The Apple Watch will be hitting Best Buy shelves on August 7th making them the only retailer outside of Apple to carry the device. The company will carry the Apple Watch in about one hundred of its stores, which is about ten percent of the companies outlets. It makes sense that Apple would choose them as some Best Buy stores already have authorized Apple kiosks. While you’ll be able to purchase the watch at Best Buy, you’ll only have sixteen variations to choose from (roughly half of Apple’s offerings). Best Buy expects to have the Apple Watch in two hundred of its stores by Christmas and it will be made available on their online website as well. Tim Cook vaguely talked about expansion of Apple Watch sales in an earnings call and we now know what he was hitting on.
“We made huge progress with the production ramp across the quarter,” Cook noted. “And in just the past few days, we’ve been able to catch up with demand. We’re now planning to expand our channel before the holiday because we’re convinced that the Watch is going to be one of the top gifts of the holiday season.”
The Apple Watch didn’t move as well as Apple and analysts had hoped and sales for Apple across the board were not stellar here in the US. iPhone sales overseas, especially in China, made up for the lackluster movement here at home. While increased numbers overseas is a positive, maintaining profits and sales in the US is key for Apple. Making this move into Best Buy is a way to get the Apple Watch in more faces which they hope will translate into sales.
With the wearables market still in its youth and consumers still not convinced, it still might be an uphill battle for Apple. While the Apple Watch sold better than most smartwatches, it seems most of those were early adopters and Apple fans. To add to that equation, most consumers are finding it hard to shell out $350 (low-end) for a smartwatch. Apple has a lot of convincing to do before the watch is a real success and the technology still needs time to mature.
[button link=”http://www.computerworld.com/article/2952747/it-industry/apple-expands-watch-sales-into-best-buy.html” icon=”fa-external-link” side=”left” target=”blank” color=”285b5e” textcolor=”ffffff”]Source: Computer World[/button]Last Updated on November 27, 2018.
