The Apple Watch, China Edition
Luxury watches are worn in China as a display of one’s wealth, but right now displaying wealth on one’s wrist is dangerous and, legitimately or not, is taken as a sign of corruption. The gold Apple Watch will sell, but I would wager an Apple Watch Edition that it won’t be seen on the wrists of government officials or successful business people with political connections (which is most successful business people) or, if it is seen, that person will quickly be sanctioned or even sacked.
This, then, is why Apple’s positioning of Apple Watch is so brilliant; by releasing Apple Watch Edition at the luxury price of RMB 74,800 ($12,062),the “normal” Apple Watch seems downright frugal at RMB 4,188 ($675). Even the most expensive Apple Watch (RMB 8,288; $1336) looks cheap in comparison to the most expensive Apple Watch Edition (RMB 112,800; $18,190). By pricing one collection so high, Apple has managed to make Apple Watch seem downright moderate–even though it costs 15-30% of the average Chinese annual salary!
This is a very insightful piece by Mark who has lived in China and understands that market more than most. The fact that he suggests that the Edition may be considered “cheap” by Chinese standards say a lot ab0ut Apple’s vision for this product.
Many have speculated that the Apple Watch Edition was purposely built for China which I don’t necessarily agree with. However, I do believe that China was carefully considered during the creation of this Watch. Just look at the red and gold version. That screams China.