Target Says Apple Watch Series 2 Orders Will be Delayed, Offers $50 Gift Card to Affected Customers

[MacRumors]

Following in the footsteps of Best Buy, Target has emailed customers that pre-ordered the Apple Watch Series 2 today to inform them that orders may not be delivered by the original date promised upon checkout.

Target said it is experiencing delays in receiving Apple Watch Series 2 models from Apple, adding that it will expedite all orders as inventory becomes available to get customers their new Apple Watches as soon as possible.

No updated date was provided for when orders will begin. Target will be emailing a complimentary $50 gift card to affected customers in the next 24 hours to help assuage any inconvenience or frustration the delay may have caused.

Apple Watch Series 2 launched today in the U.S. and select other countries, including pre-order deliveries and limited in-store availability at Apple and authorized resellers. The second-generation models feature improved water resistance up to 50 meters, a built-in GPS, a two-times brighter display, and a faster dual-core S2 chip.

Article Link: Target Says Apple Watch Series 2 Orders Will be Delayed, Offers $50 Gift Card to Affected Customers

 

[now i see it]

this September's product launch is looking to be well planned and nicely executed.

 

[smacrumon]

This Apple iPhone 7 (iPhone 6 Series 3) and Apple Watch Series 1 and Series 2 launch has been rather odd.
Stock seems to be limited everywhere.
No reporting on first week sales.
What happened, Tim?

Was Apple aware of this all before pre orders opened???

Is Apple providing for the vouchers on delayed products???

 

[Fall Under Cerulean Kites]

Seems to be such a knee-jerk reaction. I doubt Target makes $50 per watch. I guess Target is going to be blaming Apple for poor quarterly profits. Again.

 

[MiniBaker]

There's no stock in any retailers in the UK either. Really disappointed...

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

I'm confused by both Target's and Best Buy's announcements... does Apple not tell them in advance how many units they'll be receiving and on what days?

If Apple said they'd deliver some quantity and then they don't, it seems like Target and Best Buy should each be pointing their fingers at Apple, and then not giving gift cards to consumers - any customer backlash would be Apple's and Apple's alone to recover from.

The fact they're giving giftcards seems to be them admitting guilt... what are they guilty of? Did they know they'd have no stock?

 

[nagromme]

The entire world economy is suddenly shifting, entirely due to all the gift cards given to impatient iPhone buyers.

(P.S. I hope Apple doesn't prioritize shipments to MY Target: they don't know a THING about Apple products. They don't even know what they carry, or what shelf 6 feet away from them it's on. Hint: way down by foot level. My Target hates selling Apple products and avoids it when they can.)

 

[macduke]

This is really strange. There's a story in here somewhere. I hope someone fishes it out and figures out what's really going on. I've never heard of launch-day partners suddenly announcing they don't have any product right on launch day. I wonder if there was a serious problem with a huge batch of Apple Watch Series 2?

 

[nagromme]

What happened, Tim?

Nothing remotely new or unusual, and nothing that Apple or buyers will suffer much from at all.

Apple product demand is huge. Some parts are often supply-constrained, to varying degrees, and we may never know which. If we do find out the part, doubtless it will be spun as some "scandal." (Even though a "disaster" like this can't happen from shortages alone—it's the relationship of shortages to demand. Or even massive demand WITHOUT shortages. Demand is good. And it will be filled, even if it takes dozens of agonizing hours to catch up.)

P.S. My Apple Watch 2 was originally going to arrive by 9/28, 2 weeks delayed. Now it's moved up to 9/21, just 1 week. Underpromise, overdeliver! (I have no illusions that Apple "promised" me a watch on launch day.)

 

[Bswails]

Phones and watches being delayed now...this is a conspiracy now Apple!

 

[Chupa Chupa]

this September's product launch is looking to be well planned and nicely executed.

Classic TC precision execution. He's famous for it you know. /s

 

[Fall Under Cerulean Kites]

Someone in another thread has the answer. Sell way more inventory than you have, promising fast ship dates, just to capture a bunch of sales. Then drop the bad news. Some people will cancel, but many will not, and they end up capturing more sales than they would have otherwise.

The gift card thing is a bit puzzling, but then again, it’s a gift card. Not cash. Not a discount. They still maintain the same amount of (inflated) revenue. It may cost them some inventory cost later on, depending on how many gift cards are actually redeemed. But that pushes the problem down the road. Right now, it’s all about cash flow and revenue.

 

[kingpushup]

Multiple products launch. Higher demand due to Samsung Note recall. As Apple projections are adjusted by actual demand, production capacity is adjusted across product lines. But there's a cap. 5-7 weeks patience seems acceptable. Cutting corners and exploding batteries, not good. Samsung will recover on its PR front. Apple will also survive increased-demand PR challenge.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

Phones and watches being delayed now...this is a conspiracy now Apple!

Why? It's not like TC knew what the production capacity for the proposed lauch date before it was announced. These products are made in China by people who speak various dialects of Chinese. All the communications from the factory are in Chinese. The only languages spoken at Apple are $, Swift, and Objective-C.

Kidding.

 

[44267547]

Sort of an odd launch. Huge product constraints with major retailers with Best Buy, now Target. It makes me think of how the Gen 1 Apple Watch launched. These retailers are having to compensate customers for Apple's lag.

 

[jonnysods]

Does Apple have anything to sell? No wonder they didn't want to play the numbers game last weekend.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

Multiple products launch. Higher demand due to Samsung Note recall.

Yeah, that's it. All the hundreds of millions of Note 7 owners that bought their phone because they wanted a stylus decided to buy an iPhone instead since there were no other Android stylus phones around.

Then they decided to buy a Series 1 AW and a Series 2 as well.

 

[Sasparilla]

Seems like very real production problems for both Series 1 and 2 Apple Watch, iPhone 7 Plus and iPhone 7 Glossy Black limiting supply. Real fumbles this time around. Only 1 product out of 4 has supply with one variant of that 1 (7 glossy black) still limited...

Maybe Apple needs to back up its production start date (or move launch date later) by a month (or so) to give themselves time next year to have supply since production issues always happen as you ramp up a new product.

 

[YoitsTmac]

It seems to me that apple took the phones going to stores for themselves to help with the demand. Mainly thinking of the iPhone upgrade folk who suddenly had phones. Does no one else think this?

 

[Jessem1133]

Anyone who is surprised that Target screwed up ANOTHER Apple preorder needs to get their head checked.

 

[smacrumon]

Nothing remotely new or unusual, and nothing that Apple or buyers will suffer much from at all.

Apple product demand is huge. Some parts are often supply-constrained, to varying degrees, and we may never know which. If we do find out the part, doubtless it will be spun as some "scandal." (Even though a "disaster" like this can't happen from shortages alone—it's the relationship of shortages to demand. Or even massive demand WITHOUT shortages. Demand is good. And it will be filled, even if it takes dozens of agonizing hours to catch up.)

P.S. My Apple Watch 2 was originally going to arrive by 9/28, 2 weeks delayed. Now it's moved up to 9/21, just 1 week. Underpromise, overdeliver! (I have no illusions that Apple "promised" me a watch on launch day.)

Nice way to spin it. "Apple product demand is huge" -- That is not clear without releasing weekend sales figures.

 

[kilcher]

Following in the footsteps of Best Buy, Target has emailed customers that pre-ordered the Apple Watch Series 2 today to inform them that orders may not be delivered by the original date promised upon checkout.

Not JUST the date promised during checkout - when I went to bed last night at 10pm my account STILL said the watch would be delivered today. They obviously knew at 10pm last night that my order hadn't shipped. That's what ticks me off more than anything.

 

[lazyrighteye]

I'm confused by both Target's and Best Buy's announcements... does Apple not tell them in advance how many units they'll be receiving and on what days?

Ha. It almost sounds like both Best Buy and Target enlists their entry level electronics buyers to wake at 3am to buy devices like the rest of us.

After a decade of "supply chain constraints," it's starting to hit parody-level annoyance. And I didn't even attempt to order any new devices this year.

Question for the forum: would you rather Apple continue hitting a Sept. release cycle, with healthy supply not ready until Nov. or just release, en mass, in Nov?

 

[Mr Fusion]

Classic TC precision execution. He's famous for it you know. /s

He definitely missed the Target on this one.

 

[gixxerfool]

Someone in another thread has the answer. Sell way more inventory than you have, promising fast ship dates, just to capture a bunch of sales. Then drop the bad news. Some people will cancel, but many will not, and they end up capturing more sales than they would have otherwise.

The gift card thing is a bit puzzling, but then again, it’s a gift card. Not cash. Not a discount. They still maintain the same amount of (inflated) revenue. It may cost them some inventory cost later on, depending on how many gift cards are actually redeemed. But that pushes the problem down the road. Right now, it’s all about cash flow and revenue.

Couple the fact that most people will walk into the store with a gift card and won't just spend that amount. It will be used towards a larger purchase so it's a win-win.