Apple Watch In-Store Availability Set for June is a post by Craig Lloyd from Gotta Be Mobile.
While the Apple Watch has only been available to order online so far, company CEO Tim Cook says that the new wearable will be available in Apple retail locations starting next month.
According to 9to5Mac, Cook told a handful of employees in a private meeting that the Apple Watch will see a retail store launch in June at some point, although a specific date is unknown.
Earlier last month, a leaked memo that was released to Apple Store employees said that the Apple Watch wouldn’t be in stock at retail locations throughout the month of May. Instead, buyers will be prompted to go to Apple’s website to order one. It looks like that timeline is still on track.
The reason for online-only orders is a simple one, and Apple says that “strong customer demand will exceed our supply at launch.” That’s not too surprising, as many of Apple’s products have seen incredibly high demand on launch day, including the iPhone.
A handful of boutique stores actually had Apple Watch units in stock in small quantities, and the only store in the entire US to have had the device in stock on launch day was Maxfield in Los Angeles.
Apple announced the Apple Watch back in September at its iPhone 6 event and officially released the wearable last month on April 24. There will be three different models of the Apple Watch with prices starting at $349 for the entry-level Apple Watch Sport, and then the stainless steel Apple Watch starting at $549, with the gold Apple Watch Edition priced at $10,000.
For now, those who want to try out the Apple Watch before they buy it can schedule an Apple Store try-on appointment online, and once they decide which model they want, buyers can go online again to order.
Apple confirmed before the wearable’s release that you will only be able to come into an Apple Store to try on the Apple Watch and find a size that works for you. You won’t be able to buy the device in-store, unfortunately. The company says that this will only be the case during the “initial launch period,” however long that may be, as no timeline was provided.
Those who ordered the Apple Watch as soon as it was available may still be waiting for their unit to arrive on their doorstep, as shipping dates go as far back as June. In fact, we wouldn’t be surprised to see in-store availability arrive first before some buyers get their Apple Watches in the mail.
At one point, shipping estimates were pushed back to July for the 42mm model, but that has since been taken back to now read 5-7 weeks.
One of the big reasons for the push back may be because of manufacturing woes. According to a recent report, one of two two suppliers that Apple is using for the Apple Watch made faulty components, meaning that there’s less Apple Watch inventory to sell than what Apple may have been anticipating.
Instead of selling these faulty watches and performing a recall, Apple simply has trashed the defective units (not literally, mind you) and are manufacturing new ones to replace them. It’s not said how much this issue has contributed to the limited inventory that Apple has, but it certainly hasn’t helped Apple speed up its assembly line.
Of course, the push to a July shipping date for an Apple Watch was most likely a cautionary step taken by Apple, considering that we’re now into May, but for anyone ordering an Apple Watch now, we wouldn’t be surprised if you didn’t receive it until July, so you may just want to wait and try your luck at buying an Apple Watch in-store next month.
Apple Watch In-Store Availability Set for June is a post by Craig Lloyd from Gotta Be Mobile.
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