April 24 Apple Watch Retail Launch Delayed
What’s clear is that Apple Watch units will not be available in stores on launch day, and you’ll have a hard time finding out throughout the month of May. Apple’s Angela Ahrendts confirmed that in a fresh internal memo… The exec also praised the online Apple Watch launch performance and said that the company will return to the kind of product launches it’s famous for in the future, lines-in-front-of-stores included.
While we’ve suspected for some time that available units of Apple Watch would not be stocked on Apple Store premises, it hasn’t been confirmed until now. Indeed, it won’t be possible for customers to come away with Cupertino’s new wearable at the April 24 retail launch (which, incidentally, has now been removed from all Apple documentation as the device’s “official” launch date).
Instead, Apple Store employees will simply be using the already-established online ordering portal with all the requisite delays intact. Since most models are showing preorder deliveries for mid-year, it seems that Apple has already sold more product than it’s been able to produce, lending credence to those earlier, much-doubted reports of significant supply chain constraints and production line failure rates. Clearly, Apple Watch is the most intricate thing the company’s ever attempted, and its low yields and missed launch window are both proof of that fact.
Whether or not this significant misstep will negatively affect public reception for Apple Watch depends entirely upon Apple’s response. Demand that outstrips supply is beneficial for buzz provided Apple can quickly ramp up production, but if shortages run too long, people are bound to grow disinterested over the months-long gaps in actual availability.
Apple Watch, for everything that it promises to become, is also shaping up to be the biggest test yet for Apple’s powerful brand name and heralded customer loyalty. How big of a break will fans give the largest company on earth? The latitude Apple gets here might go a long way towards determining their future product plans.