New Report Says Display Challenges Have Cut Apple Watch Shipments in Half

[Chupa Chupa]

The company initially planned to manufacture between 2.5 and 3 million units of the wearable per month, following its launch on April 24. A claim by Economic Daily News now states Apple has lowered expectations to produce 1.25-1.5 million Apple Watches every month.

You know its a BS article when it claims to have information that Apple has never reported, such as sales expectations.

The funny thing here is that if you are going to believe any of these reports then WSJ has to be among the leaders. In Feb it reported that Apple was ramping up to produce an initial run of 5 million units. I have not heard any numbers since then. Half of 5 is 2.5m. So maybe they are only talking to half of Apple's suppliers. Ha. Ha. What a bottom feeder publication.

 

[JoeG4]

Wow supply shortage at launch of a new product. Who didn't see that coming.

 

[doelcm82]

For giggles, lets say this premise is true. Hold the bolded part in your head.



Okay now release the thought. Which competitor is going to sell the hot new Apple product the customer is waiting on? You know the one that goes with their other Apple products. Specifically with the watch. It only works with iOS.



Apple is in an enviable position. They have no competition for Apple products. People who want them can only get them from Apple.

Apple's shortages are a perennial rumor. They seem suspect because Cook is really good at the supply chain. They could be faked or they could be real. That doesn't mean someone wanting that hot new Apple products is going to get something else just because they can't get the Apple product immediately.

What makes you think Apple only wants to sell to people who currently have an iPhone?

If a potential customer with an Android phone was interested in the Apple Watch, he or she would need to get an iPhone also. But if Apple plays "hard to get", the potential switcher could be seduced by Samsung's Galaxy S6, and some Android smart watch. Even iPhone users who are ready for an upgrade could decide that the unavailability of the Apple Watch is a reason to look outside the Apple ecosystem for their next phone (and a bigger selection of smart watches).

Trying to build demand artificially is a dangerous game that could backfire, and I don't think that Apple plays it willingly.

 

[JohnApples]

Woohoo!! I was wondering when the "display issues/shortages" rumor would roll around! I just won a bet

If the Apple Watch didn't have an official release date right now, I bet this report would read how the "display challenges have delayed Watch production/shipment/release".

 

[Glideslope]

I'll wait for the refurb units

That was good.

 

[viachicago22]

I guess I will be pre-ordering on April 10 at 12 am PDT for a model that I think I will be satisfied with (42mm Space Gray Aluminum Case with Black Sport Band) and SCHEDULE an appointment at the store to confirm.

My plan exactly

 

[cardfan]

I think it's safe to say these will be on backorder quickly depending on model after preorders start. Especially the black sport and probably all the sports shortly after.

Whether this on purpose or supply constraints, it works. Media will report the backorders. Opening day will see long lines at apple stores. It will drive demand.

 

[RazorWriter]

I just happened to be reading about LG's 55" OLED TV and they claim to have gotten yields up to 80% on that tech. Who knows if that applies to tiny, higher-resolution OLEDs though. Still might be a good idea to preorder one if you want one.

 

[Urban Joe]

Not taking this headline at face value. Seems like something fishy is going on.

Has Apple dramatically dropped its sales expectations? Their web store IS collecting data to make predictions with the "pick your favorite model" before pre ordering. Pre-pre order stats...somebody is getting hyper vigilant in Cupertino.

Is this a ploy/cover story to create shortages to guarantee the perception of a successful launch in case of a very soft launch? ie. Preemptive, deliberate damage control.

To generate free sensational headlines with shortages and try to foment demand?

REALITY DISTORTION FIELD IS FULLY OPERATIONAL

 

[Jiz]

Apples way of saying the demand is low so they are cutting production.

 

[MacrumoursUser]

oh, challenges? This is getting old.

 

[mactactic]

I'm calling BS on this report !

Apple's internal sales forecast show weak demand for the watch !!

 

[Chupa Chupa]

Not taking this headline at face value. Seems like something fishy is going on.

Has Apple dramatically dropped its sales expectations? Their web store IS collecting data to make predictions with the "pick your favorite model" before pre ordering. Pre-pre order stats...somebody is getting hyper vigilant in Cupertino.

Is this a ploy/cover story to create shortages to guarantee the perception of a successful launch in case of a very soft launch? ie. Preemptive, deliberate damage control.

To generate free sensational headlines with shortages and try to foment demand?

REALITY DISTORTION FIELD IS FULLY OPERATIONAL

If that were the case, and scenarios like the one you describe actually worked, the MS Band would be on everyone wrist right now. MS sold out it's initially supply within hours of launch. But there wasn't much buzz factor and consumers moved on.

Same will happen with the Apple Watch if supple isn't available when the customer wants to buy, as happens with any luxury,i.e., non-essential product. Consumers end up spending their money elsewhere. There will be plenty of supply of most styles launch weekend. Guaranteed.

 

[acctman]

Bottom line if you want one of these Apple Watches in the first few months of launch, get your pre-orders in on DAY ONE.

you mean within the first hour or prepare to wait and wait...

 

[Plutonius]

Doesn't someone end up making the same claim of display shortages for every Apple product that comes out ?

 

[kdarling]

You know its a BS article when it claims to have information that Apple has never reported, such as sales expectations.

It didn't say that sales expectations had gone down.

It claimed that the amount of watches that could be produced was less because of various issues outside of Apple's control.

The former is known only to Apple. The latter is information that is leaked from factories and suppliers.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

It didn't say that sales expectations had gone down.

It claimed that the amount of watches that could be produced was less because of various issues outside of Apple's control.

The former is known only to Apple. The latter is information that is leaked from factories and suppliers.

"If you don't have watch to sell you can't sell them."

Winston Blakelocke,
Professor of Business Basics
-- Obvio Community College

 

[kdarling]

"If you don't have watch to sell you can't sell them."

Sure, but that's quite different from saying you didn't expect to sell more if you DID have them available to sell

 

[Chupa Chupa]

Sure, but that's quite different from saying you didn't expect to sell more if you DID have them available to sell

But Apple has never said how many it expects to sell. But from the grand entrance its giving one can infer they expect to sell plenty lest they have egg on their face. I don't think Tim Cook and Co are dumb or they wouldn't be heading the most valuable company on the planet. So if you want to believe tales of a two-bit internet fish tale go ahead. Story is fishy to me.

Again, if Apple cuts inventory then it has fewer to sell. Fewer to sell means lower sales.

 

[OllyW]

Fewer to sell means lower sales.

Only if there's enough demand to sell them all.

 

[kdarling]

Again, if Apple cuts inventory then it has fewer to sell. Fewer to sell means lower sales.

And again, according to the story, Apple's not deciding to build fewer watches because of less demand.

The supposed limiting factors are getting enough parts and putting them together correctly.

--

As for Cook being a supply guru, maybe so, but he's apparently not a production one.

The iPhone 4 had early build quality issues that should've been worked out ahead of time, and the iPhone 5C/5S production mix was wrong at first and cost them some early sales.

Now reports claim that the laptop factory which they chose to put together the Watch, has no experience with smaller items, and they had to bring in thousands of Foxconn workers to help.

It'll be interesting to see how well they will be able to predict the demand mix between aluminum and stainless steel, or if Cook will be in yet another quarterly call where he blames bad mix for lower sales than expected.

 

[newyorksole]

As they sold over 10,000,000 in the first weekend, I'd say yes, Apple did really well making tons of them.

I know there were lots of people who wanted them who couldn't get one, but that's only because of the even higher number of people who wanted one.

It still managed to sell more phones than any other phone ever made. Think about that for a bit when you consider how "few" there were to go around.

The point is that there are shortages for the majority of Apple products . A lot of people get the products, but there are still a lot of people waiting to get them . Your arguments really don't apply .

There will be a bunch of Apple Watches made, but people will still be angry at ship and wait times .