Has the momentum died down?

[SHNXX]

Being short on stock would have been preferable to having confusing launch dates for online preorder and offline.

 

[jk4lebron23]

Being short on stock would have been preferable to having confusing launch dates for online preorder and offline.

I still don't get how they are short on stock yet announced this thing 7 months ago...that seems like a lot of time to get everything squared away

 

[JSRockit]

I would argue that momentum hasn't even picked up yet... most people who I'm around aren't even thinking of the watch. I think once it is out there and people see it... then there will be more excitement over it. Right now, people (outside of Apple fans) don;t know what to make of it.

 

[edlex]

I placed my order within the first minute or so and had a 3:03am eastern confirm email with 4/24-5/8 shipping. For the first time I cancelled my preorder because this launch just didn't feel like any of the countless others I've participated in. I was more anxious than excited. Between the 2 week wait and the ambiguity of shipping dates I just chose to sit this one out. I'll probably buy one when I can walk into an Apple Store, try it on and walk out with one the same day. Meanwhile I'll live vicariously through you guys #

 

[DynaFXD]

I think its interesting that shipping times for the stainless steel link watch quickly slipped to June but have remained there since. Are they expecting a huge increase in supply/production, or have pre-orders fallen flat?

It could be backwards, it's not that orders have fallen flat, so the delivery dates are holding at June. It could be folks sees June delivery date and may think...'nah, too far out. I'll move along.' The AW may not really take-off until it has reached walk in and buy availability.

 

[Newtons Apple]

There is still LOTS of interest in the Watch, considering there is no stock

 

[Gooberton]

It could be backwards, it's not that orders have fallen flat, so the delivery dates are holding at June. It could be folks sees June delivery date and may think...'nah, too far out. I'll move along.' The AW may not really take-off until it has reached walk in and buy availability.

This

 

[Robert M.]

I'm excited for my Watch to arrive next week (hopefully). But Apple has done a poor job with this launch. They announced the Watch too early IMHO. Then they had another event, only to tell us that it was still a month away!

Now, most of the Watches are delayed until May-June. It's clear that they weren't ready. Which makes me even more uneasy about my purchase. I have a feeling that 'Gen 2' Watch will destroy the first. Like, a massive upgrade that makes 'Gen 1' look like a child's toy.

That's why I went cheap this time.

 

[bbeagle]

This is a curious launch.
With this odd two week pre-launch period, with the uncertainty over 24th April deliveries anyway, with uncertainty that stores will carry any stock, with the press already having published their reports and reviews, and with numbers of customer try-out appointments dwindling, do you think the momentum and enthusiasm over this launch has subdued?
I think apple got it wrong allowing preorders two weeks prior to launch. Should have been a week at most.

I agree... Angela Ahrendts completely screwed this up. She has a clue about a lot of things, like style, design, marketing, but not about the details of a launch of a consumer product.

Pre-order FIRST, then try-on appointments? Makes no sense.
Try-on appointments where you can't buy the product? Makes no sense.
Pre-order with no product for 2 weeks? Makes no sense.
A 'launch' date with no products? Makes no sense.
Pricing is also way too high ... makes no sense.

I would imagine she was questioned on all this, and she assured the rest of Apple management that everything would be okay. And the rest of management just put trust in her (because she's a woman, is my honest opinion - SHE knew how a fashion launch should go - none of the men had a clue in fashion, only tech). You could tell that Tim Cook didn't like that the gold cost $10,000 - he went through that VERY quickly. Angela thought 'Price the highest at $10,000 - will make the $350 seem more expensive!' She was wrong.

She did everything right up until the pre-orders. MY GUESS is that she thought they would only sell like 50,000-100,000 in pre-orders and did not think the watch would sell this many sight unseen. That's why there were 2 weeks of try-ons - I bet she thought you could buy right after the try-ons and get a watch on April 24.

So in that regard, to Angela, the number of watches sold was a huge success... just she didn't have a backup plan for 'what if' there are 1 million sold through pre-orders. She SHOULD have set some watches aside for try-on appointments and some for the April 24th launch.... although if she did, she probably would have set aside like 50 for each store for the April 24th launch, and then there would have been mobs and mobs of people camping out 2 weeks for very little stock.

And, Angela makes over $70 million a year - more than CEO Tim Cook. I think her 'experience' made the boys leave everything up to her - which was a mistake. And - if she goofs up and is fired? She just had 2 years with $140 million in her pocket.

 

[Mildredop]

It could be backwards, it's not that orders have fallen flat, so the delivery dates are holding at June. It could be folks sees June delivery date and may think...'nah, too far out. I'll move along.' The AW may not really take-off until it has reached walk in and buy availability.

This is what I did with the MacBook. Apple announced it (too early in my opinion) but I couldn't buy it. Then the launch date came and all I could do was pre-order it for delivery in '4-6 weeks'. I seriously cooled off and didn't bother. At the weekend I went into an Apple store to have a look at it to see if it was worth pre-ordering and they didn't have any. So I've cooled-off completely. Any impulse buy I had in me has fizzled-out.

Very poor product launch if you ask me. Why didn't they leave the announcement til now saying "Pre-order today for delivery in a few weeks" rather than all these false starts?

 

[SHNXX]

I agree... Angela Ahrendts completely screwed this up. She has a clue about a lot of things, like style, design, marketing, but not about the details of a launch of a consumer product.

Pre-order FIRST, then try-on appointments? Makes no sense.
Try-on appointments where you can't buy the product? Makes no sense.
Pre-order with no product for 2 weeks? Makes no sense.
A 'launch' date with no products? Makes no sense.
Pricing is also way too high ... makes no sense.

I would imagine she was questioned on all this, and she assured the rest of Apple management that everything would be okay. And the rest of management just put trust in her (because she's a woman, is my honest opinion - SHE knew how a fashion launch should go - none of the men had a clue in fashion, only tech). You could tell that Tim Cook didn't like that the gold cost $10,000 - he went through that VERY quickly. Angela thought 'Price the highest at $10,000 - will make the $350 seem more expensive!' She was wrong.

She did everything right up until the pre-orders. MY GUESS is that she thought they would only sell like 50,000-100,000 in pre-orders and did not think the watch would sell this many sight unseen. That's why there were 2 weeks of try-ons - I bet she thought you could buy right after the try-ons and get a watch on April 24.

So in that regard, to Angela, the number of watches sold was a huge success... just she didn't have a backup plan for 'what if' there are 1 million sold through pre-orders. She SHOULD have set some watches aside for try-on appointments and some for the April 24th launch.... although if she did, she probably would have set aside like 50 for each store for the April 24th launch, and then there would have been mobs and mobs of people camping out 2 weeks for very little stock.

And, Angela makes over $70 million a year - more than CEO Tim Cook. I think her 'experience' made the boys leave everything up to her - which was a mistake. And - if she goofs up and is fired? She just had 2 years with $140 million in her pocket.

There might be a huge severance package as well.

 

[sterl320]

This is a curious launch.
With this odd two week pre-launch period, with the uncertainty over 24th April deliveries anyway, with uncertainty that stores will carry any stock, with the press already having published their reports and reviews, and with numbers of customer try-out appointments dwindling, do you think the momentum and enthusiasm over this launch has subdued?
I think apple got it wrong allowing preorders two weeks prior to launch. Should have been a week at most.

No.