What a difference one night can make. After a week of mixed reviews and an intense ad campaign, the Apple Watch finally became available online during the wee hours of Friday morning.
It sold out by daybreak. Shipping dates slipped from April 24 to May and June for all models of the Apple Watch within hours. The high-end Apple Watch Edition and the lower-end Apple Watch Sport both sold out faster than the stainless steel watches.
Apple had already predicted that demand would exceed supply, saying it based that projection on the numbers of people asking about the watch in its retail stores. The company of course did not comment on production volumes, which could be deliberately or unintentionally coming in below demand levels.
The runaway success of the Apple Watch could not come at a better time for the company. Apple released iOS 8.3 this week and amidst all the fanfare about new emojis were some more serious reports of a bug that causes Touch ID to stop working in the App Store.
At the same time, Apple’s top competitor in the mobile device arena starts selling its new flagship smartphones today. Demand for Samsung’s Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge is expected to outstrip supply, and Samsung is predicting that the S6 will be its best-selling smartphone yet.
“Six appeal” is the tagline for Samsung’s ad campaign, but it could just as easily have been Apple’s; sales of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus have broken Apple’s previous records. The enduring appeal of the iPhone is probably the biggest reason that the Apple Watch is selling out. Competitors know it, too. Google is reportedly working to make its smart watch software compatible with the iPhone.
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