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Will Apple lower the price of the Watch?

otozuz

otozuz

macrumors regular
Original poster
Apr 18, 2010
224
644
Do you think Apple will lower the price of the Watch? I'm not talking about this first generation of course.

I was thinking about it because it seems like one of the major issues of the product is that users can't justify the price.

I know well that almost every Apple product is considered overpriced, but it looks like users are more prone to justify an iPhone or an iPad than the Apple Watch — probably because they "do more"?

Also, Apple is not going to reveal the numbers, so everything is hypothetical, but what if the sales were not that good? Do you think they could decide to lower the price?

I still remember the price drop of $200 on the original iPhone a couple of months after the launch, but that's a different story.

What do you think?
 
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Apple might continue to sell Generation 1 at a reduced price after Generation 2 comes out around May of next year. Also, Target or Best Buy might end up having a small sale on the current watch (say $40 off) between now and Christmas. Sales on Apple products used to be unheard of but has become a fairly common thing on iPads, so it's possible.

I do not see Apple making any major course corrections on pricing to attract more buyers, like they did when the first iPhone came out. I believe they feel this watch is priced fairly in comparison to the larger watch market, and are content to work at it for several years to build a customer base. They are not in a huge hurry.
 
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Apple is expected to sell between 3-4 million this holiday season world wide, so trust me they are not having any issues with justifying the price. I have had mine since launch and my wife thought it was a waste of money until I finally got her to try one at the Apple store this past weekend. Needless to say, My wife and her mom both bought one that day.
 
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i think they will lower the price. i don't think it is selling as well as apple is hoping for. they've lowered iPod prices.the watch has a lot of barriers to entry, particularly needing an iPhone. iPods blew up when apple made windows software. i think it will lead to a slightly lower price.
 
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I doubt it, yet you never know. Traditionally Apple holds a hard line on pricing. The recent exception being when they continue to offer one year old iPhones while selling current models. That's about the only exception. Apple doesn't feel any pressure since they are nearly being smothered in cash. Their bottom line gross is so much higher than any competitor Apple doesn't need the revenue from the watch at all.
 
No. Have they lowered the price of the iphone?

There may be discounts for older or refurb models in a year, but they won't lower the prices for new ones.

They may introduce new features, more storage, etc., but the prices will remain constant.
 
NovemberWhiskey said:
No. Have they lowered the price of the iphone?

There may be discounts for older or refurb models in a year, but they won't lower the prices for new ones.

They may introduce new features, more storage, etc., but the prices will remain constant.
Click to expand...
Yes they have lowered the price of the iPhone. Happened in the first generation just a few months after debut.
 
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If they don't lower the price I would guess that they might offer some type of a payment plan or something to entice others to buy.
 
Cowboy1629 said:
If they don't lower the price I would guess that they might offer some type of a payment plan or something to entice others to buy.
Click to expand...

That's something I'm curious to see if it'll happen.
 
Bbqthis said:
Yes they have lowered the price of the iPhone. Happened in the first generation just a few months after debut.
Click to expand...
Hasn't happened since and will like not happen again as long Apple is raking in the cash. You're forgetting a big issue that the iPhone 1 had: it has to be bought full price with no subsidy. You could argue we're heading in that direction today, but back then it was more the exception rather than the rule as the greedy cellphone companies charged you the same whether you were on/off contract.

Agree with the posters above. Until the watch 2 comes out, expect the price to remain the same. I have a feeling as Apple is still trying to market the watch as a premium product and probably has strict guidelines on MAPs...
 
Apple introduce products at a price and generally stick with it, however you do get more value as a product line matures, look at the iPad 1 16GB vs iPad Air 2 16GB, same introductory price.
 
Instead of lowering price, they could come up with watch-body only trade-in plan for trade in 3-4 old functional watch with reasonable cosmetic condition, specially trade-in higher priced old gen SS for new gen SS, and old gen gold for new gen gold.

The reason for 3-4 years is it is about time for new battery, and instead of send back to factory for battery replacement and lost 1 wk without AW. A lot of user will choice to upgrade body only at that moment with new body, and get a 30-50% off on trade in, if that kind of discount is offered. And Apple already has watch body model and package for field replacement, which could be used for watch body only trade-in.

It will ensure people don't feel like they will be buying a watch will be nonfunctional in 3-4 years due to dead battery and difficult to find a place to replace battery other than Apple factory, compared with traditional watch which could have battery replaced almost any watch shop. Almost like a 3-4 years AW lease program, and pay only 50-70% depend on the model.
 
redman042 said:
Apple might continue to sell Generation 1 at a reduced price after Generation 2 comes out around May of next year. Also, Target or Best Buy might end up having a small sale on the current watch (say $40 off) between now and Christmas. Sales on Apple products used to be unheard of but has become a fairly common thing on iPads, so it's possible.

I do not see Apple making any major course corrections on pricing to attract more buyers, like they did when the first iPhone came out. I believe they feel this watch is priced fairly in comparison to the larger watch market, and are content to work at it for several years to build a customer base. They are not in a huge hurry.
Click to expand...

What makes you so sure they will release version 2 so soon. Personally I think the watch is on a 2-3 year release cycle and we won't see the next model until at least 2017.
 
otozuz said:
Do you think Apple will lower the price of the Watch? I'm not talking about this first generation of course.

I was thinking about it because it seems like one of the major issues of the product is that users can't justify the price.

I know well that almost every Apple product is considered overpriced, but it looks like users are more prone to justify an iPhone or an iPad than the Apple Watch — probably because they "do more"?

Also, Apple is not going to reveal the numbers, so everything is hypothetical, but what if the sales were not that good? Do you think they could decide to lower the price?

I still remember the price drop of $200 on the original iPhone a couple of months after the launch, but that's a different story.

What do you think?
Click to expand...

Who considers Apple products to be over priced. Personally I would have to disagree with that. Yes they do charge a premium but then you get what you pay for. Apple products are generally more solidly built and have a much better resale value not to mention often like for like products by other manufacturers cost around the same.

As for a price drop for the Apple Watch I don't see Apple doing that at least not until the new model is released when they may continue selling the current one at a lower price. Discounts on Apple products are uncommon to say the least and the price drop on the original iPhone was an exception to the rule. I also think the Apple watch is selling pretty well and with the estimated numbers regards sales this holiday season they have no reason to drop the price. At the end of the day they have far less competition in the smart watch market then in the smart phone market.
 
Apple will not wait until 207 for gen 2, They will do a annual update just like most of the other products they have. No way they will wait that long, I can bet they are already halfway done working on the next gen version.
 
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I think they might lower the price of the 1st gen when the 2nd comes out but I really hope they lower the price of the accessories and upgrades. I think the base price isn't that high but the watch gets pretty expensive as you move up the ladder.
 
I agree with those that think it'll be a dual generation model price drop. We could see the current model drop a bit for a solid year to help them eliminate any excess inventory for a year while a new model comes out at a similar price structure to what we're seeing now.
 
Night Spring said:
I think if Apple waits until 2017 to release the next watch, all their competitors will leapfrog them making Apple look like they are falling behind.
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How so? Android Wear doesn't work well with iOS. I don't see people changing phone platforms because of a watch. Besides, they are all too busy copying Motorola and rushing out round watches.

2017 might be a stretch, but I can see Fall 2016 for the next Apple Watch. It seems like it would be a natural pairing to the next iPhone release, and a logical holiday purchase.

Tag Heuer is planning to introduce an $1800 watch, so clearly they don't think the Apple Watch is overpriced. Their CEO publicly said he was happy that the Apple Watch Hermès was priced where it was, as it justified his own company's pricing.
 
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KPOM said:
How so? Android Wear doesn't work well with iOS. I don't see people changing phone platforms because of a watch. Besides, they are all too busy copying Motorola and rushing out round watches.

2017 might be a stretch, but I can see Fall 2016 for the next Apple Watch. It seems like it would be a natural pairing to the next iPhone release, and a logical holiday purchase.

Tag Heuer is planning to introduce an $1800 watch, so clearly they don't think the Apple Watch is overpriced. Their CEO publicly said he was happy that the Apple Watch Hermès was priced where it was, as it justified his own company's pricing.
Click to expand...

I was just saying 2017 is too late for a refresh, Fall 2016 sounds perfectly good to me. And just because iPhone owners may not switch just to get a watch, feature envy could creep in if Android Wear gets too much ahead of Apple Watch.

I have no opinion about Tag Heuer -- not sure why you brought that up. My post didn't day anything about price.
 
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Night Spring said:
I was just saying 2017 is too late for a refresh, Fall 2016 sounds perfectly good to me.
Click to expand...

Why is too late for 2017 refresh? Specially are there really any equivalent smart watch competition, with both equivalent HW and SW can compete with AW?

Apple will likely leave it along, unless it could introduce new one to generate more revenue, hence new AW with lower cost for Apple, or when there is equivalent smart watch competition, both HW and SW.
There is no reason for Apple to refresh unless it increase revenue or start losing market share.
 
jasie02 said:
Why is too late for 2017 refresh? Specially are there really any equivalent smart watch competition, with both equivalent HW and SW can compete with AW?

Apple will likely leave it along, unless it could introduce new one to generate more revenue, hence new AW with lower cost for Apple, or when there is equivalent smart watch competition, both HW and SW.
There is no reason for Apple to refresh unless it increase revenue or start losing market share.
Click to expand...

Maybe right now there isn't anything quite up to the level of the Apple Watch, but by Fall 2016, there could be a lot more higher quality smart watches. And if Apple waits until 2017, they will be missing out on the 2016 holiday season.
 
They're offering the AW in places like target, it would make sense to lower their price to match the market they're offering their product to.

I don't think target is a place customers looking for luxury products are shopping in.
 
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