Bloomberg: $10,000-Plus 18-Karat Gold Apple Watch Edition Sales Fizzled After Just Two Weeks

ipponrg said:
The Apple Watch was compared to luxury mechanical watches due to clever marketing. But then again your idea of an expensive luxury mechanical watch might be in the ball park of $1000.
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When did Apple ever compare AW to luxury mechanical watches? Jony Ive said the complete opposite:

"When we started work on the iPhone, the motivation there was we all pretty much couldn’t stand our phones, and we wanted a better phone," Ive said. "When we worked on the Watch, the motivation was completely different. We happen to love our watches. Both Marc and I have collected mechanical watches for many years." Ive said that Apple didn't create the Watch because it believes it could do a better job than current watchmakers and instead pointed to the wrist as the next great spot for technology. "Very differently, it was because we saw that the wrist was a fabulous place for technology," Ive said. Marc Newson agreed. "The wrist is, and has always been for literally hundreds of years, one of the best places on the body to put an object."

"The product that I buy next week, it will be more capable and will do things that I cannot possibly imagine in just six months’ time. Now I think that’s extraordinary. I don’t know how we can compare these wonderful mechanical watches that we own and a product [Apple Watch] that has such a comprehensive functionality and capability that will grow and change beyond our imagining," Ive said.
https://www.theverge.com/2015/4/24/8491265/jony-ive-interview-apple-watch-luxury-goods
 
apolloa said:
..

I am still baffled to this day exactly what Apple thought they were going to achieve with this garbage? Not the Watch but the low cost materials And MASSIVELY inflated price?
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truthertech said: ↑
The article implies that the gold Apple Watch was a flop, which is a view held by those who don't understand how marketing works. Quite apart from a failure, it was a smashing success because the point was never to sell a large quantity of gold watches, but rather to generate a huge buzz and draw attention to how the Apple Watch was in a very different category than the rest of the smart watch market, including that it could be a high fashion accessory depending on the bands, etc., you chose. Ingenious. All of that was achieved, and that initial introduction kick started the Apple Watch into the tremendous success it is today where it essentially owns the smart watch category.

So your idea of marketing is to generate bad and negative press... riigghhtt....
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Marketing is a tough concept for many who don't work in the field. You mistakenly assume Apple's goal was to get tech pundits to like it or was concerned about comments that it was outlandish to produce a gold smart watch. LOL. That was the entire point. The gold watch created a worldwide buzz about the smart phone launch that was worth vastly more than the whatever the gold watches cost them to produce. Apple would have been ahead even if they never sold a single gold watch!

What 99% of the people who heard something about it retained is that the new smart watch also came in a gold edition and with special bands that celebrities were wearing and that it was being sold in high end places, i.e., something very different from the other cheap efforts like the Pebble, Fitbit types, and other market leaders of the day as Apple entered the market.
 
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There's tons of people who will buy something just to show off the amount of money they have. It happens with lots of products. I think they should have gone for a limited edition type deal and charged $100,000 per watch. It was just too cheap to appeal to the real snobs out there.
 
2010mini said:
I meant they will be rare in 20 years time and that will also factor in the price.
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Who knows, maybe in 20 years time we’ll see AW25 Gold Edition :)

BTW I agree with some comments above: if sealed in its original package may keep a good value over the years.
 
truthertech said:
Marketing is a tough concept for many who don't work in the field. You mistakenly assume Apple's goal was to get tech pundits to like it or was concerned about comments that it was outlandish to produce a gold smart watch. LOL. That was the entire point. The gold watch created a worldwide buzz about the smart phone launch that was worth vastly more than the whatever the gold watches cost them to produce. Apple would have been ahead even if they never sold a single gold watch!

What 99% of the people who heard something about it retained is that the new smart watch also came in a gold edition and with special bands that celebrities were wearing and that it was being sold in high end places, i.e., something very different from the other cheap efforts like the Pebble, Fitbit types, and other market leaders of the day as Apple entered the market.
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The over priced gold Apple Watch did nothing that you claim, nothing... it was a joke and still is today.

If you think Apple needs a 12 grand Apple device to generate buzz, you don’t know Apple.
 
apolloa said:
The over priced gold Apple Watch did nothing that you claim, nothing... it was a joke and still is today.

If you think Apple needs a 12 grand Apple device to generate buzz, you don’t know Apple.
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Why do you hate the gold Apple Watch so much?
 
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apolloa said:
The over priced gold Apple Watch did nothing that you claim, nothing... it was a joke and still is today.

If you think Apple needs a 12 grand Apple device to generate buzz, you don’t know Apple.
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"And you folks get off my lawn!" "I ain't ever gonna like that there gold watch!" LOL.

OK, you got us. Having Beyonce, Kanye West, Pharrell, Katy Perry, Drake, etc., all wearing your new watch and endless TV shows, columnists, etc., talking about the high fashion, super expensive watch, didn't generate any interest in the Apple Watch or show how beautiful it could be.

Quick, hide your eyes!

5b15a6a01ae6621f008b4b9b-960-720.jpg
 
One thousand watches at $10k is already $10 million dollars revenue. He says tens of thousands, that could be between $100 million to $999 millions. How is that a flop.
 
nStyle said:
Which is absolutely nothing to Apple, especially considering it's not even a sustainable product line. Complete waste of time for them and everyone else involved. Future evolved species will look back on that moment and just shake their head at the stupidity of all involved.
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The idea of the gold watch was not to sell millions of it. Its purpose was to create buzz around the Apple Watch and give it some credentials as a fashion item at a time when its fitness-tracking abilities were hard to sell to the general public.

That served its purpose incredibly well. 4 years later and we’re still talking about it.

You see this all the time in all industries. BMW has their “halo” car - the M - which is very expensive but is very happy to sell you the base model with “M-Sport” badges.
 
Why spend £10k on a good Apple Watch that will be redundant in 3 years when you can spend the same on a Grand Seiko or Rolex that will retain most of its value if not increase? Best off buying the aluminium version that can be slung in a drawer with piece of mind you’ve got the most out of it! ;)
 
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