Company adopts smart packaging
FIRST, Apple stepped out of its comfort zone by announcing that its upcoming Apple Watch would be available in more than 100 material and colour combinations, which is quite unusual for the habitually streamlined electronics company.
Now it looks as if Apple will be packaging the higher-end versions of its new smart watch in a premium leather box that also acts as a charging station – not a sleek, disposable cardboard container.
This will be a whole new retail and usage experience for buyers.
The Apple Watch Edition, the solid 18 carat gold version of Apple’s forthcoming smartwatch, will be delivered in an “aniline-dyed leather” box that is “sort of ultra-suede on the inside”, reports the Financial Times.
This mimics the types of boxes we are used to seeing contain luxury Swiss watches from such makers as Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet.
But instead of containing a winder to keep that automatic watch ticking, the Apple Watch Edition box will have a connecter that lets it magnetically up some of the gains after the presentation. Still, they closed 0.4 percent higher at $127.14 in New York, and have gained 15 percent this year.
The watch will be available for pre-order on April 10 and will reach consumers on charge the watch inside when the box is plugged in.
With the notable exception of the white plastic case used to hold EarPods, Apple’s packaging is almost always meant to be discarded.
We still expect there to be both modest and over-the-top third-party chargers and boxes for the Apple Watch, but the fact that it included one itself is an indication that Apple is thinking of the Apple Watch Edition as a luxury product different from anything it has sold before.
This is no surprise, considering the involvement of Angela Ahrendts (former chief executive of Burberry), Paul Deneve (former chief executive of Yves Saint Laurent), and Patrick Pruniaux (former sales vicepresident at TAG Heuer), all of them hired within the last 18 months.
This has brought a whole new luxury retail concept in addition to this new packaging.
When it comes to the solid gold Apple Watch Edition, there is still a question that looms even larger than worries about battery life: Will anyone actually buy it? – Bloomberg April 24. Its battery will run for 18 hours with typical use, Apple said. It comes in two sizes, with the Sport model priced at $349 and $399 and the mid-range version starting at $549. The high-end Apple Watch Edition starts at $10 000.
At the event, Cook emphasised the customisable nature of the watch’s face and bands, including options for different colours and stainless steel cases, and even a Mickey Mouse motif. He said thousands of app developers had been at work building products for Apple Watch. Applications from companies including Facebook, American Airlines and Tencent’s WeChat were among those showed at yesterday’s event. Apple is counting on such apps to help define those must-have services for customers who have so far shrugged off smartwatches made by Samsung, Motorola, LG Electronics and Sony.
Some luxury-watch buyers are not interested. Kevin Rolle, 26, an investment banker who was getting his watch serviced at the Tourneau shop on 57th Street in New York on Monday, said the Apple Watch did not stand out as a must-buy. “I prefer high-end watches – it’s not really high-end,” Rolle said.
Making the case for buying Apple Watch is not just a challenge among those who might otherwise opt for a Cartier or Rolex.
Conveniences
Cook is betting that moving many of the conveniences of an iPhone to the wrist will save people time, and make Apple Watch worth the price tag.
Unlock a door or open the garage with a tap on your wrist. Check into a flight and download a boarding pass. Buy groceries. Measure your heart rate to judge the performance of a workout. Order a car through Uber. Identify what song is playing in the background. Get wrist vibrations for text messages, meetings or Instagram postings.
There has been plenty of scepticism surrounding Apple Watch – that it is too expensive, and the battery will not last long enough. Smartwatches made by other companies have a lacklustre sales history. Unlike most timepieces, the device will be obsolete in a few years.
“They have to demonstrate the things you can’t live without,” said Matt Johnston, the chief executive of Applause, an app-testing firm that works with companies such as Google, Amazon.com and Twenty-First Century Fox.
Some 10 million smartwatches were sold last year, up from 2million in 2013, according to Gartner. To speed up adoption, Apple is banking on a track record that helped make the iPhone and iPad hits.
Before 2007 or 2010, when the two devices were released, there was not a history of success for touch-screen phones or tablets. – Bloomberg