Watch Launch is almost two weeks since it went Live on Friday April 10, 2015 at 3:01 AM Eastern. Watch Sales are likely to be Built-to-Order, as there are hundreds of Watch-Band Combinations.
Watch Buyer pre-orders on Friday April 10th, Deliveries commence Friday April 24th. Subsequent pre-sales shipped Daily thereafter as all Watch pre-sales are shipped. We expect that shipment have already commenced to assure Watches arrive at Customer front-doors Friday morning.
We believe the Watch initial production-run sold out quickly; However, we don’t know precisely how many Watch units were sold. A simplespreadsheet has been formulated, showing a simple financial model that suggests the initial production-run of 3.0 million Watch units, yielding Watch revenues of $2.2 billion for the April 10th pre-sale launch.
We estimate 3.0 million Watch finished Cases were in inventory on Launch Day. This figure was abstracted from investigative reporting from China who examined supply-line leaks regarding quantities of Watch displays, Sapphire Crystals, and S1 Electronics Chips. While this figure is equivalent to the first 3-Day weekend sales of iPhone 4, it dwarfs all other smartwatch sales to date and represents a milestone in wearable “smartwatch” sales.
Watch Sport model lead in unit-sales volume, selling 1.8 million units for a total revenue of $693,000,000, while the Watch, the middle-Tier model, lead in revenue, garnering about $851,000,000 versus Watch Sport $693,000,000. The profitability-magic of the Watch three-Tier model line-up, is Apple’s inclusion of the Watch Edition an 18 Karat Gold luxury model. We estimate that 50,000 Gold units were available for the on-line launch and at 70 Apple Stores at Launch generated $675,000,000 in gross sales.
Watch average selling price, the APS achieved a level of $740/unit sold. The total Sales revenues of Watch first day sales earned $2,219,000,000 (that’s $2.219 Billion). Our bet is the Watch Line will (on average) achieve a +60% gross Profit, yielding to Apple’s bottom line $1.33 Billion in profit for each 3 million units sold. If Apple enjoys 30 million Watch sales in its first year of availability, Apple’s bottom-Line profits will gain another $13.3 Billion Annually or $3.325 Billion quarterly. Accordingly, this new Watch product-line may likely increase earnings accretive by +20% to Apple’s quarterly earnings.
We believe the pre-orders of 3 Million Watch sales estimated, may be considerably below the total number of pre-orders for Watch achieved by the April 24th Lunch Day. As Apple is offering 38 different Models & Bands of the Watch, with no previous order-history to consider when projecting model inventory levels, we expect that Pre-Orders will be Assembled-to-Order.
Apple estimating the Model-Mix to build, however, it is believed that Apple pre-manufactured 6 Million Watch S1 electronics Modules and Cases.
Apple may execute Final-Assembly of each Watch pre-Sale on a Build-to-Order, based on the Customers’ choice of the Case-Band actually sold. This approach permits Apple to maintain more efficient levels of Watch Case inventories, while simultaneously shipping promptly to as many Consumers as possible.
1,150,000 (38.3%) Watch units sold Globally
1,800,000 (60%) Watch SPORT units sold Globally
0,050,000 (1.6%) Watch EDITION Gold units sold Globally
3,000,000 (100%) Watch Total units sold Globally
News Reports indicate that the first Quarter of Watch sales may reach 6 million units, and assuming our ASPs are close to reality Apple’s Quarterly profits could receive a +$3.3 Billion jump due to the Watch.
To learn more how Watch may work for you take a VIEW at these two brief video clips:
Slice Intelligence estimated that 957,000 people in the USA pre-ordered Watch on Friday, April 10, the first day the Watch was available for on-line sale, according to eReceipt Data collected from a sampling-panel of two-million online shoppers.
Each Watch buyer ordered 1.3 Watch units, paying on average $503.83 for each Watch for all models, excluding the Apple Edition Gold Watch, not reported in the data sampled.
Watch Sales = $1.562 Billion Globally with 3,100,000 Watch Units Sold on the First DAY • A Very Exciting Day for Apple and the Early Watch Buyers.
Most, if not all of the reporting agencies that have examined this Slice Intelligence Watch sales data, have mis-reported the eReceipt information. Here’s the Math and our Conclusions regarding the statistical data:
1,150,000 (38.3%) Watch units sold in the USA
1,800,000 (60%) Watch units sold out of the USA
50,000 (1.6%) Watch units sold out of the USA
3,000,000 (100%) Watch units sold World-Wide
Data Extrapolation. The primary data-point show that 957,000 buyers bought (on average) more than one Watch, actually 1.3 Watch units in the USA only. Here is the Math. If 957,000 individuals bought 1.3 Watch units, then 1,244,000 Watch units were purchased.
Apple has reported that 60% of their sales World-Wide occurs outside of the USA, then 40% of Apple product sales occurs in the USA. Accordingly, international Watch units sales amounted to 1,856,000 Watch units. Therefore Global Watch unit sales would total 3,100,000. The eReceipt data indicates that the Average sales invoice for all Watch sales was $503.83/unit, then the gross sales for Global Sales amounted to $1.562 Billion on Day One.
Among those buying an Watch, 72% have purchased an Apple product in the past two years (iPhone, Apple computer or iPad), and 21% of this group pre-ordered an iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus several months ago. Nearly one-third of the group purchased two Apple products and 11% bought all three devices, in addition to their new Watch, according to eReceipt data.
Most Watch buyers, roughly 62% of the total number of buyers, purchased the entry-level Sport Watch. However, many Watch buyers purchased the pricier, Middle-Tier Polished Stainless Steel case, with more than one-third of these buyers paired the Watch with either the Black or White Fluroelastomer Sport band.
Most of the Watch Sport buyers chose the larger 42mm watch-case, with 71% overall selecting this larger watch-case format. Watch buyers were slightly more likely to choose the 38mm watch-case.
The most popular type of Watch-case is the Space Gray aluminum case, with 40% of Apple Watch buyers choosing this option, followed by stainless steel at 34%, silver aluminum at 23% and the Space Black stainless steel Watch was at 3%.
Watch Black Sport Band was the most popular among both Apple Watch and Apple Watch Sport buyers, with 49% overall pre-ordering, followed by the White Sport Band at 16%, and the more expensive Milanese Loop ($149 versus $49 for the black Sport band) rounding out the top three at around 10%.
Slice Intelligence, the supplier of the above information states they are only firm using direct-measurement of all digital commerce activity and customer loyalty. By collecting and cataloging actual shopping behaviors from online shoppers in the wild, Slice Intelligence precisely measures what the others have only been able to approximate, revealing new insights about online shoppers and their behaviors.
Slice Intelligence information comes from a methodology developed at Stanford University that measures and catalogs all online purchases made by consumers who use the popular Slice App to manage their online shopping. This refined data collection method enables impeccable, near real-time data.
It is important to understand where eReceipt data is obtained. Slice Intelligence has a particularly stable, high quality, large database. It provides a service to its eCommerce clients a method of tracking their sales receipts, retaining them for future access. This means that the data it accesses is reliable for its customers. It also gives it a source of 2 million customer pool. Author of the Slice report Jaimee Minney wrote the following points:
Slice Intelligence get permissioned access to email inboxes from users of our apps (Slice and unroll.me) as well as through partners who license Slice Intelligence technology to power their online experiences (i.e. The find, IFTTT, Gone!, etc.)
1⃣ The number of Watch sales, [1.244 million units] is based on Slice Intelligence projections to the online population
2⃣ Slice Intelligence’s panel is of 2 million people, 9,080 of whom bought an Apple Watch
3⃣ Based on Slice Intelligence’s statistical modeling and validation (including partner and client feedback), Slice Intelligence is confident that the numbers are representative
4⃣ Slice Intelligence abstracts these results of its sizable survey of its buyer-population, and projects to the USA population. Slice Intelligence has two major statistical reliability advantages over other methodologies
5⃣ Slice Intelligence uses extremely large sample population (2 million). Ms. Minney notes that the panel size is “an order-of-magnitude [exponentially] larger than panels by Nielsen, comScore, eand others”
6⃣ Slice Intelligence’s sampling is automatic, no human intervention. Since the data is supplied automatically from real e-Receipts, as opposed by any self-reporting, therefore the data has a very high degree of accuracy.
Two Watch Try-On Reservations were booked for Marilyn and I. On Friday morning right after I placed our 5am Pre-Orders on-line, Reservations for Hands-on try-ons were booked.
Our Watch Try-Ons were scheduled-reserved for noon Sunday, April 12. Briefly, this was as a totally enjoyable and fun experience. The sales folks at the Apple Store (Boca Raton, Florida) were excited with the success of the pre-order launch, proving strong demand. The Apple store was literally packed with an excited public and sales associates.
We each had separate sales associates showing the different models, the 38mm and 42mm Watch, and a broad array of available bands. Most of the bands may be purchased separately.
Marilyn and I had about 20 minutes to try-on all the different bands, with demonstrations of the Watch, its use, the Apps, changing the actual Watch faces. However, there was no sensation of time-pressure whatsoever. I fact after 15 or 20 minutes you would have tried-on just about everything in sight, which is what I did. In sum, the Watch is an amazing wearable. We can both imagine buying several bands to suit our Day, Evening, and Venue needs.
We had a great time, and became quite comfortable with this new Watch. As to use, the operating system is very intuitive and everyone should be able to use the Watch right out of the box. Along the perimeter of the Apple Store their are counter-top displays where customers can experiment with the Watch, the digital-crown, the Contacts-Button, using the up, down, left, right swiping, Customizing the Watch-face. All very easy and intuitive. This is the beauty of Apple, use of the Watch is simple and easy, no rocket-scientists needed.
When iPhone users update their iPhones to the newly released iOS 8.3 operating system (upgrade now whether or not an Watch is in your immediate future) a New Apple App shows on the iPhone home-page, clearly named “Apple Watch.” This App when launched will search for and “pair” automatically with your Watch.
The Watch Companion App allows you to set up the Watch to your exact desires, color schemes, select from a good number of watch-faces; plus this App will “pair” to your iPhone via bluetooth and synchronize your setup to the Watch.
Apple has made this process easy and seamless, requiring no technical knowhow. The first-time “pairing” takes about 10 minutes to synchronize your chosen photos, selected music and iPhone Apps that you’d like to be resident on your Watch.
The Apple Store try-on experience was quite an exciting experience. Hats off to Apple’s team for this new technique for the folks that are interested in this new wearable Watch.
Marilyn was delighted with the Milanese Loop band, so there was no change with her pre-order. Personally, I was undecided between the Milanese Loop band and the Link Bracelet. After trying on both bands twice, it was clear to me to select the Bright Stainless Steel Link Bracelet. On Friday morning I ordered two Watch units for myself, both with polished 38mm stainless cases, one Watch with Milanese Loop band and the second Watch paired the Bright Stainless Steel Link Bracelet.
During our hands-on session, we were very pleased with the quality of all the Bands. The $50 colorful FluoroElastomer bands (aka the Watch Sports Bands) are a very high quality feel, they are smooth, soft, comfortable material. The Black Leather Modern Buckle is likely my 2nd Band, perhaps for evenings dining out. However, the Bright Stainless Steel Link band is very thin and elegant, rather than an extra heavy, bulky, chunky band, often seen with other Watch makers such as Rolex. For my taste Rolex Link bands look and feel heavy and chunky. Apple’s SS Link Band is the opposite. Its easy to imagine Apple or the Aftermarket fabricating an 18 karat Gold version of Apple’s SS Link band.
We both can easily imagine having several bands. In my case a Black Sports band for weekend use, the Watch Stainless Steel Link Bracelet for every-day use, and the Watch Black Leather Modern Buckle, a stunning alternative for more formal evenings out, or just changing bands for the fun of it.
Sdding and removing any Watch Band is a super-easy process, and needs no tools or special talent whatsoever. The Bright Stainless Link Bracelet is simply stunning, and removing or adding its Links for a perfect fit, is very easy to accomplish, also with no tools or special skills required.
Following our Watch Hands-on experience, the Apple associates directed us over to the perimeter wall of the Apple Store where Watch units were attached to a wooden base and attached to a stand-up bar arrangement. Folks were spread along the two long walls, playing with 40 to 50 Watch display units. Marilyn and I toyed with the settings, watch-faces, colors, etc. I finished a bit sooner, and mentioned to her to take her time, as I was going to roam around the store, and excused myself.
My mission was to interview as many Apple sales associates as possible as Marilyn continued to “joyfully tinker” with the Watch settings and menus. Other than making friends first, the next most important issue for me was to pose to all of the store employees the key question:
“…What percentage of the folks that came in for their Reservation for Hands-On trials, actually proceeded to go on-line to order the Watch of their choice…”
Every Apple employee that was in the Hands-On Trial area, stated that almost all of the folks bought Watches on line while in the store using their iPhone. A number of folks bought iPhones for the first time (switching from Androids, mostly Samsung smartphones) so they could use the Watch companion. In pressing the retailers for a percentage most replied “…90% to 95%…” some said that “…every Reservation they greeted bought their chosen Watch…”
Sunday evening, following our successful try-ons at our local Apple Store, getting back to business, I cancelled the extra Watch order paired with the Milanese band. Marilyn was totally pleased with the Milanese Loop band so there was no change to her pre-order; I’m now very happy with the Stainless Link Bracelet. Our hands-on, try-ons were a resounding success, being a very satisfying experience; plus the hands-on try-ons solved my undecided band choice. Now we both look forward to receiving our Watches in about 3 weeks.
According to data from Slice Intelligence, based on data gathered from 9,080 shoppers, about 957,000 U.S. customers purchased an AppleWatch model on Friday, April 10th. The average consumer bought an average of 1.3 watches, spending $503.83 per watch. Comparatively, recent research from Canalys revealed that some 720,000 Android Wear smartwatches have been sold in the entire year of 2014.
The most popular purchase was the Apple Watch Sport, with 62% of consumers getting it on pre-order day, for an average price of $382.83. Comparatively, the average price paid for the Apple Watch is $707.04. BMO Capital Markets came out with similar numbers in a survey performed before pre-orders commenced on Friday, saying that 60% of buyers who wanted to buy one were interested in the AppleWatch Sports model. Meanwhile, 12% were desiring the Apple Watch model, with 4% of the respondents choosing the Apple Watch Gold Edition model. 24% of the respondents were undecided.
When it comes to the AppleWatch Case-sizes, most buyers chose the more expensive 42mm model, a $50 add-on; according to Slice 71% of the buyers chose the 42mm watch-case size. The Space Gray aluminum case was the most popular among all buyers with 40% share, followed by polished stainless steel with a 34% share, and the silver aluminum sports watch case with a 23% share. The Black Sport Band was the most popular among both Apple Watch and Apple Watch Sport buyers at 49%, followed by the White Sport Band (16%) and the Milanese Loop (10%).
PRESS Release: CUPERTINO, California—April 9, 2015—Apple Watch™, Apple’s most personal device yet, will be available for preview and pre-order on Friday, April 10. Customers in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, the UK and the US can try on and experience Apple Watch at their local Apple Store® or at Galeries Lafayette in Paris, Isetan in Tokyo, Selfridges in London, and select Apple Authorized Resellers in Japan and China. Customers can pre-order their Apple Watch through the Apple Online Store (www.apple.com) beginning April 10 at 12:01 a.m. PDT for delivery beginning April 24.
“We are excited to welcome customers tomorrow and introduce them to Apple Watch, our most personal device yet. Based on the tremendous interest from people visiting our stores, as well as the number of customers who have gone to the Apple Online Store to mark their favorite Apple Watch ahead of availability, we expect that strong customer demand will exceed our supply at launch,” said Angela Ahrendts, Apple’s senior vice president of Retail and Online Stores. “To provide the best experience and selection to as many customers as we can, we will be taking orders for Apple Watch exclusively online during the initial launch period.”
Customers interested in learning more about Apple Watch can visit their local Apple Store for a personalized session with a Specialist to try on, fit and size their band, and explore the amazing features of Apple Watch. Customers who want to try on an Apple Watch are encouraged to make an appointment by going to http://www.apple.com.
Starting Friday, customers can try on Apple Watch, Apple Watch Sport or Apple Watch Edition* to find the model with the size, finish and band to best fit their personal preference and style. Everyone visiting an Apple Store will be able to view all three collections and get hands on with Apple Watch Demo to browse and edit different watch faces, and learn about Apple Watch’s health and fitness features, Digital Touch, Siri®, Apple Pay™**
Pre-orders begin April 10 at 12:01 a.m. PDT through the Apple Online Store, the Apple Store app for iPhone® and iPad®, and select Apple Authorized Resellers in China and Japan. Customers who pre-order their Apple Watch can have it shipped for delivery beginning April 24. All Apple Watch customers will be offered Personal Setup, online or in-store, to pair their Apple Watch with their iPhone. New owners will also learn how to personalize Apple Watch by selecting a watch face, deciding which notifications to receive, setting up the Activity app, and receive an introduction to Apple Pay** and the Apple Watch App Store™.
Beginning April 24, Apple Watch will also be available at boutiques in major cities including colette in Paris, Dover Street Market in London and Tokyo, Maxfield in Los Angeles and The Corner in Berlin, and select Apple Authorized Resellers in China and Japan.
Apple Watch is an incredibly accurate timepiece, an intimate and immediate communication device and a groundbreaking health and fitness companion. Highly customizable for personal expression, Apple Watch also brings an entirely new way to receive information at a glance and interact with the world through third-party app experiences designed specifically for the wrist.
Apple Watch introduces revolutionary technologies including the Digital Crown™, an innovative way to scroll, zoom and navigate fluidly without obstructing the display. The Retina® display with Force Touch on Apple Watch senses the difference between a tap and a press, providing a new way to quickly and easily access relevant controls. The all-new Taptic Engine™ discreetly delivers a gentle tap on your wrist whenever you receive a notification or message.
Pricing & Availability. Apple Watch is available in three collections, Apple Watch Sport, priced at $349 (US) and $399 (US); Apple Watch, available from $549 (US) to $1,099 (US); and Apple Watch Edition, crafted from custom rose or yellow 18-karat gold alloys, with prices starting at $10,000 (US).
Millions of Apple Watches were purchased early Friday morning. All of the $10,000, $12,000, $15,000, $17,000 and $18,500 Gold Edition Watch units Sold Out in One Hour. All of the Watch Sports Watches Sold out in 6 Minutes.
All Watch models sold out in 3 hours, therefore those pre-ordering after 6am Eastern Friday, the delivery dates are pushing back 4-6 Weeks (from May 14 to May 28). As of April 12th, Watch “Ship Dates” are pushing back to June and July, see examples displayed below.
Watch continues to receive high traffic for on-line orders that commenced Friday April 10th. There are Several ways to Buy the Apple Watch; However, not following the traditional new-product-release procedure. In this article are a number of screen-photos of the Watch Models and their anticipated ship dates, as of Monday, April 13, 2015.
The best and easiest method of buying the Watch is using the Apple Store App. It was reported that at the peak of the on-line ordering Friday morning, Apple’s http://www.Apple.com website was stressing with internet delays and URL errors. However, there were no reported issues using the Apple Store App. Friday morning I used the Apple Store App on my iPhone 6 Plus to order Apple Watches for Marilyn and myself.
Notice the Retail Products App is different than Apple’s App Store application. The App Store is used to buy Applications. The Apple Store App is used to buy Products, check on the status of an on-line order, and to make Genius Bar Reservations, and currently to make Watch Try-On Reservations. This is the LINK which will take you directly to the App Store to download the Apple Store App:http://ift.tt/1NDiWzV
Watch Sales Projection Chart below displays all Three Tiers of the Apple Watch that was created early March, 2015. Among the many unknowns is the sale-demand for the Gold Edition Apple Watch. The three traunches combined total 6 Million Watch units, representing the initial production-run for the product’s Launch period. The Sports Watch is set at 3.5 million units, the Stainless Steel AppleWatch models at 2.5 million units, and the Gold Edition watches at 500,000 units, representing only 8.34% of the total Apple Watch production-run.
Changes to the product-mix may significantly change the overall gross sales values for the 3-tiers. This statistical model assumes an average Profit Margin for the product-line of 45% for all 3-tiers. Since all these figures are “educated guesses,” I kept the guessing to a minimum by selecting a single-average profit margin. Since Apple’s overall profit margin company-wide is currently reported at 39.5%, the Watch as a “jewelry wearable” earned a higher profit margin of 45% which in reality the profit margin may be significantly higher, perhaps 50% or more.
Reports from the supply-line say that 6 million Apple Watch units were ordered for the initial production-run commenced in January, 2015. If the pre-order sellout is a telling signal, Tim Cook and his production team will be stepping-up the number of production-lines to meet the perceived huge Demand.
What is the Difference with Watch product release and the Apple iPhone 6 product release… Simple outline
(A) With recent iPhone releases, on-line pre-ordering was made available two weeks before the Official Product Release at Apple Retail Stores. (This is the same for the Watch pre-ordering)
(B) With recent iPhone releases, the iPhone was not available to Vier or Hold and not available retail store sales until the official Launch Day. Recall the Apple retail stores covered their store-fronts with Black Drapes, in the evening before Launch-Friday adding to the retail hysteria. (This procedure differs from the Watch release, as Apple Retail Stores received display models for the public to View, Hold and Try-on [commencing 4/10] two weeks before the official Launch Day on Friday 4/24)
(C) Apple gave thought to invite the public’s View and Try-on of the Watch with pre-arranged reservations, so these folks thereafter, may go on-line and purchase the Watch with confidence knowing the model, band and the case-size and case-metal of choice. The theory is Wearable” products require more time to consider, therefore, the two weeks of try-ons will aid Customers in making on-line pre-orders.
(D) Apple on Launch Day, all Watch models will be available to the public; however, the folks need to make reservations for a limited period of time, so that the Retail Stores are not over-whelmed with traffic. For the Apple-FanBoys the hysteria is exciting, for the rest of the Apple Clan, long lines are aggravating
(E) After a few weeks, Apple may remove the pre-Reservation requirements once the Watch Supply-Demand dynamics are stabilized.
1⃣ BUY your favorite AppleWatch and Band combination on-line
2⃣ RESERVE your favorite AppleWatch and Band combination; however, this Reservation & Pick-up method is only available in only about 70 stores world-wide
3⃣ WALK-IN Sales Not Permitted Presently, therefore Do Not waist your time on long Lines to enter the Apple Store for the Apple Watch on Launch-Day, or Launch-Week. Remember Walk-IN traffic was encouraged when you Bought your new iPhone. For this new product release, on-line purchase or Reservations Only for the Apple Watch
4⃣ TRY-ON APPLE WATCH, You can make an appointment to try-on the Apple Watch commencing today. Apple Watches are not available for sale in the Stores; however, you can make an appointment to try-on the Apple Watches of your choice; Thereafter you may go on-line and order the Apple Watch you liked.
The GOOD News – Apple’s On-Line Store opened for Apple Watch purchase at 3:01 AM early Friday [4/10] morning. It has been reported that Apple ordered 6 Million Apple Watches for the initial Launch period, presumed to be a 90-day supply.
The BAD News – Apple’s On-Line Store was SOLD-OUT Globally, for the Sports Watch literally 6 Minutes after Apple’s On-Line Store opened for business at 3:01am early Friday morning. All Apple Watches were sold-out, all Watch Edition models including the $10k to $18.5k Gold models were all Sold Out world-wide in 60 minutes. However, this means you will still receive your Apple Watch, but it will take a few weeks or months later to receive it. The Earlier you Order the Watch, the Quicker you will receive it. If you delay few days, it may add a Month or two delay, before your Watch ships.
All Global Apple On-Line Store are Sold-Out of the initial production-run. Except for the first 3 Million lucky individuals that purchased their Apple Watch before 3:06am today, your shipping date has likely been “Pushed Back” to May 15th or later an undisclosed period in June or July. Above are “screen images” of my three attempts to buy one model for each of the three-Tiers of Apple Watches as of April 13. As these DAYs move forward in time, the Shipping Dates will be “Pushed Back” later into June and July, until Apple adjusts their production and supply lines to meet the huge Demand.
Apple Watch Critics. Another terrible call by the critics. It’s amazing to me that Apple Critics are consistently Negative, and consistently WRONG
The Critics told the World that it was ridiculous for Apple to get into the already crowded Smartphone market in January, 2007. Wrong, Apple has sold 750 million iPhones
The Critics told the World that it was ridiculous for Apple to get into the already crowded Tablet market in April, 2010. Wrong, Apple had sold 240 million iPads
The Critics told the World that it was ridiculous for Apple to get into the mature Wearable Watch marketplace in September, 2014 Wrong, again! Apple sold-out 3 million Apple Watches in several Minutes. Traditionally, Apple produces Millions of units in advance of the Lauch-Day
Apple Watches: 6 millions units have been fabricated for the initial production-run. Roughly 50% of this inventory was available for on-line pre-ordering, the remaining 3 million Apple Watch units will stock retail stores for retail-Reservation sales commencing Friday, April 24. It may be Months before Apple will have significant inventory, for direct walk-in retail sales, without reservations.
Notice to All Critics. Today Apple Watches are All Sold Out due to Incredible Demand. Launch-Day is April 24th. Online Apple Watch pre-ordering and try-on for the Apple Watch Watch started Today
Notice to Investment Bankers. Apple Watch is Sold-Out, Apple Edition Gold Watches are Sold-Out, Apple Sports Watch is Sold-Out. Incredible demand has caused back-order status for all models across the entire line of Apple Watches. Some IB firms downgraded $AAPL because of back-order status. They Are NUTS. No Critic anticipated Millions of Apple Watches selling out in the first two Hours, particularly for a NEW product. The Critics said “no one would want the useless Apple Watch” and “no one would buy it” WRONG
Apple iPhone Launches recall, Apple doubled its iPhone 4 pre-release day inventory to 3 million units and sold out in three days. Apple thereafter, doubled its pre-release inventory to 6 million units for the iPhone 5 and it sold out in three days; Then Apple doubled again its pre-release inventory for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus to 12 million units and they sold out of all models in three days.
(A) If you know Exactly what you want, case, band, size, metal, order AppleWatch online for delivery directly to your Home on Friday morning, April 24th. Apple’s tradition, if you are not pleased with your on-line purchase when received, you may go to your local Apple Store to make a change or refund, or ship it back to Apple’s On-Line Apple Store Return Center; however, in eather case, save all the packaging.
(B) If you Know what you want, however, you want to try it on, as you may desire to change the Band or the Case size, make your best selection on April 10th and Book a RESERVATION for April 24th, or next available Reservation Date, at your local Apple Store; Reservation Appointments are the only way to get into the Apple Store on the 24th, to fine-tune your selection and pick-up your Apple Watch.
Know the circumference of your Wrist, My wrist measures 170mm (Large), Marilyn wrist is 155mm (Medium); once your wrist is measured you’ll know what AppleWatch defines band-size by: “Small,” “Medium,” or “Large” for Apple band sizes. The Apple Watch site defines S,M,L determined by the circumference of your wrist. The Apple Store Sizing Charts are displayed below.
Know the Watch Model you desire: Sports, Apple Watch or Apple Edition, prices starting from $349, $549, $10,000 respectively. Almost there.. you need to choose the Watch-Case size, as Apple provides two Case sizes: Do you want the 38mm watch-case or the 42mm watch-case. I’m relatively small Wristed, therefore the 38mm Case may be the choice for me.
Many Millennials and some Elders really enjoy Big Watches, rendering the 42mm desirable. Apple has designed the Apple Watch with many band materials and multiple color choices, for every-day use and fashion in mind. Therefore folks may prefer to satisfy their style needs and use requirements.
Apple Watch On-Line Ordering or Reservation Experience. If you are anxious to own the Apple Watch, perform the steps mentioned before Friday, April 10th.
With my particular Apple Watch choice, I’ve got THREE watches and bands to pick between. Marilyn has not looked on-line as of today, but she will before Friday. Likely she’ll get the Apple Watch, and the band choice is yet to be made.
(A) Apple Watch with 38mm Space Black watch-case with the Black Sports Band, my likely pick, or
(B) Apple Watch with 38mm Space Black watch-case with the Space Black Bracelet Band, or the Milanese Band, quite an elegant combination. Do not forget the AppleCare+ for the Apple Watch, gives you 2 years of Warranty plus Accident Coverage.
Extensive Surveys say that over 200 millions of folks reach for their iPhone on average, 10 Times per Hour, about every 6 munutes. This means Folks are repeatedly having to retrieve their iPhone from their Pocket, Purse, or Briefcase. Not a big deal, and surely more convenient than having to start-up a laptop or PC to visualize SMS Text Messaging, eMails, or Appointment Calendars.
With the Apple Watch, iPhone communications, texts, Facebook posts, Tweets, phone calls, calendar reminders come to your attention through to your Apple Watch, with several Taps on your Wrist with Apple Watch’s internal Taptic Engine, a very subtle way to notice who is “calling” you.
Imaging being in a Conference Room, a Noisy Sports event, in the Movie theater, or on the Train or Subway, The Tap “tells” you what’s going on with minimal distraction. If you are committed in a Conference setting, you’ll know whose “calling” and you can decide if that Contact is worthy of excusing yourself from the venue. If your child’s School is calling, that may motivate you to leave the venue, and answer that “Call.” The “call” is communicated to you without having to find and expose your iPhone, and perhaps distract the folks with you.
Simply put, with the Apple Watch strapped onto your wrist, as a text message comes to your iPhone, the Taptic engine, sends a silent Tap or Two directly to the Apple Watch’s Taptic Engine, which is a silent and subtle, “notification” telling you that a Message has been just sent to you. It would feel like someone Tapping, one or more times onto your Watch-Face, which would be felt on your Wrist.
Presumably, these gentle Taps will motivate you to slight turn (rotate) your wrist a 1/4 turn or so, at which time your Apple Watch display “wakes up” giving you a very subtly opportunity to visually-notice who communicated with you, including an abbreviated display of the Text Message, eMail, Caller ID, an Appointment Reminder, an Timer Alarm, without having to find and “wake up” your iPhone.
WiFi Communicate with your Apple Watch. If you are home or in the office in an active WiFi area, you could have your iPhone charging in the Kitchen, or the iPhone could be in your Office, and your Apple Watch will receive these signals through the WiFi, while you are in the Yard, Family Room or in someone else’s Office or Conference Room.
Apple Watch not in a WiFi zone, no problem, the Apple Watch communicates with your iPhone using Very-Low-Power bluetooth connectivity. The Apple Watch automatically changes connectivity as you move into or away from a trusted WiFi zone.
A Tap onto the Apple Watch’s display, is a very convenient way to act upon an incoming communication, without having to get your iPhone 6 or 6 Plus from your Pocket, Purse or BriefCase.
Force Touch is a New iOS Operating System command that represents a really BIG deal, and it may be classified as the most important development to the mobile user interface since Apple created Multi-Touch, a Key component behind the Touch-Screen commands, “swiping and typing” on the display for messaging, or selecting menu choices. Force Touch and the corresponding Taptic Engine are two New principle features built into Apple’s new Apple Watch.
Force Touch is “activated” by making a gentle more sustained Press onto the Display (as opposed to a brief Tap). When applying a subtle Press onto the Display, the iOS will show Menu Items that are contextual appropriate to what is being Displayed on the Apple Watch, a feature that surely will subsequently be made available on the next iteration of the iPhone, perhaps the iPhone 7.
Electronically, the Force Touch operation requires a new Display that has a microscopic Electronic-Grid that is imbedded within the Retina-Display, Force Touch is capable of noticing the difference between a simple Tap, Swipe, and a Press onto the display.
Force Touch may also represents a fundamental turning point in the iPhone, as an iOS milestone. Surely Apple will include Force Touch in the new iPhones iterations, along with a Taptic Engine that produces an oscillation (vibrations which the user feels), Most people buying iPhone 6 and 6 Plus will want to upgrade their iPhone in order to have the new feature. It is that big of a deal.
More on What is Force Touch and the Taptic Engine. Another simple example, is to think of the virtual keyboard on your iPhone, and being able to feel a click as you “type” on each letter. Internally, the Pressure of a Tap (or the area of screen that your finger comes in contact with) is registered and translates the Pressure as a Force-Touch gesture.
The Taptic Engine is a feedback method that produces a small vertical-vibration from an electromagnetic “motor” Apple calls this the Taptic Engine. The end result is that when you press down on the screen, it feels like you are pressing down a key on a traditional keyboard.
Force Touch opens an additional user interface layer, bringing much more functionality to the iPhone, including shortcuts, acceleration dependent on pressure (like fast-forwarding video depending on how hard you press on the screen), and new ways of dragging and dropping items. The user is able to feel each click, bump, and drag, instead of just touching a piece of glass.
HEADLINE – Watch Math. For Each 1.0% of iPhone Users (that’s 1% of the 218,180,000 iPhone 5 and iPhone 6 users) that buy Watch, APPLE Earns $1.483 Billion in Annual Gross Profits. Here’s the math and how we get there…
Apple hosted its Important Apple Watch Event March 9th, 2015. Apple Sprang Forward – WATCH Available April 24, PreOrder online April 10th. Apple’s presentation describes their intention of reinventing the Watch once created in the 16th century.
Apple, recall it did not invent the smartphone, they reinvented it with their iPhone in 2007 having delivered 700 million iPhones; Apple did not invent the Tablet, they reinvented it with their iPad in 2010 having delivered 240 million iPads. Now Apple reinvents the Wrist-Watch with its Watch in 2015 projected to sell between 20-to-35 million iWatches in its first year.
Apple Watch is “the beginning of the end of the traditional Wrist-Watch for the “over 30 crowd ” as many switch to the iWatch. For Millennials, Apple Watch may likely be their very First Watch, as most of the 13 to 30 year olds simply don’t wear Watches, they tell time with their iPhones.
Apple Watch is an amazing Companion to Apple’s iPhone (certainly not an iPhone replacement). Apple has now sold and delivered 700 Million iPhones world wide. Not bad considering the Apple critics screamed… Apple has no business entering an already crowded smartphone marketplace in January, 2007.
Apple Watch Sales Projection. We now know the pricing for the Three Tiers of Apple Watch Models and Bands. Accordingly, I’ve dusted off my trusty HP19BII calculator (in truth my calculator is an amazing 19BII business consultant emulation App by RLM Tools, here’s the $4.99 App Review: http://tiny.cc/qbhyvx Alternatively you can buy the HB19BII on Amazon currently priced for $290 New or $80 Used).
Our projections for the sales of the initial production of 6 million Apple Watches are displayed in a simple spread-sheet format. We’ve projected 3.5 million Apple Sports Watches will be sold plus 2,000,000 mid-tier Apple Watches and 500,000 Apple Edition Watches, as the product sales-mix; of course our figures are not factual whatsoever.
Apple Watch Average Selling Price for the Sports Watch Tier. The largest number of sales will likely occur for the Sports Watch. Factually, Apple states that it will sell the 38mm SportsWatch for $350 and the 42mm SportsWatch will sell for $400. Accordingly we are assuming that the unit-sales will occur evenly between the two Sports Watches models, resulting in an ASP, Average Selling Price of $375.
Apple Watch Average Selling Price for the Apple Watch Tier. The Apple Watch will sell at $550 for the lowest priced Apple Watch, leading to a top price of $1100 for the Stainless Steel Bracelet band, leading us to a Weighted ASP of $750 which is $75 below the simple arithmetic average of $825. Personally, I really like the Sapphire faced, Dark Stainless Bracelet, priced at $1050 for the 38mm watch face, my wrist will not handle a 42mm watch-case.
Apple Watch Average Selling Price for the Edition Watch Tier. The Apple Edition Watch will sell at $10,000 for the lowest priced Apple Edition Watch, leading to a top price of $18,000 for the 18k Gold with the Gold Buckle Band, leading us to a weighted ASP of $12,500. Weighting these top-tier luxury models is the most difficult to project, therefore we chose to be conservative with an Weighted ASP $12,500 estimate.
Apple Watch Weighted Average Selling Price for Three Tiers of Apple Watch unit sales. If these projection have merit, then the Sports Watch will sell to 3,500,000 customers for a total of $1.312 Billion in gross sales. The Apple Watch will sell to 2,000,000 customers for a total of $1.500 Billion in gross sales, and the Apple Edition (Gold) Watch will sell to 500,000 customers for a total of $6,250 Billion in gross sales. The weighted average selling price is skewed upwards, largely because of the 500,000 Gold Edition Watches that may sell for an average selling price of $12,500 each, therefore the overall ASP for all three tiers of AppleWatch models equates to $1,510.
Apple Watch Gross Sales and Profits projected. Using the resulting Gross sales figures above, all three Tiers will generate $9.062 Billion in sales for this new Apple Watch product. If Apple achieves say 45% profit margin, which is likely profit margin for a wearable product, then Apple’s Gross Profit may approach $4.078 Billion per Quarter, or $16.3 Billion Annually, or $1.36 Billion per Month. There are not many S&P 500 Companies that generate this profit level.
Apple Watch Gross Sales projections in Perspective. The 6,000,000 unit Sales of Apple Watch projected, is based on just 2.75% of the 218,181,000 customers (current number of iPhone 5 + iPhone 5S + 5C + iPhone 6 + iPhone 6 Plus users) actually buy the Apple Watch sometime during the next 12 months from launch day, 24 April 2015.
Lets Play some Apple Watch Math Games. If the number of iPhone 5 and iPhone 6 buyers increases by just 1.00%, then the Number of Apple Watch Sales increases by 2,181,800 unit sales, generating an additional Gross Profit of $1.483 Billion Quarterly, or about $5.931 Billion/year for those iPhone 5+ iPhone 6 users.
Apple Watch Math Games Summarized. Therefore for each 1% of iPhone Users that buy Apple Watch, about $6 Billion in annual Gross profit is added to Apple’s Financial Results. Similarly if 5% of iPhone 5 and iPhone 6 users buy Apple Watch, then Apple enjoys about $30 Billion in annual Gross Profits. It will be most interesting to look back at this Article (a year from now) in review of Apple’s actual Apple Watch 2016 annual results.
Apple critics screamed in January of 2007 “Apple is a Computer company and has no business getting into the crowded, experienced mobile-phone arena.” However, Apple methodically reinvented the smartphone, released it June, 2007 fortunately ignoring all their critics. iPhone sales soared to 74.5 million for the 90 day period ending 12/31/2014, and are projected to sell 225 million iPhones for Apple’s fiscal 2015.
Apple again was criticized, similarly in 2010, for entering the crowed, mature Tablet marketplace… good thing Apple ignored that advice, as it again reinvented the Tablet with its iPad, having delivering 225,000,000 units.
Apple iPhone/iPad sales combined total about 925,000,000 iPhones and iPads have been sold into a crowded, competitive, mature marketplace. Apple has also earned a 99% Customer Satisfaction rating, unheard of in this industry. Critics are similarly questioning the wisdom of the Apple Watch.
Apple Watch represents the 2015 moment in time, “likely the beginning of the end of the traditional Watch for the 35 and over crowd” as many Apple iPhone owners switch to the iWatch for regular wear. For the Millennials, the Apple Watch will likely be their First Watch, as these 13-to-30 year olds largely do not wear Watches, noticing the time of day with their iPhones.
Apple Watch’s success is directly related to the percentage of Apple iPhone Users desire the added convenience of the Apple Watch. Keep in mind, Apple product owners have demonstrated, they are willing to pay the Premium Price for Apple’s superior products.
Pre-Orders for the Apple Watch begin April 10 in the United States, Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, United Kingdom. The Apple Watch will be available for preview, and try-on by appointment, at Apple’s retail stores, and available for preorder through the Apple Online Store.
Retail Store Sales for the Apple Watch begin on April 24. The Apple Watch will be available online or by reservation in Apple’s retail stores and select Apple Authorized Resellers in the United States, Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, United Kingdom.
Extensive Apple owner surveys tell us, iPhone 5 and iPhone 6 owners, about 220 million strong, about 10% to 15% are definitely interested in the Apple Watch within 90 days of its release. Those Surveyed as “definitely interested” in buying an Apple Watch in 90 days, translates into an Apple Watch sale, the simple math projects about 22 million to 33 million Apple Watch sales may result in the 12 month period from April 24, 2015.
This Link takes directly to the Apple Store: http://ift.tt/1lTSyVC
Apple Watch Magic. The AppleWatch pairs with your iPhone, so when messages, calls, texts, emails, tweets, FB posts, and calendar appointment reminders come to you, you will not have to dig in your purse, pocket or briefcase, for your iPhone. With the iWatch you simply rotate your wrist 30 degrees into your view, to glance at who’s attempting to communicating with you.
Apple Watch’s Simple gestures permits you to communicate, or take the phone call, if the call will likely be extended, now you know its worth the effort to get your iPhone in hand, and talk from it, the call being seamlessly captured by your iPhone.
Apple Watch App. The airline industry is delivering your Boarding Pass to your iWatch too. Fumbling for the iPhone or paper boarding passes to get through AirPort Security now becomes obsolete with Apple Watch. Same for Hotels, thousands are changing their room-lock-electronics to accept your iWatch to unlock your Hotel-Room, no more metal keys, the end of swiping plastic-coaded cards. The list goes on and on with Apple Watch.
To view the Apple Media Event that was broadcasted at 1:00pm Eastern on March 9th, 2015 below is a convenient LINK for this very interesting and informative Apple Products Show.
Notice the slides of the most recent, the 21st Apple retail store in China. Apple will be adding another 19 retail stores in china this year.
Apple opened its first retail store in Beijing China in 2008. The country has quickly become one of Apple’s most important retail markets, thanks to a growing middle class eager to own the company’s high-end iPhone smartphones, iPads and Mac Book computers. Recently reported China represents 20% of Apple retail sales globally, and Apple has earned a 25% market-share in SmartPhone sales.
Apple Orchestrates its worldwide Magazine Publicity debut of the Apple Watch. These efforts continue this week on the Cover of STYLE, a fashion magazine based in the United Kingdom. The cover image of Style’s Big Spring Issue for March, 2015 features model Guinevere Van Seenus wearing an Apple Watch and is accompanied by an additional two full-page spread inside the magazine that provides further details about the wrist-worn Apple Watch, including interesting hints about the pricing of the space gray models. Notice our list below of extensive guesstimates for all three tiers of the Apple Watch.
Apple’s March 9th Media Event may signal that the Apple Watch may be released sooner than later, perhaps earlier in April, say April 3rd, April’s first FRIDAY, perhaps the last portion of Match. You may recall we reported last year that Apple was “a month ahead of schedule in the Apple Watch development timeline“. Apple’s Spring Forward media event may signal that the Apple Watch may be available for on-line purchase, perhaps as early as mid-Match.
iF Announced at its International Forum Awards Gala in Munich, Apple Watch wins the coveted IF Gold Award for 2015. Overall, 1,124 products were granted an iF entry Label, only a few win the gold award for excellence in several categories.
The Apple Watch competed with over 3,200 other designs in the Product discipline, the largest iF award segment that covers a number of commercial industries, including vehicles, medical devices, smartphones, computers, tableware, kitchen equipment, furniture, bathroom products.
The IF Award Jury noted: “The idea of combining classic materials such as leather and metal with state-of-the-art technology to create a very individual fashion accessory has resulted in a delightful product offering a holistic user experience. The Apple Watch scores highly for each design detail and is an altogether extraordinary piece of design. For us, it is already an icon.”
While Apple has discussed Apple Watch design and keystone features at length, the company has not yet presented the full hardware specifications and pricing details, likely to be heard at Apple’s March 9 Media Event. In a recent report, analyst Gene Munster estimated mid-tier Apple Watch models will retail for $499 to $599, depending on customization options, while the high-end Apple Watch Edition could sell for $4,999.
Apple Watch Tier Graphic. Notice the graphic below where we have estimated the average spelling prices, APS, for the Apple Watch. Most of those reporting on this topic are in general agreement on the ASP price range for the Sports Watch ($350 to $400) and the Apple Watch, the middle tier’s ASP ($500 to $900) depending on the band.
Among Reporters, there is little consensus for the pricing on the Apple Watch Edition, the 18k Gold Apple Watch. The ASP estimates range from $2500 to $10,000. Of course these figures vary largely based on the assumed amount of Gold that is incorporated in the Apple Watch gold case. Our estimate is, there may be 37.5gm of 24k Gold, then combined with 12.5gm of other elements to formulate 50gm of 18k Yellow or Rose colored Gold.
24k Gold Bars trading today at $1200 per troy ounce, lets compute the ASP, average selling price, of the Apple Watch Edition
⌚️ GOLD $1450 of gold metal in the watch case; add to this
⌚️ S1 Watch Chip $200 Apple’s S1 electronics-watch-chip and battery
⌚️ Watch Bands $550 for watch bands and bracelets,
⌚️ $2,200 Total Cost direct costs for the Edition Watch
⌚️ $1,800 Operating expense Corporate expense allocation per unit
⌚️ $3,000 Profit component per unit assume reasonable margin
⌚️ $7,000 Average Selling Price yielding about a 43% profit margin, relatively Low-Level Margin for a premium Jewelry product.
⌚️ $6,500 Average Selling Price Note, if there is only One Troy ounce of Gold, rather than the 37.5gm of Gold, then the Edition Watch Gold may sell for $6,500.
Apple Watch S1 Computer Module. Apple’s ability to surround their (New) products, like the Apple Watch, with connectivity and its ecosystem, this Article provides some insight on the S1’s operation, plus several X-Ray views of the “Heart” of the iWatch.
Apple Watch’s brains and heart is located in its S1 Module, a “Computer Package” housed within a unique sealed Module. The S1 represents a new level of micro-miniaturization, packaging literally Billions of electronic components and sensors into a single semiconductor module, hermitically sealed in resin.
Apple S1 System in Package, SiP, processor, memory, wireless connectivity transceivers, sensors packaged into a single, resin-sealed package. The S1 package contains an Apple customized application processor that together with memory, storage and support processors for wireless connectivity, sensors and I/O comprise a complete computer in a single package.
Apple Watch S1 Package is filled and sealed with resin to prevent any moisture intrusion and for structural durability. Very little is known about the S1, however, Chipworks (an enterprise specializing in patent and technology reverse engineering and support) believes that it has identified the Processors, the WiFi, and Bluetooth transmitters-receivers, the medium sized processor in the center at the top of the images.
Since wristwatches were invented in the 19th century, people have been glancing at them to check the time. With Apple Watch, this simple, reflexive act allows you to learn so much more. We optimized your favorite apps for the wrist by developing Glances — scannable summaries of the information you seek out most frequently. To see them, you simply swipe up from your watch face. In an instant, you can glimpse the weather forecast, check out what’s next on your calendar, or find your current location on a map. You can quickly swipe through different Glances, or tap on one to go directly to its corresponding app for more details.
S1 Chip. Massive constraints have a way of inspiring interesting, creative solutions. A prime example is the custom-designed chip at the heart of Apple Watch. No traditional computer architecture could fit within such a confined space. So we found a way to integrate many subsystems into one remarkably compact module, which is then completely encapsulated in resin to protect the electronics from the elements, impact, and wear. Configuring an entire computer system on a single chip is an industry first and represents a singular feat of engineering and miniaturization
Because it’s connected to your iPhone, Apple Watch can present time in a more personal way. One that’s based around your life and schedule. You’ll receive real-time notifications for incoming mail, messages, and calls. So you can answer or dismiss them instantly. And since Apple Watch sits on your wrist, your alerts aren’t just immediate. They’re intimate. With a gentle tap, notifications subtly let you know when and where your next meeting starts, what current traffic conditions are like, even when to leave so you’ll arrive on time. At any point, you can simply swipe down to Notification Center to view what you may have missed.
Apple Watch Notifications. It’s called the Taptic Engine, a linear actuator inside Apple Watch that produces haptic feedback. In less technical terms, it taps you on the wrist. Whenever you receive an alert or notification, or perform a function like turning the Digital Crown or pressing down on the display, you feel a tactile sensation that’s recognizably different for each kind of interaction. Combined with subtle audio cues from the specially engineered speaker driver, the Taptic Engine creates a discreet, sophisticated, and nuanced experience by engaging more of your senses. It also enables some entirely new, intimate ways for you to communicate with other Apple Watch wearers. You can get someone’s attention with a gentle tap. Or even send something as personal as your heartbeat.
The wrist is a convenient area for collecting data about your physical activity, a task Apple Watch is designed to perform throughout the day. On the back of the case, a ceramic cover with sapphire lenses1 protects a specially designed sensor that uses infrared and visible-light LEDs and photodiodes to detect your heart rate. Apple Watch uses this sensor, along with an accelerometer and the GPS and Wi‑Fi in your iPhone, to measure all kinds of physical movement, from simply standing up to actively working out. This allows Apple Watch to provide a comprehensive picture of your daily activity, suggest customized goals, and reward you for reaching personal fitness milestones.
As familiar as wearing a watch is, charging one is something new. So we decided to make it utterly effortless. In fact, our goal was to make Apple Watch easy to charge in the dark. Without looking. While being only partially awake. We arrived at a solution that combines our MagSafe technology with inductive charging. It’s a completely sealed system free of exposed contacts. And it’s very forgiving, requiring no precise alignment. You simply hold the connector near the back of the watch, where magnets cause it to snap into place automatically.
Apple’s March 9th Media Event will describe how to use this new Wearable Companion product, the iWatch. Apple’s team will describe the iWatch Configuration App, housed in your iPhone via the release of iOS 8.3. The App delivers a unique Pathway App, to transfer your iWatch configuration seamlessly into your iWatch.
Apple is the Master of Marketing, the Company has proven this repeatedly dating back to January, 2007 with its introduction of the original iPhone. Besides, the event being named “Spring Forward” the event is the very next day when we all advanced our “Watches one hour Forward” for the beginning of Daylight Savings Time in North America.
Apple’s Spring Forward theme was recited in Apple’s formal invitation was sent Thursday morning, February 26, 2015 to the global Media community. Apple will present many details about how the iWatch will benefit its users. The presentation will likely show Apple’s new Companion Apple Configuration App, that makes it super-simple to set up the your Apple Watch, directly from your iPhone, plus topics were not fully covered at its initial announcement 5 months ago, following its mid-September Announcement of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.
Apple’s Spring Forward Preparation. If you’d like a “warm up exercise” in preparation of the Apple Watch media event, the link directly below this graphic, is a Video Clip of the Apple Announcement of the iWatch last September.
Apple first introduced the Apple Watch September, 2014, Apple delivered to us a “high-level” comprehensive overview at what the product will be able to do to improve our lives. We remain uninformed about many other specifics like battery life, pricing for the high-end and the other two-tiers of models.
This link will take you directly to Apple’s iWatch presentation that was delivered around the world September, 2014… it is definitely worth it to take a look:
Apple’s March 9th Media Event may also Announce other New Products, for example the iPad Pro, a large display 12.9″ iPad with enhanced specifications, Speed, RAM, etc., that has been rumored for several years. Perhaps Apple may announce a new version of its Apple TV, which is years overdue for revision. My understanding, there are over 20 million Apple TV boxes in circulation.
Apple’s March 9th Media Event will undoubtedly describe how we will be able to use this new Wearable Companion product, the iWatch. Plus Apple will describe the iWatch Configuration App, loaded into your iPhone via the release of iOS 8.3, that delivers a unique Pathway App {transferring information and configurations from your iPhone directly to your iWatch} utilizing a menu-driven system to Transfer all your Watch Settings and Notifications seamlessly into your iWatch.
Apples March 9th Media Event will provide Live-Streaming Video Broadcast World Wide to all Apple folks or anyone that has a Safari browser on their PC computer systems, plus all iPhones and iPads, the simple hardware-software criteria that Apple has used for us to qualify for the Live-Streaming Broadcasts. Having watched a number of Apple’s Live Streamed broadcasts, they are very professionally produced and scripted. In My Humble Opinion, Apple will open its Live-Streaming Media Event to hundreds of millions of iPhone, iPad, MAC and PC users, many of which are iWatch interested.
Apple’s Live Streaming : Spring Forward Media Event. The Link below will be activated about 30 minutes before the Live-Streaming Presentation is broadcasted everywhere at 1:00pm Eastern, Monday March 9, 2015. Note, If you click onto the Link before March 9th, it will likely not have been activated until “Game Day.”.
iWatch’s Introduction and Demo. Apple announced September 9, 2014 the highly anticipated iPhone 6 at its Major press conference at the Flint Center, Cupertino, California. The Video Link below takes you directly to the iWatch segment of the Program, which announced the iWatch and gives a demonstration of its use and settings. The video is inspirational, as it shows how Apple, the Nation’s Largest Company develops and announces this new innovative and reinvention of the Watch, a device that has been with civilization since the year 1530 AD.
Apple weeks ago commenced production of 6 Million Apple Watch Units representing its Initial Quarterly Order.
Apple projects internally sales of 24 million iWatches in the first fiscal-year of sales beginning April, 2015, as stated in news reports, which Apple has not confirmed. Several other analysts project 36 million Apple Watches and more, in the first fiscal-year of sales.
Apple in my opinion, is likely not in a hurry for an early April release date, as Apple surely wants to “iron out all the wrinkles” associated with a new-product release; however, maintain an “April Release” as published. Also when considering the Apple Watch release date, towards the end of April, Apple holds its Quarterly Financial report at 5pm following the 4pm public filing of Apple’s 2015 Q2.
Apple Watch is the only NEW product-release, since the unveiling of the iPad at a Press-Event held January 27, 2010 and subsequently released on April 30, 2010 with built-in Cellular+WiFi connectivity, two weeks earlier the WiFi iPad was available to the public.
CEO, Tim Cook surely desires to hold the Apple Watch high in the air, with all of the software, hardware, App, and iOS system issues rendered as glitch-free as possible. If Apple needs a week or more to polish the edges, the Apple Watch may be released to the Public towards the end of April, like on Friday 24th.
Apple Watch early adopters, the Apple Loyalists, must be Impressed with this unique Wearable iWatch, its Easy set-up, Ease of use, Battery life, Connectivity to everything iPhone/iPad. If accomplished, the major issues the media-critics have been whining about, mostly focused on its battery life, should be silenced early on.
Emergence of early issues may severely hamper accelerated adoption by the folks; Except, yours truly as I’ll be literally on line early morning, at Apple’s Retail Store at the Boca Raton Town Center Mall. Presently I’m focusing on the Apple Watch mid-tier model, the Dark Stainless Steel Bracelet or the Milanese Loop
Unless you’ve just returned from a extended vacation on planet SATURN, you may know the Apple Watch is coming very soon. iWatch is scheduled to be released in April, 2015. April 3rd, is the earliest Friday in April, only 36 days from today, February 26th. Many have asked us, will there be a Pre-Release Media event, (say Tuesday March 24th) 9 days before THE Release of iWatch Inventory to Apple’s retail stores? News reports have been accelerating as the release date becomes closer to realty. The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Bloomfield and other journalists, have been discussed the new Apple Watch line-up.
Uncommon with a NEW Apple product release are the hoards of media-critics, claiming the uselessness of this new product. The Apple Watch is a unique New Product, as compared to a new Iteration of an existing product, like iPhone 5 to iPhone 6.
Historically, the Original iPhone was announced at Apple’s Maxworld Expo held January 9, 2007 annual event the media soon after slammed Apple for getting into a venue (cellular phones) it knew absolutely nothing about, considering there was already a very crowded field of experienced Mobile Phones makers.
The Same choir of critics reported that Apple’s NEW iPad was “nothing new and if Apple’s lucky, maybe 6 million units would be sold” in its first year. Since the initial iPhone in 2007 there have been over a Billion iOS devices sold and in circulation, half of which are iPhones, Apple selling into a very crowded field of smartphone makers.
Recent articles discussing Apple’s iWatch endeavor has given me motivation to take harder look towards generating some reasonable expectations that we formulated for the three-tiered AppleWatch lineup; We’re assuming Apple will fabricate and sell 24 million iWatches for the initial 12 month sales period, plus Apple’s disclosure of the $350 Sports Watch entry-price point.
All the statistics have been projected by us internally, with no knowledge of what Apple has actually projected. Several facts have been released to the public that we’ve used in our presentation: (1) there will be a 3-tiered iWatch model lineup, (2) the Sports Watch will retail for $350, and (3) all else is our conjecture.
Apple Watch Economic Model. The statistical-chart below displays what we believe are “realistic” sales goals, perhaps conservatively, with price-traunches for the three tiered line-up, Sports, Apple Watch, Apple Edition, metaled Aluminum Alloy, Stainless Steel, and 18k Gold respectively.
iWatch [Gold] Edition is the top-tier version of the AppleWatch. Its been estimated that the Edition Apple Watch may retail for an estimated $4500. Sounds like a lot of money. Although Apple chose to leave the word “Gold” out of the Top Tier Title, Apple Edition, gold is in fact the watch-body metal; Note, presently Gold’s raw-material cost is hovering around $1200 per troy ounce, gold watches are “pricey” regardless of who designs and makes them, irrespective of the internal electronics package or electro-mechanical movement.
Apply is now Buying massive quantities of 24k Gold bullion, but that’s just the beginning. Roughly 14.46 Million troy ounces of 24k Gold bullion that are purchased by Apple per year (assuming our guesstimates are close) must be Certified by Apple Metallurgists when delivered, for elemental AU Purity and Weight. These two steps are very complex and require significant Oversight by agents of the bullion-supplier and Apple. Dealing with the payments and receipts of $18 Billion as Apple pays for the gold bullion is quite complex.
Post Certification of Millions of Pounds of Gold Bullion, it passes to the secure Fabrication Plant, carefully measured batches of the Bullion are heated to 2,000ºF in special Gold Furnaces, then Apple Metallurgists mix the molten gold with other specially purified metal ingredients resulting in several unique specialty 18k Gold formulations, then poured into Apple Watch cast-forms, cooled, then the iWatch Gold-Blanks are removed from the forms and inspected, those that pass through quality control are machined and polished, for further assembly. The gold-blanks that are rejected, and foundry castings are not 100%, go back to the Furnaces to be repoured.
This scenario is highly simplified, but gives you a notion of the complexity of the process. As about $18 Billion of gold bullion is involved, significant added costs are incurred for Plant Security, armed security guards, “security watching the valuables and each other, throughout all these processes.
Apple is processing this gold presently in effort for their April 2015 release to their retail stores for sale. Apple is also presently installing into the Common Carriers, Apple Distribution Centers, and Apple Retail Stores, specially designed VAULTS and ALARM Systems to protect the Apple Watch Boxed Inventory.
Apple Watch Edition, Lets take the iWatch apart piece-by-piece, financially speaking. Let’s assume that the Edition Watch may contain 37.5gm of 24k Gold and the Apple Watch electronics module is the same module used universally with all three of the AppleWatch tiers.
Apple Watch Financial Array. The bullet-points below display the cost analysis for the Apple Watch [gold] Edition, all Edition iWatches are gold cased watches.
Current Spot-Gold price. Assuming the iWatch pure-gold content is 37.5gm of gold watch-case (our guesstimate) when formulated to 18k gold metal-alloy. If Apple’s Gold Alloy procedure starts with 37.5gm of 24k Gold, as 24k gold metal is fabricated into 18k Gold by adding presumably precise amounts of Silver, Copper and Zinc, therefore watch-case (without internals) would then weigh 50gm, due to the additional 12.5gm of Apple’s unique mix of metals, blended in its Alloy-Furnaces. FYI, currently (as of 2/27/2015) spot-gold is hovering between $1204 to $1219 per troy ounce. Recall the under-side of the iWatch is stainless-steel which seals the watch-cased Computer module, Lithium Polymer battery, and houses 4 biometric sensor components.
Apple with its team of the best Metallurgists on the planet, have developed several unique 18k Gold formulations that delivers 18k Gold Alloys with custom Colors offering greater Gold hardness and durability unique to Apple. Typically 18k Gold is “softer” making it more prone to scratching and scuffing, showing greater signs of wear, than with traditional 14k Gold alloy formulations.
The Most Common 18k Gold Colors and Formulations are Displayed in this article with graphics and charts showing. The common alloys of elemental Gold, Silver, Copper, and Zinc in various levels of concentrations. Notice in the 12 Gold Colors Chart, Yellow Gold contains Gold, Silver, Copper, and Zinc with Gold representing 75% of the Alloy. To produce Rose colored Gold, the formulation contains only three elements: Gold, Silver, and Copper, removing Zinc. It will be very interesting to know the precise Formulation of Elements Apple’s team of metallurgists have chosen to create its unique Colors and Hardness, never seen before in the Gold Industry.
Apple is Reinventing the Watch. One should not be surprised that when Apple committed to a Watch-Wearable product, again Apple is REINVENTING the business of Gold Wearable Watches. From the images that Apple has displayed, and as presented in this article, Apple has created several striking 18k Gold Colors never seen in the industry. My bet is the brilliance of the gold colors is not simply a photoshop magic act, their unique Gold colors will be even more striking up close and personal, when the buying public visualized the Apple Watch in their Retail Stores.
As a reference, a typical ROLEX watch and bracelet uses 150gm of Gold; however, the gold is contained in the base Watch plus its hefty Bracelet. The Rolex bracelet accounts for a significant portion of the total gold metal package.
Apple Watch Computer module $200, the same module in all Apple Watches
Apple Watch Edition’s gold uses 37.5gm 24k Gold valued at $1500 for an 18k Gold formulation, presently spot-gold is $1205/gm [math: (37.5/31.1) x $1205 = $1500 the cost of the gold component]
Apple Watch Form, Jewlers add “Form” value to the price of its jewelry creations, say $2300
Apple Edition Band, say $500
Apple Watch Edition retail price = $4500 (math: $200 + $1500 + $150 + $2300 + $500)
Specifically, people in the supply-line familiar with this topic claim Apple has commenced production of about 6 million Apple Watches many weeks ago, for the iWatch’s first quarterly production-run; just over half of the production is earmarked for the Sport model, with a third of the production-run allocated for the middle-segment stainless-steel Apple Watch, with the balance is the Top-Tier Edition production, about 10% for the Apple Watch [Gold] Edition models.
Apple Watch Edition impact on Global Gold Supply. One more thing, lets have some fun in determining what Apple Watch Edition sales may have on the World’s supply for gold. Here are some givens to consider
Apple Watch facts and conversion factors: there are 31.1gm in 1.00 Troy Ounce, there are 32,150.75 Troy ounces in one Metric Ton, Global production of Gold is 2500 Metric Tons annually, spot-gold price currently hovering around $1205 per troy ounce
Apple is currently produce 500,000 gold Edition Apple Watch units as its initial quarterly production-run
Apple Watch Edition ramps up production to 1 million Apple Watch units monthly [or more] as demand dictates
Apple Watch Edition requires 37.5gm of pure 24k Gold for each iWatch, guesstimated
Apple Watch Edition utilized 1.2058 Troy ounces of Gold per Apple Watch Edition, extrapolation of a guesstimate
Apple Watch Edition will consume 14,469,453 troy ounces of Gold in its First fiscal Year of production, equating to 450 Metric Tons of 24k Gold/Yr, which equates to over 5x Rolex’s current Gold consumption
Apple will Buy $18.086 Billion per Year for 24k Gold Bullion to built its Gold Edition Watches, base on current assumptions and spot-gold prices
Apple Edition Watch Gold will place a New Demand for 20% of the total annual global Gold production
Reference #1. Rolex sells $4.7 billion in gold watches yearly, from an estimated 600,000 Rolex watch sales. Rolex watches average 150gm or 4.82 troy ounces of Gold per watch, equating to 2.894 million troy ounces, or 90 Metric Tons Gold/annually
Reference #2. Federal Reserve Bank of New York stores on average 7,000 metric tons of Gold Bullion in its Manhattan vault.
By Mid-April, 2015, we are expecting over 50,000 Apple Watch Apps on the AppStore. Currently, for an average iPhone user there are 65 Apps per iPhone. We currently have 418 Apps on my iPhone 6 Plus and 300 Apps on Marilyn’s iPhone 6 Plus. We are estimating that an average Apple Watch may have 75 Apps per Apple Watch. There may likely be no single killer app for Apple Watch when the iWatch is released (other than the iWatch Configuration App) as each user will have their “own set of Killer Apps.” One way to look at this new “Wearable” is that the consumer is getting 75 different devices housed in one Apple Watch. Several Analysts are projecting that Apple may sell over 40 million Apple Watches in 1st the year, which is a very high estimate but not totally out of line with other estimates we’ve heard.
Many of the Apple Watch details are still unconfirmed, typical for Apple product releases, most notably the three-tired segment pricing, Apple Watch may be the revenue growth driver Apple needs for this April-Quarter, typically a relatively modest earnings period.
Apple’s Sports Watch is configured with an satin Aluminum case with a variety of elastomer sports water resistant bands. The Apple Watch is housed in highly polished hardened Stainless Steel with two colors, with a number of elegant bracelets. For the fashion minded, the Apple Watch Edition is encased in a highly polished and hardened Gold case accompanied with appealing bracelets. If our guesstimates are correct, this new Wearable product-line may have significant implications for year-over-year revenue growth at the company.
If the last eight quarterly financial reports are an indication, Apple may benefit handsomely with this mid-year revenue accelerator. The first fiscal-quarter (Apple’s fourth calendar quarter) is where Apple has really outperformed, growing revenue nearly 30% year-over-year.
Led by the newest iterations of its iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, most notably Apple smashed all expectations and accordingly propelled the $AAPL stock to all-time highs, with no end in sight. Not to mention that many of the largest Investment Banking firms’ analysts increasing the Target Pricing to $150/share and seemingly other analysts concurring with increased share target pricing.
Apple’s mid-year quarterly performance are generally less impressive then Apple’s first quarter results. And while it is important to note that 5% to 6% year-over-year growth is still amazing for a huge company pushing nearly $200 billion in revenues, with an Apple Watch earnings injection during the seasonally slower quarters should be an additional catalyst for Apple’s stock trading prices.
As you may know, one of the Apple “low” growth quarters is the third fiscal quarter, that typically starts April 1st. With an iWatch April release date expected, the Apple Watch may be most felt during this quarter. Assuming forecasts are close to reality, Apple generally errs on the conservative side with their projections. The Apple Watch may add roughly 16.8% growth to the quarter year-over-year, considering all other product sales factors constant. However, being rather bullish on the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, these “slower” seasonal quarters may be “not so slow” as usually expected by the “talking heads.”
The Big Question: Which Watch is for You? With the start of the New Year the specialty Watch Makers like Montblanc, Longines, Baume & Mercier, and others announce and display their new creations to the public.
Watches – Which is Best for You Comparing a robust “mans” chronograph with a modern gold iWatch with a red-band is eye catching, the primary purpose. However, when one acquires Mechanical-Chronographs with Complications in its Face, other than the watch-band, your use and visuals are Fixed. With iWatch other than your choice of the Gold, Stainless, or Aluminum alloy case, all else may be changed including the bands.
With the iWatch, Fixed only applies to your choice of how tall the watch body is, either 38mm or 42mm, and your choice of metal, Gold, Stainless, or Aluminum… all else you may change. The Watch Face may look anyway you desire, with Complications or not, thousands of possibilities, that you may change anytime. Directly under iWatch’s highly polished scratch-proof Sapphire Crystal, is a brilliant OLEM retina touch-display.
iWatch Face may display whatever information you desire, Day, Date, Graphics, Animations, iMessages, eMail, Weather, your next Calendar event, an incoming Call or Text, the position of Planet Earth in its solar system, your Heart rate, your Friend’s Heart Rate, anything or everything you desire, including the local Time. Want the Second-Hand on an analog face, turn it on or off. Want Digital or Analog time display, Want the Day/Date, turn these on or off, as you desire. Bands and Materials may be easily changed, choose from Leather bands, Stainless, Links, Sports elastomer Bands, however your use and venue dictates. Have a sports band for daily use, and have a elegant band for evening wear. You may easily change the iWatch Band, with no tools whatsoever.
iWatch Graphics. These two graphics shows the 42mm and 38mm iWatch faces and an overlay. The 38mm iWatch face graphic has an Overlay (the blue left and bottom edges) highlighting the 42mm iWatch face to show the size comparisons.
iWatch’s Introduction and Demo. Apple announced September 9, 2014 the highly anticipated iPhone 6 at its Major press conference at the Flint Center, Cupertino, California. After completing the iPhone 6 announcement, Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook mentioned just “One more thing…” a famous Steve Jobs saying, and went on to Announce the Apple Watch. This Video Link takes you directly to the iWatch segment of the Program, which announces the iWatch and gives a demonstration of its use and settings. The video is inspirational, as it shows how Apple, the Nation’s Largest Company develops and announces a new innovative reinvention of the Watch, a device that has been with civilization since the year 1530 AD.
Apple Watch certainly is not intended for everyone, neither is the Montblanc, a more limited audience for sure. Lets face it, “old fashioned electro-mechanical” wrist watches have an appeal to more mature affluent audiences, while possess “retro attraction” to the yuppie millennials. However, these classic mechanicals may be 42mm in diameter by 12mm, fragile, relatively expensive, and many amazingly keep terrible time. The iWatch has a 42mm face that rests 12mm on your wrist, and a second iWatch model of 38mm.
Apple Watch embodies many interesting aspects, as under its highly polished Sapphire Crystal is a brilliant OLED very high resolution “retina” touch-screen, that may Display hundreds of possible iWatch Faces. I’m imagining that the iWatch face is a rounded-rectangular shape so that the four-corners may house miniature Informative-Icons, or other Graphic Signals, or not.
Apple Watch’s Display is Strategic, meaning that with careful software graphics capabilities, one may design a “Perpetual Calendar Chronograph” digital iWatch face with unlimited complications, being mindful not to make it too confusing. On the other hand, one may choose an uncluttered iWatch face, or something in between, all user selectable.
🍎⌚️ Apple Engineers Completing iWatch Software. Apple has ceded the 4th beta of its iOS8.2 software today, largely dealing with the iWatch interface and its connectivity with iPhones. Apple is finishing up work on the Apple Watch’s complex iOS operating system software.
🍎⌚️ Sources familiar with iWatch development say the Apple Watch is currently ahead of schedule and on track to ship in the United States in March according to 9to5MAC, who has a very good track record and sources, in predicting product releases. Apple previously stated that the wearable product will ship in “early 2015” certainly not a very precise phrase.
🍎⌚️ Apple Watch engineers have been “polishing up” the iWatch iOS operating system and putting the device’s Battery through very extensive testing. Apple engineers have also been “working overtime to improve the inductive charging system necessary for “contact-less” charging-up the device’s internal Lithium Polymer, LiON battery each night.” Tim Cook stated during an October 2014 press event that: “We think you’re going to end up charging the Apple Watch daily. Overnight, that’s what we think.”
iWatch Show-Floor DemoThis link shows an on-floor Apple-Show 5 minute raw employee-demo of the use and settings of the iWatch: http://ift.tt/1qg8K4j.
🍎⌚️ iWatch Survey. Notice the Graph above drawn from the statistics from a recent extensive survey (conducted by finance company Credit Suisse) of current iPhone owners approximately
⌚️ 18% of iPhone Owners will Definitely Buy iWatch
⌚️ 10% of iPhone Owners will Probably Buy iWatch
⌚️ 27% of iPhone Owners will May Buy iWatch
⌚️ 27% of iPhone Owners will Probably Not Buy iWatch
⌚️ 18% of iPhone Owners will Definitely Not Buy iWatch
⌚️ 100% of iPhone Owners that are Considering the Purchase of the iWatch
🍎⌚️ iWatch Survey Extrapolation Assumptions . Lets extrapolate these statistics further. For the 10% of those stating they will Probably Buy, what portion of this group will actually buy, lets estimate that if 1000 people in the Apple Store stated they Probably will buy, lets say 500 of the 1000, about 1/2 of this group, will actually buy the iWatch; Similarly, For the 27% of those stating they will May Buy, what portion of this group will actually buy; lets estimate that if 2700 people in the Apple Store stated they are Maybe Buyers, lets say 700 of the 2700, about 1/4th of this group will actually buy the iWatch.
🍎⌚️ iWatch Survey Extrapolation. Using the logic and assumptions above, lets restate three of the above groups of Likely Buyers, Probable Buyers, and Maybe Buyers, into a Single grouping of what we’ll call “Very Likely” Buyers
⌚️ 18% of iPhone Owners that stated they’d Definitely Buy, will actually Buy iWatch
⌚️ 5% of iPhone Owners that stated they’d Probably Buy, will actually Buy iWatch
⌚️ 7% of iPhone Owners that stated they May Buy, will actually Buy iWatch
⌚️ 30% of iPhone Owners therefore are “Very Likely” Buyers of the iWatch
🍎⌚️ Your Wait for Apple Watch may be over… sooner than you may have thought. According to news reports, Apple Watch iOS version software has been finalized. Apple is preparing a massive training session for Apple Store employees. The Apple Watch wearable device is on track for a March 2015 release timeframe, although no specific date is available. These news reports trim the previous timeline quite a bit. Fairly soon you may see long lines forming outside at an Apple Store in your neighborhood. I witnessed the unruly lines at 2am outside Apple’s Boca Raton store for the iPhone 6 Friday morning release, September 19, 2014.
🍎⌚️ Apple Watch wearable device is on track for March, 2015 release, although no more detail on a specific release date is currently known. These news reports trim the timeline, and provide more precision on the iWatch release, then you’ll see the long lines forming at an Apple Store in your neighborhood. Prior to this News, Apple stated an imprecise phrase “Early 2015” as the iWatch release schedule. Another Senior Corporate spokesperson was even more vague stating a “Spring 2015” iWatch release schedule. Take a moment to view these beautifully produced Apple Watch videos.
🍎⌚️ Apple Watch Production will begin this month, January, 2015, whereas the iWatch was once scheduled to be rolling off Apple contracted lines in February.
🍎⌚️ Apple Watch Production Orders. Apple has reportedly ordered 24 million iWatches from their contracted supplier, Quanta. In response to this relatively strong initial production order, Quanta has increased its workforce five-fold, increasing it from 2,000 workers to 10,000 workers. It’s expected that Quanta will then double again its workforce to 20,000 as the Apple Watch develops its sales momentum as 2015 progresses.
🍎⌚️ Apple Watch 24 million unit Initial Production Order. One may consider a 24 million initial order seemingly aggressive; However, if recent polling is correct, 24 million iWatches may be on the mark or somewhat conservative. Current polling indicates that about 10% of iPhone users are actually “Very Likely” to buy the Apple Watch; Combine this 10% in the “Very Likely” Group, with an even larger group of iWatch iFolks, that say they are “Somewhat Likely” may increase the total “Likely Buyers Group” by another 5%. If predictive of actual demand, this trend will stress the supply-line for the 24 million iWatch initial production order.
🍎⌚️ Apple Watch Time will Tell, this high level of predictive demand may give the impression of production constraints, although, having the effect of keeping iWatch stocks flowing out of Apple retail stores, as fast as inventory arrives. Our guess, for the initial 12 months that iWatch is available, there may be some 30 million to 38 million iWatches sold.
🍎⌚️ Think about it. IMHO, Apple “pre Announced” the Apple Watch in September last year for multiple purposes
(🍎) Apple Defines this new product’s concepts early, rather than the rumor-mills and leaks
(🍎🍎) Provides sufficient time for the market-place, the iPhone folks to digest this entirely new product concepts
(🍎🍎🍎) Six months of assimilation, the iWatch pre-announcement to its formal release, gives everyone time to imagine having this unique Wearable, a marketing marvel by Apple.
🍎⌚️ History of 2007 iPhone. Recall Eight years ago, on Jan. 9, 2007, Steve Jobs on stage during Apple’s annual Macworld conference, announced Apple’s very first iPhone. Starting off with the words “We’re gonna make some history today” Apple’s cofounder Steve Jobs tricked the audience by claiming he was going to introduce three new products: an iPod with touch controls, a mobile phone and an Internet communications device, knowing that all three components were built into Apple’s newly Announced iPhone.
🍎⌚️ First iPhone Announcement. Similarly, when the Original iPhone was Announced January 9, 2007, 6 months later its was Release on June 29, 2007. This 6 months duration gave the World, the Market, the Apple Analysts, and Clients an “assimilation” period to digest The New iPhone Concept.
🎬 http://tiny.cc/qe68rx The iWatch presentation given September, 2014 is presently being “assimilated” just as the iPhone was exactly 8 years Ago, January 9, 2007 at its announcement. Presently, Apple has sold more than 530,000,000 iPhones, and is expected to sell some 220,000,000 iPhones this year.
🎬 http://tiny.cc/cd48rx The First iPhone, 8 years ago (21m:15s into the Macworld Keynote speech delivered by Steve Jobs the iPhone is Reinvented).
🎬 http://tiny.cc/zx48rx. The First iPad was Reinvented on April 3, 2010. In sum there are over 750,000,000 iPhones and iPads in circulation, by year-end 1,000,000,000 iDevices enhancing peoples lives.
🍎⌚️ Apple Watch 24 million Production Schedule. The News Reports do not specifically outline the reasons for Apple moving iWatch production up; However, there were vague references that “production yield issues” have been resolved. This could be referring to either the LiON Battery, Sapphire Crystal, the Touch Display, or a mix of the three. If the iWatch is as popular as we think it will be, Apple will need as much of a production head-start as they can.
🍎⌚️ Apple Watch Display. The centerpiece of the Apple Watch is an bright AMOLED display (newly designed for Apple) that is estimated to be more costly than traditional LCD screens Apple uses in its iPhones and iPads, which are not AMOLED displays. According to Taiwan’s Apple Daily, the alleged terms of the Quanta deal limit Quanta from partnering with any competing device makers building wearable electronics. This News Report aligns with earlier rumors suggesting that Quanta had secured “exclusive manufacturing rights” for the Apple Watch, although some reporters are suggesting that Foxconn and Inventec may “muscle their way” into the iWatches’ supply chain.
🍎⌚️ Apple Watch Associate Training. iWatch training courses will commence February 9th through February 16th. The core training will take place at Apple’s Cupertino headquarters and a satellite office in Austin, Texas. Direct training will be given to one or two representatives from each of the 263 USA Apple Stores. At the completion of the iWatch Training, the Store Associates are then tasked to return to their Apple store, to train the Store sales staff. Apple has currently 444 retail stores operating in 16 countries, including 263 in the USA, plus an online store available in 39 countries.
🍎⌚️ Apple Watch Training is said to commence in early February; however, the Apple Watch release date is set for March. According to news reports, those who completed Direct Corporate Headquarters training will thereafter be training their Home-Based Apple store staff. This follow-up training will occur in the days just before the Apple Watch release Event. Apparently since Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, told the pre-release iWatch story at the announcement of the iPhone 6 in September, 2014, Apple is not concerned with pre-release leaks from its 30,000 retail store associates.
🍎⌚️ iWatch, Apple Watch is the most personal iDevice ever. Apple’s goal has always been to make powerful technology more accessible, more relevant and ultimately more personal.
🍎⌚️ Apple Watch represents a new chapter in the relationship people have with technology. It’s the most personal product Apple has ever made, because it’s the first Apple product to be worn.
🍎⌚️ Apple Watch. Apple took a very unusual step in pre-announcing an entirely new Product Category BEFORE it was ready for release. Granted, Apple announces its iPhones, iPads, MacBooks before actual product release; however, for these MAC and iDevices, there was a 7 to 11 day period one waited for delivery of the New product released. In contrast Apple “Announced” the AppleWatch in late September, 2014 concurrently with its iPhone 6 announcement; however, Apple indicated then, that the iWatch would be Available in “early 2015.”
🍎⌚️ Apple will release iWatch in Early 2015. I can imagine Five vocabulary words for defining “when” in 2015 other than mentioning a chosen Calendar Quarter or a particular Month. Apple could have used these Four phrases: Beginning, Early, Middle, Late 2015. Late 2015 could mean November-December 2015, Middle could indicate May-June-July 2015.
🍎⌚️ What does “Early 2015″ tell us? Since Apple chose not to use a particular Month like January 2015, January likely not what Apple had in mind. However, “Early, 2015″ could mean either February, March, or April. Lets Add one more factor. Apple’s reports its financial results on a fiscal basis, where its 1st fiscal Quarter is defined as December 1st through February 28. Since the iPhone 6 is selling strongly, perhaps Apple desires the AppleWatch to make its Sales-Splash beginning in March of 2015 the start of Apple’s 2nd fiscal quarter.
🍎⌚️ Apple – One thing I have learned about Apple… “Apple does everything on purpose, with all aspects thoroughly thought out.”
🍎⌚️ Apple is Driven culturally to deliver. Apple is proud and patient with all product releases by “getting it right” technology-wise, market-wise, and timing-wise, getting most of the bugs out before the public see it, and before its critics see it. Apple may also desire to give its stable of independent developers, some time for iWatch Application (App) Development. Apple may desire the “kick off” the iWatch in its 2nd fiscal quarter of 2015.
🍎⌚️ Apple prefers to release new products on Friday for a Three-Day, Friday-Saturday-Sunday “weekend” sales splash. Looking at our Calendar, February 27, 28, March 1st, is the first weekend containing a March date; however, March 6, 7 and 8 is the first all March Weekend.
🍎⌚️ Apple Factoid to Consider. Apple is somewhat constrained in the fabrication of the Sapphire Crystals used on the WATCH and its WATCH EDITION product lines (the Sports models have hardened glass crystals not sapphire), Apple may be scheduling the Apple Watch in March giving sufficient time to build up a reasonable inventory of all the iWatch models. Its illogical for Apple to create huge anticipation, and not have a reasonable inventory of iWatch models to satisfy its Loyal Following.
🍎⌚️ Apple Watch Release Date: March 6, 7, 8, 2015, total conjecture though, as we have NO internal sources whatsoever.
🍎⌚️ Mobile Phones. The iPhone is mentioned in this article, as the adoption of the iWatch may follow the adoption-history of the iPhone. Apple reinvented the mobile phone with their first iPhone in 2007, 30 years after Motorola literally “invented” their very popular, however, expensive Star•TAC 8500XL. I bought this Motorola “Brick” 30 years ago for $4200 in 1985, weighing in at 28oz. I retained it as a souvenir of the times, then the most portable cellular phone.
🍎⌚️ 30 Million to 38 Million iWatch customers may be “voting” with their Wallets in its first 12 months of availability. Lets see how we get to these numbers. Looking at Apple’s iPhone sales history, it showed an adoption rate of 11 million iPhones in its 1st fiscal year (21 million in the 2nd fiscal year, 39 million in year 3, 72 million in year 4, 125 million units sold in the 5th year of the iPhone). Our guess is the adoption rate of the AppleWatch may follow the growth rate history of the iPhone, as both devices (iPhone and iWatch) were totally new Apple products.
🍎⌚️ iPhones are currently selling at 72 million units per quarter, capturing 51.3% of all global smartphone activations, 3 Times that of Samsung’s. With about 469 million iPhones currently in circulation, if 6.5% iPhone users adopt the iWatch, this may yield about 30 million iWatch 1st year sales, then say 60 million 2nd year sales, 120 million 3rd year sales… this are our guesstimates.
🍎⌚️ AppleWatch Likely Buyers. A recent survey by Quartz (QZ.com) shows that about 14% of iPhone Owners who indicated that they are either Very Likely, Likely and Somewhat Likely to buy the new iWatch this year; however, some 86% are not interested in adopting for the iWatch in 2015. The Quartz Survey chart is displayed for your review. Lets use this 14% extrapolation.
🍎⌚️ Apple’s recent Annual Report, iPhone Sales represents about $101.9 Billion in iPhone Sales, for 169.2 Million iPhone unit sales, amounts to an average iPhone sales price of $602.72/unit. If in fact for the first 12 months of iWatch sales, 14% of iPhone owners buy the AppleWatch, then about 23 million iWatches may be purchased.
🍎⌚️ 469,000 iPhones reportedly are in Circulation, remove the 169 million iPhones sold last year, lets consider the remaining 300 million iPhone owners that purchased iPhones in years before 2014. Lets assume just 5% of those remaining iPhone owners buy the iWatch, this would add 15 million of possible iWatch buyers. Combine these two assumptions 23 million + 15 million = 38 million iWatch sales may occur in the first 12 months of AppleWatch sales.
🍎⌚️ Apple’s creation of the iPhone seven years ago, Apple literally reinvented the mobile cellular phone, into a very crowded market; However Apple literally changed the Mobile Phone into a “SmartPhone” weighing in at 6oz and sized at 0.46″x2.4″x4.5″ that continues to be improved and enhanced, today with their iPhone 6 sized at 0.27″x2.6″x5.4″ and 6 Plus sized at 0.28″x3.1″x6.2″.
🍎 Today, January 9th is the 8th Anniversary for the First iPhone. This was a great Day for Apple and an incredible Proud Day for Steve Jobs!
🍎 See the First Look at the iPhone, 8 years ago: <u http://tiny.cc/jsl7rx (21m:50s into the Keynote speech delivered by Steve Jobs as the very First iPhone is Announced)
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🍎 iWatch 🍎 Apple Watch – Apple’s Entry into Electronic Wearables
🍎⌚️ Mobile Phones. 22 years after the Motorola 8500XL known as “the Brick”, Apple reinvented the mobile phone with their first iPhone in 2007, which was so much more than a mobile phone, literally a “smartphone” weighing in at 6oz and about 1/4″ thin, 2.5″x0.26″x4.0″ that Apple continues to enhanced with the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.
🍎⌚️ Apple’s critics reported that Apple has no business getting into the mature field of experienced mobile phone makers.
🍎⌚️ In 7 years Apple has delivered 500,000,000 premium priced iPhones, and are now selling iPhone 6 and 6+ at a pace well over 200,000,000 yearly. Not a typo, Apple is currently selling premium iPhones at a pace of 72 million units reportedly per calendar quarter with a profit margin over 30%. Its been also been reported that, based on actual cellular activations, iPhone 6 models were 51.3% of all global smartphone sales in December, 2014, outselling Samsung 3-to-1. Marilyn and I each own the iPhone 6 Plus and love them.
🍎⌚️ Tablets. Similarly, tablets were available several years before Apple reinvented it with the iPad in 2010. Apple carefully examined how Apple could develop such a device that folks would really want and use. Apple’s critics again reported that Apple was waisting their energies on tablets into such a mature tablet-marketplace, where Apple would be lucky of it could sell 5 million units in a good year.
🍎⌚️ The market place “voted” with their Wallets as iPads are selling at a clip 60 million units yearly with over 250 million in use today. Marilyn has the iPad mini, fits perfectly in here handbag, and I have the iPad Air 2, fits perfectly into my nifty DECODED black leather case.
🍎⌚️ 30,000,000 iWatch sales may “vote” their Wallets in 2015. Looking at Apple’s iPhone sales history, they show an adoption rate of 11 million units in its 1st fiscal year (21 million 2nd fiscal year, 39 million 3rd year, 72 million 4th year, 125 million 5th year) compared to current iPhone sales of 72 million units per quarter. With about 450 million iPhones currently in circulation, if 6.5% iPhone users adopt the iWatch, this may yield about 30 million iWatch 1st year sales, then 60 million 2nd year sales, 120 million 3rd year sales, your guess thereafter…
🍎⌚️ Watch. Some Watch history. The watch which was developed in the 16th century (circa 1530) was a mechanical device, powered by winding a mainspring which turned gears which moved the hands, and kept time with a rotating balance wheel. Most of the subsequent 500 year history of watches was devoted to refining the mechanical watch.
🍎⌚️ The Quartz Watch in the 1960s, which ran on electricity and kept time with a vibrating quartz crystal, proved a radical departure for the industry. During the 1980s quartz watches took over the market from mechanical watches, an event referred to as the “quartz crisis”. Although mechanical watches still sell at the high end of the market, the vast majority of watches now have quartz movements.
🍎⌚️ The origin of the word “Watch” is that it came from the Old English word woecce which meant “watchman”, because it was used by town watchmen to keep track of their shifts. Another says that the term came from 17th century sailors, who used the new mechanisms to time the length of their shipboard watches (duty shifts).
🍎⌚️ First watches were strictly mechanical, driven by spring-powered clockwork. As technology progressed, mechanical devices, used to control the speed of the watch, were largely superseded by vibrating quartz crystals, producing accurately timed electronic pulses. Some watches use radio-clock-technology to regularly correct the time. The first digital electronic watch was developed in 1970, the Pulsar LED.
🍎⌚️ Apple Watch. Apple again, is reinventing the Watch, certainly entering a very mature field, dating back to the 16th century, 500 years ago and the “electronic” watch of 1970’s, some 50 years in the making. Apple’s entry into the “Watch” arena may be similar to its entry into Mobile Phones, when it made cell phones literally “Smart.” With the iWatch, Apple will be making the timekeeping wearable very “Smart” too.
🍎⌚️ Apple Watch. Apple has created three venues for their Wearable: Apple Watch, Sports, and the Edition, each containing many designs, metals, and bands, generating thousands of possibilities to reach a huge audience, with no compromise with its core capability. Presently I am wearing a RADO for the past 10 years, loving it. However, with the release of the Apple Watch, I’m highly motivated towards the Apple Watch.
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If digital Imaging is of interest, I teach a course named "Principles of Digital Imaging and Post Image Processing" as an Adjunct Prof at FAU: http://ift.tt/19pAQ5y
When I do what I do… I usually do it here.
As a "Health Nut" for Health & Wellness; http://ift.tt/1iIfMrA
As many of my friends, family and students know, I am an avid iPad adopter since its release April, 2010. With Apple’s release of the Retina-Display iPad Air 2, (I sold iPad 4 to Gazelle.com) applied the proceeds to purchase the "mini" with 128GB of Storage, AT&T connectivity, plus added Logitech’s UltraThin Keyboard Cover, and a DECODED natural leather thin slip-over protective case.
Filed under: Accessories for iPad, iPhone, Health and Wellness Products, iOS Devices - iPads - iPhones, iPhone Accessories, NEWS - Apple Rumors & Whispers, NEWS - Apple Watch, NEWS - Health, Wellness, Nutrition, NEWS - Science & Technology, NEWS - Technology - Devices, NEWS of Public Interest Tagged: Apple Edition, Apple Events, Apple Sports Watch, Apple Watch, Brikk Diamond Apple Watch, Chronograph Watch, Global Gold Production, Gold, IF Design Award, iWatch, Watch, Milanese Band, S1, S1 Module, Sapphire Crystal, Sports Watch, Troy Ounce, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater
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