Is Apple Watch lineup now good, better, best?

[Rogifan]

On the latest Upgrade podcast Jason Snell theorized that the Apple Watch lineup is now good, better, best. With good being there to upsell you to better, which is there to upsell you to best. This makes sense but I do wonder: will Apple ever lower the entry price point? They kept the series 3 around but didn’t lower the price. Will this be the last year the series 3 hangs around? If so what replaces it? How frequently will the SE be updated?

I wish Apple would have lowered the price of the series 3. They could have lowered it to $159. That would be a $120 price gap between it and the SE which is the same price gap as the series 6 and the SE. Had they done that it really would have put a nail in the coffin of FitBit and Android watches. It seems like they kept the price at $199 because they want fewer people buying that model and think they can get people to spend $80 more for the SE but probably wouldn’t if was $120 more. Still it doesn’t seem right that nothing changed but the price stayed the same.

 

[C DM]

On the latest Upgrade podcast Jason Snell theorized that the Apple Watch lineup is now good, better, best. With good being there to upsell you to better, which is there to upsell you to best. This makes sense but I do wonder: will Apple ever lower the entry price point? They kept the series 3 around but didn’t lower the price. Will this be the last year the series 3 hangs around? If so what replaces it? How frequently will the SE be updated?

I wish Apple would have lowered the price of the series 3. They could have lowered it to $159. That would be a $120 price gap between it and the SE which is the same price gap as the series 6 and the SE. Had they done that it really would have put a nail in the coffin of FitBit and Android watches. It seems like they kept the price at $199 because they want fewer people buying that model and think they can get people to spend $80 more for the SE but probably wouldn’t if was $120 more. Still it doesn’t seem right that nothing changed but the price stayed the same.

Well, lowering the price of the "good" option makes it somewhat more appealing rather than if it remained at the same price making the next "better" option somewhat more appealing if someone is already spending that much money.

 

[44267547]

What matters is this, Apple is finally catering to a segment point with the entry-level Apple Watch being highly affordable and now competitive against the Fitbit sector. Notice how they use the ‘SE moniker, it’s the same expression they wanted to advocate with the entry-level iPhone SE.

The Apple Watch matured very quickly, and the only thing stifling it, is the higher price point for the more ‘premium models’, especially when the competition offers features similar in the $200 price range. Apple can throw as much technology as they want at the consumer, if the price point doesn’t match the competition, that’s lost revenue right there.

 

[Apple_Robert]

I don’t see the series 3 as a good retail sale right now. It is getting old and is slow. I may sell mine and be done with it. Maybe get the new SE as a backup to my series 6. I think the SE will kill off the series 3, except for those customers on a very tiny budget.

 

[AJ44]

Possible they had significant excess S3 components and they want to sell it down.

This happens a lot where I work, Supply Chain/Finance try to keep older items for sale so they don’t have to write off excess inventory and Product Management/Sales fight it.

Cook is a supply chain person at heart...

 

[Apple fanboy]

Possible they had significant excess S3 components and they want to sell it down.

This happens a lot where I work, Supply Chain/Finance try to keep older items for sale so they don’t have to write off excess inventory and Product Management/Sales fight it.

Cook is a supply chain person at heart...

This. The S3 is still available because they have inventory and stock left. If that’s still the case in 8 months expect to see deals on Best Buy etc. But it also helps them to promote the watch as affordable. Lowering the price now just harms the SE sales.
I went for the SE.

 

[iDron]

It is definitely the last year for the S3. It is three years old now, already quite a longevity for an electronic product. I could imagine that they drop the price of the S3 after Christmas, and then phase it out sometime next spring. Will be a 4 year old product then.
I got a S3 half a year ago. I really enjoy it, though I can tell that some processes are slow.

The thing with Apple watches are, that the price for the lowest range models is quite affordable. However, if one wants a recent, stainless steel model (it makes it look much more like a real watch), the price can easy triple.

 

[shenfrey]

I am not sure, they removed the space grey version of the SS Apple Watch, so I am more inclined to say it's worst if i'm honest.

 

[Rogifan]

I do wonder what replaces the series 3. Does this year’s SE fill the $199 slot next year and we get a new SE? The marketing still doesn’t make much sense to me. With iPhone the SE is the cheapest model. But here it’s not. And they’re not using SE branding for iPad at all.

This WSJ article talks about Apple’s confusing product lines and pricing. Seems like Greg Jozwiack isn’t going to be an improvement over Phil Schiller in this department.

Apple’s Product Prices Are Getting More Confusing

Apple, in trying to prove that its gadgets and services are for everybody, now offers more products at more price points—resulting in too many overlapping features. What happened to Steve Jobs's keep-it-simple approach?

www.wsj.com

 

[Rogifan]

Apple’s Nice, Tight, and Light Event

Apple Watch and iPad put on a good show, but the undercard of Fitness+, Apple One, and the A14 chip may have upstaged…

500ish.com

No one is asking me — not Microsoft, and certainly not Apple — but if it were me, I would have made it much more simple: call the Apple Watch SE the ‘Apple Watch’ and call the Apple Watch Series 6 the ‘Apple Watch Pro’. If the naming scheme works for the Mac, iPad, and iPhone, it should work here too. You could even still sell the Apple Watch Series 3 at the lower price point, that’s just ‘last year’s Apple Watch’ (well, technically, oddly, a few years ago, but you get the picture). And you could still have ‘Edition’ models.

This is a good point. I much prefer Apple Watch and Apple Watch Pro to the meaningless Apple Watch SE.

 

[KeanosMagicHat]

Another point regarding the future of the Series 3.

watchOS 6 saw us lose the original Apple Watches and watchOS 7 now drops the Series 2.

It would be reasonable to speculate that watchOS 8 may drop support for the Series 3.

 

[harriska2]

If I can drop a cell phone and piggy back off my husband's iphone with a Series 6, then that is what I would do. At $500, I would have a watch that is a cell phone (that I don't use often), has its own messaging, and only costs $10 or $13 a month vs $32 I pay a month for a verizon plan that I don't really use at all. My question is, will the family watch plan allow me to use my mac or ipad as a cell phone by connecting to my watch. My guess is no, but maybe somewhere down the road that will be added. This could be a boon to families that can't afford cell plans for every member.

I have a Series 1 that I love but is acting a bit weird with the timer being really slow to load, not always giving me credit for exercising on the rower or elliptical, and being completely worthless as a cell phone. My husband has the Series 5 that he thinks is OK but doesn't use to its fullest extent, and my son has a Series 4 that causes him to actually answer his phone that is always on silent.

The Apple Watches are magical.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Another point regarding the future of the Series 3.

watchOS 6 saw us lose the original Apple Watches and watchOS 7 now drops the Series 2.

It would be reasonable to speculate that watchOS 8 may drop support for the Series 3.

I don’t think so. Not if they are still selling it right up to WatchOS 8 release. I think series 3 owners will get another year, but a reduced functionality.