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Best Buy Accelerating Apple Watch Rollout to All 1,050 Stores Amid Strong Demand

Mr Fusion said:
...There's nothing. NOTHING, confirmed, speculated or dreamed, that makes a future Apple Watch appealing for me to buy. And I'm pretty sure I'm not alone.
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Exactly. I don't think the Watch is garbage...there's just no reason for me (and most of the population) to currently buy it. Here are a few of those reasons:

  1. Too expensive
  2. I historically do not wear a watch (this was before the smartphones took over the world) every day
  3. I typically do not wear a watch every day because I have my iPhone, clocks on the wall, and computer clocks while I work 8 hours a day.
  4. I already have a very, very, VERY nice looking watch that is both functional and stylish. $100. And. It. Just. Works.
  5. Apple Watch is tied to iPhone...lots of "what's the point?" comments
  6. Terrible battery life
  7. It's Version 1.0...and so is the OS.
  8. I don't need or want all kinds of apps on a tiny screen...just give me the time, some great life-changing reasons to buy the Watch
  9. Ever been to a store to buy a watch? There are literally hundreds if not thousands of styles...but you only choose 1 right? Well, Apple only sells 1 style...so Apple is really only going to attract a small audience who feel, first of all, that it fits their style/look.

Sadly, Apple's Watch is just another product on the timeline of Gimmicky Watches.
 
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Reds622 said:
I have barely seen this device in the wild, if ever. Frankly, not only do I not have the urge to buy it, but I have now completely forgot about the product.

This thing has been a disaster. It's starting to get digs in influential media now too. That's not to say that any smart watch is a hit. None of them are, because they are currently pointless expensive devices with no clear exceptional function. Those who say otherwise must just be trying to justify their 500 dollar iPhone accessory.
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You've seen none? Fair enough. It's a first gen product. The iPod wasn't instantly everywhere.

Personally, I've seen quite a few. A mix of Sports and Stainless Steel.

Mac sales 'dropped off a cliff' in the second half of 1989. The Watch isn't going to be a massive hit from day 1... But it's selling enough, is good enough and seems to have a good future.

A computer on your wrist isn't for everyone, but lots of people seem to want it and Apple's version seem
s to knock competitors out of the water.
 
I stopped in to Best Buy to get a new cell phone/carrier yesterday. They had a nice deal with 2x 200 dollar gift cards for signing up with Verizon, and another 135 bucks for trade in my of my old phone. Took that money, wandered over to the Apple display and they had a the watches in stock. Walked up, tried one on, liked it (I'm a gadget nerd... I admit it) and used my gift cards to pick it up. Easy-peasy. I likely wouldn't have gotten one without Best Buy having them around to try on as the nearest Apple Store to me is ~2.5 hours away and I'm not driving 2.5 hours to have a look at something.

All in all I'm happy with the watch so far. I'm a fan of it for quick notifications of meetings mostly. It lets me see what's happening at a quick glance with regards to upcoming meetings/email/messages without having to get my phone out. That's a great thing in corporate meetings as a quick watch glance is quite a bit less obvious than getting my phone out of my pocket.
 
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Chatter said:
Anecdotal - went into 2 stores in NY/NJ looking for another band as BB is selling them. Nothing to be found! The shelf was bare. The very nice lady working there walked around, checked the computer and essentially said - good luck finding watch accessories in the area. I am sure this will change and they will have inventory on shelves but I am not surprised that this thing is selling well.
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To be fair they don't stock much watch accessories for any of the watches. **** is easy to steal, has a high resale value, makes them little profit, and the demand hasn't been high.

At the store my wife manages they lose more bands to theft than they sell. $50 for s band is oretty effing stupid anyway. You can get a dexent standalone watch for less than twice that, band and all.
 
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Reds622 said:
I have barely seen this device in the wild, if ever. Frankly, not only do I not have the urge to buy it, but I have now completely forgot about the product.

This thing has been a disaster. It's starting to get digs in influential media now too. That's not to say that any smart watch is a hit. None of them are, because they are currently pointless expensive devices with no clear exceptional function. Those who say otherwise must just be trying to justify their 500 dollar iPhone accessory.
Click to expand...

I've been seeing them a lot, but I've been making it a point to look out for them because I was interested in them. There have probably been quite a few people with them around you, but since you don't sound very interested in them you didn't notice them as much.
 
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cmChimera said:
Best Buy's CEO seems to disagree with you.
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Sure, I could be wrong...I admit that. But there are a few possibilities:

1)BB has a contract that Apple buys back all or a high % of the ones that do not sell...just like newspaper and magazines with stores.

2)BB is buying these Watches at a greatly reduced priced because they are NOT selling...yet if BB can still sell them and make a great margin AND get #1, it's a win-win for BB.

3)BB has some actual #s that show that the Watch is selling well and BB wants in on the action.

4)BB typically sells any Apple product Apple will give them...it also draws in customers who want to look at Apple products and then roam around BB.


I just do not believe is #3.
 
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Apple Watch is a failure, not in terms of sales (2 millions or so is impressive for such a bad product) but as a product.
Nothing like the iPod, the Macbook, the Air, the iPhone etc...

Not only for the fact it has bad specs for the price, you can't do much useful, you have to have an iPhone, there's no monitor, and of course the worse, the autonomy.

But also, and this is the worse, for the design, which is ugly, ridiculous, and makes you look like a **** (since it'll be censored by stars, you can choose c..t or t..t), large, rectangular.

And most importantly, which you can expect any hypocritical analyst and even less the medias to tell you, is that this product was however one of the most important for Apple future: smartwearable. They don't exist yet, sure there was watches like Pebble, Casios, Corum but they're like the Palm of the proto-smartwatches.

And since there's no one with a vision left at Apple, they'll probably never know how to envision and engage in this future sector until someone else does it the right way.
 
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neuropsychguy said:
You're not alone but are pretty shortsighted on potential.

There is huge potential for the Apple Watch, much of it related to health. Give it a couple more generations and it will be even better. As a scientist who researches in a health-related field, I see it as a boon to my work from a scientific (data gathering) and clinical (assessment/treatment) perspective.

Add in better battery life so it's better for sleep tracking, add in its own GPS, add in more sensors (e.g., a way to measure blood glucose levels without a needle, skin conductance, blood oxygen levels, etc.), add more native apps, and so forth and it will be revolutionary for health at the least. Over time, it will be nearly as influential (maybe more?) than the iPhone. Not in its current form but we're talking potential.

I don't own one and won't until at least gen 2 but I don't think anyone should rule out the Apple Watch (or its Android/Microsoft counterpoints).
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I understand what you're saying, but how many people do you think are that interested in their own health, to the point they'd plunk down money for this watch? Judging purely on obesity rates and the amount of junk food we ingest as a population, I don't see enough people caring.

(On a more personal note, I do appreciate the type of work you do, and honestly do hope that more people cared about their own health.)
 
lordofthereef said:
I'm curious, what metric is Best Buy's CEO using to gauge in store interest?

Whenever an analyst claims there is no interest and MR reports it people cry foul. Now Best Buy's CEO claims there is incredible interest and his words are taken for gospel?

I'm not saying he's wrongn, but it's not a product they've sold. Are we just going by people asking about the watch? Some other means of measure?
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Um, I'm assuming sales figures? If the Watch wasn't selling I see no reason for Best Buy to expand it to all their stores. Since they are one would have to assume it's selling well there. Of course we don't know what well means in terms of numbers but it's enough for BB to expand to all their stores within a month.
 
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ericinboston said:
"...Amid Strong Demand"

More like: "....Amid Fire Sale From Apple"

Apple probably is finding it's almost impossible to give these Watches away. Seriously. Sure, the Apple Fanboys all ran out and bought one (and many returned it)...but for the 95% of the population, there are plenty of reasons not to own the Watch.
Click to expand...

Apr. US population 2014 was 319 million.
Divide that by 4 as an average to get to households. About 80 million households.
Say 5% of these households buys on watch , that's 4 million watches.

And that's only USA.

At this moment I am in the watch and see corner, as it doesn't do enough for the price
and still needs an iPhone.
 
T
MacRumors said:


Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly today announced that the company plans to accelerate support for the Apple Watch by having the wearable device be sold in every one of its 1,050 retail locations across the United States "by the end of September" (via Fortune).
Click to expand...

The bigger question is why?
 
lordofthereef said:
I'm curious, what metric is Best Buy's CEO using to gauge in store interest?

Whenever an analyst claims there is no interest and MR reports it people cry foul. Now Best Buy's CEO claims there is incredible interest and his words are taken for gospel?

I'm not saying he's wrongn, but it's not a product they've sold. Are we just going by people asking about the watch? Some other means of measure?
Click to expand...
I wouldn't take a CEO's statements at face value, unless they are accompanied by some other information, such as an action that the company is taking. For example, a headline like
Best Buy Accelerating Apple Watch Rollout to All 1,050 Stores
might lend a little credibility to the statement. How likely would it be that Best Buy accelerates its rollout if they weren't expecting to satisfy some demand?
 
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ericinboston said:
Sure, I could be wrong...I admit that. But there are a few possibilities:

1)BB has a contract that Apple buys back all or a high % of the ones that do not sell...just like newspaper and magazines with stores.

2)BB is buying these Watches at a greatly reduced priced because they are NOT selling...yet if BB can still sell them and make a great margin AND get #1, it's a win-win for BB.

3)BB has some actual #s that show that the Watch is selling well and BB wants in on the action.

4)BB typically sells any Apple product Apple will give them...it also draws in customers who want to look at Apple products and then roam around BB.


I just do not believe is #3.
Click to expand...
Because you want to hate the product, not because you have anything resembling an idea of what you're talking about.


Mr Fusion said:
I understand what you're saying, but how many people do you think are that interested in their own health, to the point they'd plunk down money for this watch?
Click to expand...
A lot.....if just 1% of America cared, you have 3,000,000 sold. Let's be realistic though, the percentage is much higher than that.
 
lordofthereef said:
I'm curious, what metric is Best Buy's CEO using to gauge in store interest?

Whenever an analyst claims there is no interest and MR reports it people cry foul. Now Best Buy's CEO claims there is incredible interest and his words are taken for gospel?

I'm not saying he's wrongn, but it's not a product they've sold. Are we just going by people asking about the watch? Some other means of measure?
Click to expand...

Umm, he's using sales to gauge interest? Analysts make educated guesses but he is using the number of sales so far to decide that its worth expanding their roll out. Analysts also have nothing to gain or lose by saying the Apple Watch will be a success or flop. Best Buy's CEO has something to lose if he expands the retail space for the AW and it ends up flopping.
 
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ericinboston said:
Sure, I could be wrong...I admit that. But there are a few possibilities:

1)BB has a contract that Apple buys back all or a high % of the ones that do not sell...just like newspaper and magazines with stores.

2)BB is buying these Watches at a greatly reduced priced because they are NOT selling...yet if BB can still sell them and make a great margin AND get #1, it's a win-win for BB.

3)BB has some actual #s that show that the Watch is selling well and BB wants in on the action.

4)BB typically sells any Apple product Apple will give them...it also draws in customers who want to look at Apple products and then roam around BB.


I just do not believe is #3.
Click to expand...
Explain why BB would be expanding the Watch to all their stores if it wasn't selling? That makes zero sense. If 1, 2 or 4 was legit then why didn't BB stock them in every store from day one? I'm not aware of only certain BB stores getting the MacBook. My local store has it but doesn't have the Watch.
 
I bet that apple watch will have strong holiday sales. Getting these in best buy will help with sales since best buy is in some many more locations/towns than apple stores. It is a natural gift for friends and family who already have an iPhone.
 
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What sort of incentives has Apple given Best Buy to create a "demand" that doesn't exist?
 
Rhonindk said:
Let's wait till we see some actual numbers .... if Apple allows it. I was in my local BB and asked the "person on AW duty" about sales. Answer: "a lot of looking but few buying.." Suppose it doesn't help there is an Apple Store in the mall across the street :eek:
Click to expand...

That actually could have something to do with it. There is absolutely no way I would buy something at BB if I could walk across the street (Or drive 10 miles) and get it from the Apple store.
 
kcirtap00 said:
Apple has always created their own demand for their products.
Click to expand...

No they haven't. They've had a lot of dud products through their history, and the Watch falls into that category.

Getting this product into 1000+ stores will help inflate some sales numbers, but the inventory risk to Best Buy must be getting subsidized in some way. It can be hard to get a chain to stock crappy products without the reduction of financial risk.
 
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Rogifan said:
Explain why BB would be expanding the Watch to all their stores if it wasn't selling? That makes zero sense. If 1, 2 or 4 was legit then why didn't BB stock them in every store from day one?
Click to expand...

My guess is that BB didn't stock every BB store because Apple refused to let BB do that...it's a brand new product line and Apple wanted a)all the sales and b)all the feedback/input first hand.

Or, it's also possible that BB, like many people, were skeptical about the Watch in the first place...and thus only chose some select stores.

I think it was probably both reasons but primarily Apple refusing to let BB have all the stores.
 
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ericinboston said:
My guess is that BB didn't stock every BB store because Apple refused to let BB do that...it's a brand new product line and Apple wanted a)all the sales and b)all the feedback/input first hand.

Or, it's also possible that BB, like many people, were skeptical about the Watch in the first place...and thus only chose some select stores.

I think it was probably both reasons but primarily Apple refusing to let BB have all the stores.
Click to expand...

You're wrong on both counts. :)
 
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