Sub-$300 For Sport? A New Wrinkle In Apple Watch Pricing Debate
Apple is now holding a press event on March 9, presumably to show off—and start orders for—its watch. Apple has said the price of the Apple Watch starts at $349 in stainless steel and sapphire crystal. …
As for the Apple Watch Sport, it makes some sense that it could actually cost less than $349. The average consumer might look at this product as a health tool first and styling accessory second, meaning it won’t be able to fetch a higher price tag than the base Apple Watch model.
I don’t think so. First of all, Apple did not qualify which model of Apple Watch actually starts at $349. The argument here seems to be that, because they didn’t explicitly say “Sport” during the pricing announcement, they’re actually talking about the standard stainless/sapphire/ceramic version.
Look, I hope it’s true. But with Apple’s history of significant manufactory markups and reticence to sell anything remotely in the realm of “loss leader,” I simply can’t see how it could be. These things are expensive to make, and a $349 Sport already seems like it comes with a much lower profit margin than Apple’s grown accustomed to over the last decade.
If Apple pulls the hype machine marketing stunt of the century and actually does price Sport in the $200 ballpark (with the standard version for anything less than $500), they probably should have placed a larger initial order. Because they’re going to sell a million of these.
Per week.