1 Million Pre-Orders for Apple Watch
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The Apple Watch had an amazing opening weekend which could be indicative of the new product’s success. Investors noted that the Apple Watch pre-orders were about 1 million worldwide during the first weekend. Analysts have estimated that most people went for the cheapest model, the Apple Watch Sports model. On average, most people ordered more than one (1.3) and spent about $500 for each.
iPhone 6/6 Plus pre-orders were over 4 million in the first day in a three-day launch weekend in September of last year. However, unlike the iPhone and iPad launches, Apple did not make the Apple Watch available for in-store purchase. Instead, customers were encouraged to place pre-orders online as soon as Friday 3AM EST. Shipments for the Apple Watch will start April 24thand range between four to six weeks, with some orders being delivered as late as August. Not everyone wants to wait this long and have found a way to skip the line to get their watch sooner. Some customers have already started buying pre-orders from others on digital auctions for up to $1,000.
Financial analysts estimated that Apple will produce up to 20 million Apple Watches for the remaining year. Normally, Apple would give numbers on how many pre-orders they have fulfilled, however Apple has yet to comment on the product preorders for the first weekend. However, this hasn’t stopped analysts from estimating Apple’s numbers.
Slice Intelligence has claimed that Apple Watch orders have been over 1 million in the US by tracking “e-receipt data” from online consumers. Although these numbers are impressive, they don’t include the nine other countries – Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, and the UK – that pre-orders were available in. They also state that Apple sold over 48,000 new MacBook’s, with 43% of those MacBook buyers purchasing an Apple Watch. Also, according to the report, most consumers opted for the least expensive option, with the $349 Apple Watch Sport accounting for about 62% of total orders. Space Grey Sport was the most popular model, with stainless steel and Silver Sport coming in second and third. The 42mm case was much more popular than the smaller 38mm case, accounting for 71% of the sales.
