Angela Ahrendts, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Retail and Online Stores, has addressed Apple Retail Store staff in a video regarding the Apple Watch and MacBook launches. The video was posted online by French website Mac4Ever.
Ahrendts said, in part:
We sent a message out to you yesterday from Tim and his entire executive team thanking you so much for the unforgettable way that you have debuted the Watch to customers… We know you;re being bombarded by questions from customers. Luckily the customer feedback is overwhelmingly positive… But there’s [sic] a lot of questions on availability and timing, etcetera… I would say the number one , in store and online is: “Will you have product in the store for purchase on the 24th?” And this is why, last week, we announced that, due to the high global interest and the initial supply, that we woudl only be taking orders online right now.
I will give you updates every single week as we have much more information, but that is the plan of record right now… And the great news is from [sic] anyone who did preorder, they’ll start getting their orders this Friday.
The other thing that I think is really, really important is, um, that we don’t just have the Watch that we’re launching. We are also in the middle of the MacBook launch and I know that all wave one countries don’t have it yet; it is starting to roll out, but the amazing news is that the response have been overwhelming.. the Space Gray, the Gold have been just off of the charts.
So two amazing new products at the same time. I do understand though, guys, it’s a new way of working; it’s a new way of doing things. It is not going to be forever. This is a unique time for us right now… We love our iconic, blockbuster launches that we do in the stores and, have absolutely no fear, you will see those. This is just a very unique situation… I will update you as soon as I get more information.
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Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: So, for how long will these videos continue to be (poorly) made as they are bound to leak immediately, obviously?
Also, one more question: When, if ever, will Apple cease being shocked and awed over product demand and instead begin to plan accordingly for it?
Predicting demand for an entirely new product line with nothing reliable to use as an indicator is quite impossible. And when that product line contains dozens of variations, it makes guessing the initial inventory even worse.
Had Apple overshot the inventory by as much as they underestimated it, they would have been stuck with massive unsold inventory. Imagine stock price, not or mention news coverage (“apple watch massive flop with million unsold devices”). Underestimating demand is infinitely better problem to have than overestimating it.
Spot on! You brought the trolls out early today.
the first troll award goes to silverdick!!!!
yesterday I was arguing with an idiot mpias3785 who said there were no such things as trolls, criticisms against apple was justified….
500+ votes, hundreds one star , seem proof enough even for an idiot like you mpias huh?
It’s sad to see you corporation worshippers make excuses for these people. This is NOT marketing. Having pent up demand by announcing a product and then shipping it a few months later is partly marketing. Having two different products launch where you can’t even get them sold in some of the “first wave” countries is not marketing. And it’s not marketing by having shipping times almost 2 months from now just hours after a new product goes on sale.
It’s problems within a company where they can’t launch effectively.
Let’s cut the crap. This isn’t about “overwhelming demand”. Apple has had overwhelming demand for many products, like the iPhone, and those launched in all first wave countries and haven’t hit such long shipping times so quickly, ever.
The demand for the 12″ MacBook… no way it’s overwhelming. Sure, some people will want it, but it’s expensive and somewhat underpowered and even if demand were high, we’re talking a few million units here and that’s worldwide. And the 12″ MacBook isn’t properly launched yet either. Shipping times online: 4-6 weeks.
Angela Ahrendts, a narcissist in sycophant’s clothing who doesn’t belong at a tech company. None of these people are hitting the mark. No excuses.
I was with you until the insults. She’s retail, not Marketing, not Production, not supply chain and as far as I can see she’s the only one doing anything to help the situation by communicating appropriately in the area she’s responsible for – the retail employees.
Don’t cha think these “shortages” only serves to fan the flames of those who want one and can’t get it. Make you feel more special and the product more iconic when you finally get it? It gives the product a cache that you couldn’t spend enough money getting through marketing and advertising. It’s always been this way all the way back to the Apple 1 and the original Mac.
I think the shortages are more planned than we give them credit for.
What Apple has to go through to make the Apple Watch Launch… some good perspective.
http://carlhowe.com/blog/apple-watch-an-overnight-multi-billion-dollar-business/
They’re not shocked or awed by demand. It’s marketing. “We are SO amazed by the INCREDIBLE reception that our NEW watch has garnered. We hoped people would like it, but the reception has just BLOWN US AWAY.” yada yada yada.
What I’m most interested in is the unpolished kind of silly taffy tone that Ms. Ahrendts is taking in these videos. They are wildly off-message compared to everything else that is Apple communication. E.G. keynotes, product videos, interviews, etc.
I sort of get what she seems to be aiming for — something very real and candid, which would seem to line up with what’s happening in Apple Stores, where real people are talking to real people in ways that you want to be honest, candid et cetera.
But even as an Apple Store employee I think I would be put off by the off-the-cuff nature of the video.
Add to that the way that Ms. Ahrendts seems to be making herself into kind of a celebrity by these videos. Who else is doing these? No one. Ive isn’t sending these videos to his staff (not in any way that would ever become public, which these by nature are, being sent to tens of thousands of staff around the world). Cook isn’t. Even Smiley, the broadway producer, never went this far.
It feels like she’s acting too freely, which was probably a condition of her hire, and an implicit offering to her by the tall cash they offered to get her.
Still, it’s just too much, too different from what is Apple. Do we really want to see her videos every week from now till eternity? “Here I am in yet another fancy new alley, weirdly overlit, to talk off the top of my head, referring every 30 seconds to cue cards, to tell you stuff you could easily and more quickly read in an email. I’m REALLY excited about this idea, and I refer you to the email where I already said this stuff, so you can read it again.”
I know, I know. A little snarky. I bit caricatured. I admit that. But I’ll say just one last time that I don’t like anything about this video. It doesn’t raise my confidence in her, in Apple, or in the store experience.
Speaking of trolls. You could only pray your android watch could be 1% as successful as the Apple Watch.
No, I think Higo’s on to something. Definitely not trolling.
silverhawk1:
Why don’t you shut your fanboy ass and get a life.
Higo:
You’re spot on.
If you are going to “quote”, at least have the friggin decency to “quote” not make it up.
And what in hell right do you have to speak for the Apple Store employees.
Get out of the basement and get a job.
By the way, her message was not addressed to you! You act like a peeping tom that just got caught.
md8mac:
Another fanboy with the reading comprehension skills of a New York cop.
He’s quoting a FICTITIOUS exchange to express his ideas, you idiot. He’s not mistakingly quoting her. His intention is to get a point across.
We used to call that ‘prostitution of the literature’
In other words, one has to lie to make your point? Like you had to belittle a New York police officer to make yours.
Higo and everyone else:
If you watch the video (I could barely get through it, what a geek she is), you’ll notice something. She says in the first few minutes (starts ~1:30), “It is the first time we’ve ever previewed a product two weeks before the availability”.
You know what Angela? You’re a lying fuxkchop and/or terribly misguided and delusional. You know the Apple Watch event last month was NOT the first time you previewed the watch. You introduced it months previous at yet an earlier Keynote.
God this women is full of it and full of herself. What a redundant pile of smash bricks of a video. Like to hear the sound of your own voice Angela? Get rid of her.
She means “preview” in the sense that customers can go into an Apple Store and try them out two weeks before they can own one. Apple has never done that before. She’s not talking about keynote presentations.
If that what she means it’s ridiculous. Apple has had devices in store, most specifically the MacBook Air Version 1 when it first came out and even the first Retina MacBook Pro where these rigs were on display in Apple Stores but they basically had no stock. So it’s not true that this is the first time they’ve “previewed” something in store like this.
Anyway, what are we talking about here? 2 weeks? Really? There is no significance to this. Apple needs to get demo units to their Apple Stores regardless. THAT’S IT. That’s all they’ve accomplished is simply getting demo units to Apple Stores.
Re: Add to that the way that Ms. Ahrendts seems to be making herself into kind of a celebrity by these videos. Who else is doing these? No one. Ive isn’t sending these videos to his staff (not in any way that would ever become public, which these by nature are, being sent to tens of thousands of staff around the world). Cook isn’t.
Higo, the only difference is that her team is probably the largest of all of the teams at Apple due to the number of retail employees Apple has.. she’s trying to find a way to get her message out in something not as impersonal as an email… The fact that we’re talking about it only helps her case…
She doesn’t have a clue.
Between the ummmsss and the hand gestures she is really annoying.
She’ll never earn the golden treasures that Cook gifted her. She’s totally unprofessional and unprepared for the big leagues.
MDN,
“Also, one more question: When, if ever, will Apple cease being shocked and awed over product demand and instead begin to plan accordingly for it?”
You mean to build 3x more than you can ever plan to sell just so everyone can get one at launch day???? PreDrag is right (above) in that bloggers would cry massive fail on Apple. Better to plan for a longer sales effort than over build.
Idunno. I thought the video was bad. It had the appearance of a clusterfsck/CYA video. Ahrendts looked nervous and unprepared throughout, as though she was just thrust in front of the camera. I don’t think it even worked as a management-to-staff pep-talk. There was just an odd look to it, in addition to the odd choice of background – it looked like a weird bamboo alley and I was waiting for someone to jump out. If I were an employee, this didn’t reassure me of anything forthcoming except lots of customers (good!) with lots of unsatisfied demand (bad). I know I’m probably wrong but that’s just how I saw it. JMO, FWIW.
MDN — any chance you put up an anti-troll filter ?
I mean, really. Getting ridiculous.
Mdn already does a pretty good job of filtering. I’ve had posts not appear for no good reason other than that mdn, he didn’t like it. he didn’t want it. He shapes the tone of everything here –if you don’t understand that get real.
Ps. The chances of this being seen by you and getting posted, are very small, I’m sure it will be censored.
Folks, you have to keep in mind, this is an INTERNAL video, for INTERNAL consumption by INTERNAL people (i.e. Apple Store staff). This isn’t the first internal video ever made by an Apple executive, but it is the first one that leaked out. This was likely to be expected, as it is the first (to my knowledge) that went to Apple Store staff, an army of people scattered around the world. A video that goes to a few hundred / thousand people at One Infinite Loop is a lot less likely to be leaked out than when you send it to tens of thousands of hourly employees whose allegiance to the mother ship is moderate at best.
She is NOT talking to the press, nor to the customers; this was specifically for the troops. Anyone reading this as a marketing exercise is totally missing the purpose and point (regardless of possible marketing value it may have, now hat it is leaked).
Ron Johnson used to do these all the time for team meetings, etc. We even used to watch them in training material distributed via iPod shuffles. You’re just getting leaks now because the tech press has an unhealthy and juvenile obsession with Apple. That and we were deathly afraid of sharing corporate communication.
I can’t believe that they shot in an alley with terrible echo.
You don’t have to be a video editor to realize that this was a screen capture. By an amateur at that.
An amateur with a Mac? I think not. If this video was Angela’s attempt at reminding her retail employees to review the training and info they already got last week, then the person who leaked this was a professional Apple employee with all the resources that any Apple employee could want. And no matter how bad the sound was, Angie came off sounding unprepared and amateurish herself. The message wasn’t informative, it was rambling and full of ums and etceteras linking run-on sentences telling employees what they already know. This is not evidence of leadership material.
I initially thought it was a bunch of birds but it’s actually a bad audio feedback from the video copy.
Wow. A gold computer. Does the gold make it work faster? FLUFF. real users don’t care what it looks like, only how it performs. Anybody else is a fashion idiot and a show off. God.
Regarding the lack of supply that MDN questioned. I am pretty sure that Apple planned on making more but the ramp up or yields were lower than expected. Also remember that you cannot suddenly make 5M units in the 1st month and scale back production to 1M per month. There is too much investment in the production line to warrant that.
A minor aspect is that Apple may make less initial to gauge what the preference between the 3 major models (Al, Al black and Steel) plus 2 sizes for each. I’m not too sure if that is a big deal since they will always sell out of the initial stock at some stage.
God help us. She thinks she is selling the one-sies and two-sies that she used to sell at Burberry. What a clown!
As far as shortfalls are concerned, that is 100% TC’s fault. He always does this. It started with the iMac’s. Remember when we could not get any during Christmas?
Basically, she said absoluely nothing worth saying.
Wow, that was really a poor address to her staff. It will probably have little effect on AAPL stock price over earnings, but as a long-term investor, I am more concerned about any longer-term impact it may have in case of the Apple Store staff will be kicking cans on their way home from work ’cause they are frustrated with their boss. I never saw any leaks from inside during the Rob Johnson tenure.
If you think that this was somehow a botched release rather than something Apple planned and new about, you’re an idiot. Apple new how fast they can make them, how many they were going to have, and probably had a good idea about initial demand.
It was several weeks for the last iPhone to catch up with demand, a product they’ve been building for years. A product with an installed base and a release history they can predict demand from.
This is a product rollout – of a new product. If you think Apple is going to let millions of watches sit around in a warehouse until they have millions more just to meet initial demand, you’re a fairly ignorant person when it comes to running a business. It’s MUCH better to get whatever you have into the hands of your customers ASAP.
Five bad qualities in the video: Poor grammar, whiny, regal, condescending, and lacks enthusiasm for the product.
I hope she hires a coach on how to sound as if her communications fit into Apple culture.
John D – Spot on. Even without listing the ingredients which made here video taste bad, I assume it had the reverse effect on the majority of her vs. that intended. In my experience as a sen exec, you have to make your point spot-on in a convincing fashion. Otherwise, shut up until you’ve got it right.
Jobs could cut to the issue immediately but so can Cook.
Her video sounded impromptu, perhaps intended to appear informal thus friendly. No. It rather appeared unprofessional making the video look silly. It should have been rehearsed even for this internal communication.
Sorry, gotta roll with Apple on this one. It’s far better in the long run to have people clamoring for your new product because you may have low-balled production, as opposed to overproducing, which is significantly more embarrassing (and dangerous from the standpoint that it shows that you’re not selling what you build).
Besides, this way all the initial outlay is sold, which is always a good thing.
Can it make Apple look bad? Sure, depending upon how you look at such delays though I am glad that for an initial product launch they don’t have any extra product about.
And let’s be honest, we’re talking about a watch here (an awesome watch, but a watch nonetheless. People will wait).
Now, if that’s the case when the product is more firmly established, then THAT’S a problem.
Before people get too twisted about production , note that:
— last year only 700,000 Android Wear products were told in total
— The whole of Switzerland makes 30 million watches a year.
get that? the Entire Swiss watch industry built up over decades only makes 30 m watches a year.
10% of compatible iPhone users for The Watch is 30 million.
Don’t people think Apple is going to have problems manufacturing all those watches? Who has the capacity to make all those (highly finished) metal bands for example (one link band was supposed to take 9 hrs to complete). I don’t think there’s millions of ‘excess’ watch manufacturing capacity out there, RE TOOLING plants is expensive, time consuming and difficult (in the past many contract companies refuse Apple’s offers to retool as they said if demand tapers who else would use the capacity?)
the other thing, people are angry with Ahrendts for production but she’s not in manufacturing.
I have a problem with people who don’t honor their promises, then give excuses. Angela is giving the excuses for Apple this time around, and she’s paid way more than enough to take the criticism that Apple deserves over their slow rollout. If it is a manufacturing problem, then the least thing that Apple could do is be open and truthful about that. Instead Apple’s answer is to have Angela tell all her employees that they should tell potential Watch customers to go home and order online without trying on a Watch at the retail store that doesn’t have any.
what exactly did Apple promise?
“tell potential Watch customers to go home and order online without trying on a Watch at the retail store that doesn’t have any.”
DUDE that was the strategy (to sell online and display in the store) announced BEFORE the launch date.
for example: APR 5 apple news announcement :
” Angela Ahrendts offers tips for Apple retail staff on how to sell the Apple Watch, with the recurring theme said to be that people should order online even if they are planning to go into store to try a watch on. ”
The whole idea was to get people to order online so that you don’t have a mess of people in the store (including hundreds of scalpers). How do you try on the watch with hundreds of people crowding around? There is no way you can accommodate several million orders in the stores (with people trying on the bands etc for 15 min each). So when the online orders sold out they had to use the store stocks because it won’t be fair for people including scalpers to walk in AHEAD of people who are waiting for days patiently online.
ALSO they would have sold out and be backordered within a few hours IF THEY SOLD FROM THE STORE AS WELL and be back ordered (AND MANY OF THOSE WATCHES WOULD HAVE GONE TO SCALPERS, online it’s limited to per household — scalpers can keep queuing up and pay cash. ). So you think people would be MORE HAPPY waiting in line and then be told it was sold out rather than get that news in the comfort of their home online? really?
Seriously every pundit said Apple would sell small numbers of the watch, so Apple was hit by overwhelming demand, Apple should cringe and crawl because they couldn’t make enough or underestimate ? AND really how much did people SUFFER? you sound like as if it was equal to like a CAR manufacturer had faulty brakes and killed 200 customers. Waiting for a few weeks is THAT much pain that apple has to crawl (Apple has already made several apologies for the delays) ? really?
I don’t think real apple fans are that angry at all (as Ahrendts has said all the feedback at the stores etc has been overwhelming positive).
as an apple fan i’m ok with the delays , although I rather there was plenty of stock around i’m not that bothered. as an aapl investor I’m supremely happy Apple’s got two more hit products.
ATTENTION
Q2 FY15 Earnings Release
Apple’s conference call to discuss second fiscal quarter results
is scheduled for Monday, April 27, 2015, at 2:00 p.m. PT / 5:00 p.m. ET.
NO WATCH SALES NUMBERS. A HINT PERHAPS. ESPECIALLY IN THE FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS!
THEN. AT THE WWDC ON JUNE 8, more than enough to validate Apple’s Watch launch strategy and Cook’s appointments to do so.
But to the FUD’rs here, silence will be golden. That’s if they learn to read in the meantime.
Unforgivably bad, echoing audio in the video. We’ve heard similar problems before, two years back, at a thoroughly FAILed Apple keynote when we got to hear both Japanese and Chinese translations leaking into the audio stream.
Apple: Audio quality is CRITICAL. Get it right please. Don’t make yourselves sound like boobs. – – Not that I don’t like…
For crimes sake, it is not the original ‘Apple’ video.
It has been badly screen captured by a third-party on their computer and probably “…caused by recording both system audio and another source such as a microphone or stereo mix simultaneously. The two tracks can get slightly out of sync and cause the echo.”
Obviously the culprit did not or could not select “Record system audio” only or “Do not record microphone”.
This is basic ‘How NOT to Record Video from Your Computer 101!’
To paraphrase you, ‘Get it right please. Don’t make yourself sound like a boob.”
Thank you for making it clear how this video was captured. I’m sorry you had to provide a more than sufficient explanation of the situation.
You are welcome.
I apologize for not being able to detract my last line.
And I thank you for your reply.