Apple Watch has been cleared off shelves, despite no immediate physical availability.
Apple started to take pre-orders for all the three Apple Watch models in various markets, as it had promised. But despite being the Cupertino-based company’s first attempt at venturing into the smartwatch segment and many advising to wait for the second iteration, all the available stock was lapped up by eager buyers.
In a matter of 10 minutes, the company sold out all available launch stock, regardless of available model. Buyers who might have hesitated for a few precious moments to hit the ‘Pre-order’ button had to reluctantly agree to shipping dates of four to six weeks rather than April 24.
Not heeding to the naysayers shouting Apple Watch is an attractive but exorbitantly overpriced wrist accessory, enthusiasts bought every iteration, be it stainless steel clad Apple Watch, plastic-clad Watch Sports Edition, or Apple Watch Gold Edition.
The Gold Edition priced at $10,000 and above was also picked up with equal ferocity. Evidently, Apple had a more than three dozen sub-variants and none of them were in stock. Though experts this time around weren’t so fixated on Apple products, a strong initial demand for any Apple product isn’t surprising, they admitted. As always, Apple had pre-empted the demand based on consumer eagerness, as revealed by Apple’s SVP of retail, Angela Ahrendts,
“Based on the tremendous interest from people visiting our stores, as well as the number of customers who have gone to the Apple Online Store to mark their favourite Apple Watch ahead of availability, we expect that strong customer demand will exceed our supply at launch.”
As a matter of fact, “The Watch” will ship to only a few lucky customers who managed to get their order in fast enough on April 24. For the majority of the buyers, they will be able to wear Apple Watch only in May, June, or perhaps even later since Apple seems to be struggling with the manufacturing and shipments. Apparently, quite a few buyers of the most expensive edition may have to wait the longest.
As always, Apple is tight-lipped about any sales milestones and so far hasn’t shared any official information about how much stock the company is making in preparation of the official April 24 store launch. However, based on the online sales, it is clear that buyers are unperturbed about the mixed reviews regarding the Apple Watch .
[Image Credit | MacRumors]
