WATCH FOR JUNE
Customers have to try device in store, then order online
Apple says it hopes to have new wearable device available in stores by end of spring
According to an internal memo from Apple’s chief of retail, it may be June before customers will be able to buy an Apple Watch in one of their stores.
In the memo leaked Thursday, Angela Ahrendts, the company’s senior vice-president of retail and online sales, thanked staff for handling the watch-buying process, which requires customers to try on the watch, then order it online and wait for delivery.
“Many of you have been getting questions, asking if we will have the watch available in stores on April 24 for walk-in purchases,” she wrote in her memo.
“As we announced last week, due to high global interest combined with our initial supply, we are only taking orders online right now. I’ll have more updates as we get closer to instore availability, but we expect this to continue through the month of May.”
Ahrendts also wrote that consumers who have already preordered should be receiving their watches starting Friday. Apple-watching websites noted that it has removed the original April 24 launch date from its site. That was originally the date when people were supposed to receive the watch, but with pre-sales doing well and no confirmed date for in-store availability, the date lost its significance.
Ahrendts also assured employees that the big glitzy launches of previous Apple products will return.
“I know this is a different experience for our customers, and a change for you as well. Are we going to launch every product this way from now on? No. We all love those blockbuster Apple product launch days — and there will be many more to come.”
According to a new report from an analyst at KGI Securities, initial global orders for the Apple Watch hit 2.3 million units.
Here’s the breakdown of sales so far with Canadian prices:
Sport model (starts $449): 84 per cent; Watch model (starts $699); 15 per cent and Edition model (starts $13,000): less than 1 per cent.
“Are we going to launch every product this way from now on? No.” ANGELA AHRENDTS VP OF RETAIL, ONLINE SALES AT APPLE