ready, or some other explanation. I say this because I'm so used to preordering an Apple product and having it delivered the following Friday. That's how the launches have worked for the past few Apple launches. Reserve one week, receive the next. Here we have a couple of weeks lead time - not terrible, but it sounds like they are a little behind where they want to be. Heck, even the first people that bought saw a range of about 4-24 to 5-8 for delivery, so not even they are guaranteed. Apple wanted to get this thing out now, no matter how many they had ready while wishing they had more ready, so that they did not slip to a May or June launch day. It probably also coincides nicely for their fiscal quarter planning.

It's still only early April and it just seems a little dangerous to tell early adopter customers on your site looking for a day one purchase that their estimate is June. They chose this wording, and it is interesting wording to use instead of 6-8 weeks 8-10 weeks. You don't want them settling for a Pebble, or Android Wear. Many Apple loyalists would probably just wait, but still, that date is so far away for early adopters. I hope they aren't turned off by that.

But if I knew what I was talking about, I wouldn't be sitting here speculating. I'd be getting paid the big bucks. :)
 
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