Watch ticks gadget and fashionista lists

APPLE chief executive Tim Cook summed up the problem during a conversation with sales staff at a London Apple Store: “We’ve never sold anything as a company that people could try on before.”

With the expected launch next month of the Apple Watch, the company’s first new product in five years, Apple will be stepping into new territory.

To conquer the marketplace, the watch will have to appeal not only as a gadget, but as a fashion statement, a fact tacitly acknowledged by Apple’s decision to launch its advertising campaign with a 12-page insert in the March issue of Vogue.

The company is not talking about plans for marketing the Apple Watch in advance of its much-touted “Spring Forward” event today, but it clearly intends to keep a tight grip on initial sales and distribution, leaving many retailers guessing about when – or if – they will be able to sell it.

Sources with direct knowledge of the matter said that Best Buy Company, one of the largest sellers of Apple products, might not get the watch at launch time, though the company would not comment on the situation.

Other large retailers, including Macy’s, Saks 5th Avenue, Bloomingdales and Barney’s said they had no immediate plans to carry the watch. Target and Nordstrom, along with all the major phone carriers, declined to comment on their plans, though a source with knowledge of the situation said Nordstrom had engaged in discussions with Apple.

“Apple is being cautious. There are too many unknowns around how this product will perform,” said Van Baker, the research vicepresident for technology research firm Gartner.

That might mean restricting initial sales to company stores, where Apple had complete control over the experience and staff could be specially trained to sell the watch, Baker said.

Until now, wearable gadgets have not been big sellers for technology companies. Rival products such as Samsung’s Gear watches have sold poorly.

Apple hopes that. – Reuters

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change CHINA’S Fosun International has bought a 5 percent stake in Thomas Cook Group, deepening its foray into Europe’s tourism sector and potentially helping the British firm to compete with travel leviathan TUI Group. News of the investment, which the companies said came after two years of talks, sent Thomas Cook shares soaring by as much as 24 percent to £150.2 (R2 700), their highest level for more than nine months. Fosun paid £92 million for the stake and would seek to double its holding to 10 percent, it said on Friday. – Reuters

GLAXOSMITHKLINE

DRUGMAKER GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), fined 3 billion yuan (R5.85bn) in China last year for bribery, was dismissing 110 employees in the country for misconduct, people familiar with the matter said on Friday. The company confirmed it had taken disciplinary action against staff whose conduct contravened its values and code of conduct, but declined to specify the number involved. The dismissals follow detailed investigations into wrongdoing by employees in the wake of the corruption scandal. – Reuters