“Apple has scrapped its usual routine for releasing products with its new device, the Apple Watch,” Brian X. Chen reports for The New York Times. “The company is instead taking a page from the playbook of another industry: luxury goods makers.”
“The company is selling the Apple Watch, which goes on sale on Friday, in just nine countries and exclusively through its own channels, not through third-party retailers like Best Buy,” Chen reports. “In contrast, Apple unveiled new iPhones in September in more than 30 countries and in numerous retail outlets.”
“All of this echoes the tactics of luxury goods makers like Burberry and Hermès. Giving consumers an early peek before they buy things is a familiar strategy in the fashion industry — as, increasingly, is tempting early adopters with the bonus of circumventing the shop,” Chen reports. “When Burberry shows new lines of clothing and handbags on the runway, the company lets customers order select items immediately after the show for delivery even before the products arrive in stores.”
Chen reports, “The strategy is a deliberate move by Timothy D. Cook, chief executive of Apple, and Angela Ahrendts, the company’s retail chief and a former chief executive of Burberry, to lay the groundwork for a successful introduction of the watch.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Yeah, but:
This watch has no sex appeal. It’s too feminine and looks too much like the smartwatches already on the market. To be totally honest, it looks like it was designed by a student in their first trimester. – Jean-Claude Biver, TAG Heuer CEO