“Over the weekend, MacRumors reader Andrew Turko sent an email to Apple CEO Tim Cook sharing his thoughts on the launch of the Apple Watch and its limitation to online orders only, and he received a response from Apple’s executive team that sheds some light on Apple’s concern over its launch plans and the potential for Apple Watch devices to ship out ahead of their prospective shipping dates,” Juli Clover reports for MacRumors.
“The Apple executive team member that spoke to Andrew referenced long wait times for earlier devices like the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus,” Clover reports, “noting that shipping estimates were often much longer than actual wait times and suggesting that the same thing might happen with the Apple Watch.”
[Apple] said that June preorders will most likely ship sooner than June. Of course he didn’t make any promises, but that’s the reason Apple is announcing such an extended ship date after all – to avoid disappointment through false guarantees. — MacRumors reader Andrew Turko
Much more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Our iPhone 6 Plus shipping times constantly improved over time until they arrived on release day (which was not originally included in the shipping range). In the case of our Apple Watches, we got in so early that the shipping range does contain the release date (4/24-5/8), so we’re definitely hoping to see them on the 24th!
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Lynn Weiler” for the heads up.]
I’m in the April 24-May 8 club too. Order was placed within a minute of when the store went back online from the Store app on my iPhone 6 Plus. 😃
That’s about when I ordered one, too. Despite being disappointed and impatient with the shipping time, I had a suspicion Apple might get things moving.
It just didn’t seem right that all of the “this is Tim Cook’s watch” would be overshadowed by distribution issues. And distribution is Cooks forte, so how would he allow that to happen? That’s why I’m guessing he won’t allow it to happen and will get the watch shipping sooner than expected. But I could be wrong! 😥
Maybe this is Tim’s MO … he operates like Scotty on Star Trek … say it’s going to take 2 months, then deliver it in 3 weeks (1 week later than originally promised) and you look like a miracle worker!
Under-promise over-deliver. Classic Cook!
My confirmation time is 2:04 am CDT and my black stainless steel Apple Watch is shipping between May 13-27.
I think that’s as early an estimate as anyone got. I haven’t heard of anyone getting solid Apr 24 date – or any definite date. All I’ve read about has a range, the earliest being from 4/24 – 5/9.
That’s what I got too, and it’ll be nice if it does arrive on the 24th.
I confirmed my order of a 42mm space grey sport at 1203am PDT and got 4 to 6 weeks as my ship time.
I’m still a bit dismayed/frustrated that I placed my order at 12:08 AM and I got May 13-27… I’ve always been a Day One preorder guy for every Apple product launch and this is the first time I’ve haven’t gotten an item on its release day. They must be having serious production issues…
i think they actually had serious SALES & demand issues. I wasn’t long after you having multiple items to order and got June so don’t feel too bad. I shoulda ordered the Apple Watch first and gone back to order the MacBook in hindsight. But even the MacBook sold out!
Just how would you set up distribution for over a million orders for a item that is available in 54 SKUs?
And just how many of each would you have manufactured in time to do so?
Really, there are only 6 watches, just multiple bands.
sport aluminum 42mm, 38mm
sport space grey, 42mm, 38mm
Stainless, 42mm, 38mm
Oh yeah, and gold…
You forgot Space Black Stainless Steel 38mm & 42mm
Plus Space Black Stainless Steel 38mm & 42mm.
They can’t sell the watches without the bands, so any production issues with your band will delay your entire watch order.
Clarification. My original comment was supposed to be directed to BWWTwisty.
To MikeK:
If I am not mistaken, there are 10 Watches AND more than 3 dozen bands; thus ~4 dozen SKUs. The 54 that I previously stated was from a prior article.
For those not familiar with the term;
SKU: In the field of inventory management, a stock keeping unit or SKU is a distinct type of item for sale, such as a product or service, and all attributes associated with the item type that distinguish it from other item types. For a product, these attributes could include, but are not limited to, manufacturer, description, material, size, color, packaging, and warranty terms. When a business takes an inventory, it counts the quantity it has of each SKU.
Thus my query to BWWTwisty,
“Just how would you set up distribution for over a million orders for a item that is available in 54 SKUs?
And just how many of each would you have manufactured in time to do so?”
Perhaps that query should also be directed to doggone too.
I think there’s gotta be a way to streamline the process. You have only 2 of the basic, expensive items (watches) and multiple bands (I’m assuming the expensive model isn’t an issue, here).
It’d be totally inefficient to create an expennsive watch for each of the watch/band permutations. The bands are cheap so why not just figure out a way to take the orders then just package the watch/band combo. Cook is the distribution/logistics guy – and he’s heralded for it. But it seems like he missed the mark here. I think Apple realizes it, too.
This rollout just seems to me like a mini-debacle. Hey, I was awake (well, probably not in the legal sense of the word) and ordered mine pretty quickly so I was part of the melee.
I agree the process of distributing more than a million orders seems a bit daunting, but that’s above my pay grade. I’m still hoping Apple speaks up about this – if only to satisfy the curiosity of a lot of folks. Meanwhile, I’ll be eagerly waiting for my watch!
Always better to set expectations lower and then surprise when your order arrives earlier. It is very frustrating to wait for a delivery after the due date.
1st world problem…
I got my confirmation email from Apple at 12:02 PST. Delivery 4/24-5/8.
42mm Stainless with black sport band ( ordered the classic buckle band separately).
I think the only people that got the April 24th shipping range were the people who ordered Stainless. I haven’t heard of anyone who ordered the Aluminum sport who got an April 24th date.