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Best Buy had one watch attached to some mounting plate on a table. You could not even pick it up or try it on. If you are interested in an Apple Watch, the best place will still be an Apple store where you will be able to try on several styles and bands, not to mention have any questions related to the product answered.

I do not own an Apple watch but am considering them as Christmas gifts for the wife and I now that watch OS2 has come out. I was not sold on the original functionality or limited watch faces but now am fairly excited to take a closer look.
 
That’s good. Hopefully more people will be exposed to it….Here’s my deal though.

I bet with almost 100% certainty that Apple Execs’ only phones are iPhones

I bet with almost 100% certainty that Apple Execs’ only computers are Macs

However, I’m not sure their only watches are all Apple Watches. I bet depending on the occasion, Jony Ive or Tim C. may wear a different watch (mechanical/high-end brand). In fact, coworkers of mine, who own an Apple Watch, sometimes wear their non-smart watch (depending on their outfit or event). I feel like it’s odd Apple entered a market where their product isn’t the main go-to device. Same thing with cars (if they decide to enter that), you know that Eddy Cue will be driving his Ferrari still.

It just seems very different from what has made Apple successful (i.e. enter a market where a known product, like smartphones/tablets/PCs, is lacking and make the best).

/rant
I "think" this is what they are doing - right? They entered the smartwatch market that was lagging and failing badly with Moto and Gear and within months they owned 80% of the market.

But I get your point... Just don't know if it is true. Apple execs seem to wear jeans and t-shirts all the time. :)
 
Or if you have a friend that works for Apple which gives their friends and family members 15% off.

Target discounts are based on the price they pay and the margins they make. On the Apple Watch and most Apple products, those margins are slim, so you won't be seeing a 15% employee discount.
 
And snarky comments re: high-end boutique retailers vs. Target in 3...2....1....
Because nobody is buying them and they have a huge surplus.
One of my best friends from high school is working as a manager at Apple. I haven't seem him in 10 years and he came to town two weeks ago. He told me a few things he could and he suggested because he can not tell them and he told some because it was me. But basically the Apple Watch is a failure and they all know that. Steve used to have control over everything, now everybody wants to have control and be the "creative mind". Still, Apple still manufacturing a product nobody is buying and there is a surplus and Apple will not say is a failure. I haven't seen the first one still, not even in my gym.
 
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And snarky comments re: high-end boutique retailers vs. Target in 3...2....1....

Such a far cry from the fashionable trendy image we initially saw.
Oh no I disagree....just yesterday I saw a pic of Eddie Cue wearing his Apple Watch with Orange Sport Band matched up with his Grimace purple shirt....if that doesn't scream trendy fashion then I don't know what d.....

Wait. Nvm.
 
Remember when Apple pretended this was a high end fashion piece? That Switzerland was in trouble. They were selling only at exclusive kiosks within high end fashion stores

Actually, no. I remember when MACRUMORS pretended it was, and a bunch of random "analysts." Also anyone else who seemed offended that Apple had nice ads for them featuring in magazines that weren't primarily about computers. I don't recall Apple ever going out of their way and saying any such things though.
 
The great thing about the watch being in all these different brick and mortar stores will be the sales. November will be quote interesting.

Now, let's work on that GPS band so I don't have to use my phone as a gps. That's the only thing holding me back from purchasing one... the lac of GPS.
 
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It'll be real interesting to see what sort of discounts Target offers on the Apple Watch this Black Friday. It'll give you a good indication of 1) Apple's/Target's margins 2) Their sales goals 3) How willing Apple is to "dilute" the perceived value of the Apple Watch for the sake of sales
 
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Cool, will they support Apple Pay anytime soon? C'mon Target.

I almost feel like they should go together. To sell iPhones and Apple Watches in a store, that store must take Apple Pay. In this case, since the Target app takes Apple Pay and not the actual stores, make the watches only available online.

(I know this isn't realistic, but still...)
 
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Remember when Apple pretended this was a high end fashion piece? That Switzerland was in trouble. They were selling only at exclusive kiosks within high end fashion stores?

Now it's all about mass market electronics at best buy and target. I think some people at Apple got a major eye-opener last spring. I'm sure Timmy and Co. wish they could forget that posturing. Target and Best Buy are great choices and I'm sure the watch will do well there. It's just so funny that Apple thought otherwise.


I think the idea at Apple was that they have the most powerful brand in the world; and that it is nearly unique in that it is both a popular consumer brand and penetrates the luxury segment in the businesses where it competes (is Apple not the most fashionable brand in phones and computers?) I believe Timmy et Cie were always aiming primarily at the same premium-consumer segment that Apple targets their products, but felt they had a possible play in the low-end luxury watch segment as well. They were never intending to compete directly with Rolex and Patek Phillipe. I don't know if they have given up on the luxury segment, but I don't think the mass marketing represents a change from their original strategy. It takes months to execute a new product class rollout as deep and wide as that for Apple's watch, so April to October sounds like the original plan to me. I'm not sure it is possible to compete with the same brand (at different price tiers, of course) in both the middle and luxury markets; but if any brand can carry that, it would be Apple's.
 
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I have to agree. I never got the impression that apple was marketing this as some strictly high end fashion piece. They offered different styles and bands for people that were concerned about that but to me at least it has been a lifestyle thing. Tracking exercise and stuff. Then I get some extras like time, messaging, email, etc..

I love my apple watch, i really do. I never wore a watch before this and I couldn't imagine not having it now. Its not something I would die without but it has given me small joys in many areas. And lets face it most of the time life is not full of huge joys, so we gotta take the little ones, right?
 
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That’s good. Hopefully more people will be exposed to it….Here’s my deal though.

I bet with almost 100% certainty that Apple Execs’ only phones are iPhones

I bet with almost 100% certainty that Apple Execs’ only computers are Macs

However, I’m not sure their only watches are all Apple Watches. I bet depending on the occasion, Jony Ive or Tim C. may wear a different watch (mechanical/high-end brand). In fact, coworkers of mine, who own an Apple Watch, sometimes wear their non-smart watch (depending on their outfit or event). I feel like it’s odd Apple entered a market where their product isn’t the main go-to device. Same thing with cars (if they decide to enter that), you know that Eddy Cue will be driving his Ferrari still.

It just seems very different from what has made Apple successful (i.e. enter a market where a known product, like smartphones/tablets/PCs, is lacking and make the best).

/rant


Yes, I think you make some good observations here. This is a very different market for Apple and they are making multiple plays; in part, I'm sure, to see what works. If not for their unique, amazingly strong brand, it would seem foolish. But if anyone can make this work, Apple can. Whether you believe the actual products are "magical", it is hard to argue that the brand is not.
 
Imma buy by $25,000 Apple Watch from Targé...

Seems like a challenge to keep so much inventory floating around - iPads understood, but this is a niche product that most people don't really need or want.

I would assume Apple will stop shipping inventory to these stores months before the new watch comes out.

Anyway, don't really care.
 
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Because nobody is buying them and they have a huge surplus.
One of my best friends from high school is working as a manager at Apple. I haven't seem him in 10 years and he came to town two weeks ago. He told me a few things he could and he suggested because he can not tell them and he told some because it was me. But basically the Apple Watch is a failure and they all know that. Steve used to have control over everything, now everybody wants to have control and be the "creative mind". Still, Apple still manufacturing a product nobody is buying and there is a surplus and Apple will not say is a failure. I haven't seen the first one still, not even in my gym.

Seems legit.

Unload the stock now.
 
"I bet with almost 100% certainty that Apple Execs’ only phones are iPhones

I bet with almost 100% certainty that Apple Execs’ only computers are Macs

However, I’m not sure their only watches are all Apple Watches. I bet depending on the occasion, Jony Ive or Tim C. may wear a different watch (mechanical/high-end brand)."


This makes no sense.

Of course Apple execs do use the Watch 100% of the times. Wearing anything else would not display a "status" whatsoever, or good taste, just disrespect for their own company, their own work. You don't understand those people, at all.
 
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