AppleInsider Staff
Following severely constrained supply at launch, Apple has gradually built up Apple Watch stock for online and in-store sales, and is now showing ship times of one business day for all aluminum Sport and regular stainless steel models.
A quick check with Apple's U.S. online storefront shows all non-Edition Watch models available for one-day shipping, even previously "rare" versions like the diamond-like carbon (DLC) coated Space Black stainless steel iteration. International availability is also improving, though certain countries like the UK and China are still seeing ship times of three to five days for popular combinations, such as the 42mm Apple Watch with Milanese loop.
Domestic shipping times have slowly improved since Watch first went up for preorder in April. Just minutes after sales started online, stock on hand was exhausted, sending ship-by estimates above one month in many cases. June saw availability improve, especially for aluminum Sport versions, as Watch prepared to debut in brick-and-mortar Apple Stores.
Apple still seems to be facing supply constraints for solid gold Apple Watch Edition models, however, as the Online Apple Store shows all hardware configurations backordered. Depending on gold color and band type, Edition shipping times fall between three to five days and five to seven days in the U.S.
Apple's first wearable device made headlines last week when multiple media outlets pounced on statistics supposedly showing a precipitous drop in sales since the device launched. Reports cited a study from Slice Intelligence, which noted a 90-percent decline citing data from a sampling of e-shoppers. Media interpretations incorrectly assigned the study's numbers to Apple Watch sales across all channels, not just online purchases.
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49 Comments
Not sure if this is good or bad.
Not sure if this is good or bad.
haha, my thoughts exactly
Not sure if this is good or bad.
haha, my thoughts exactly
It’s always bad either way. If the supply is constrained then Apple is bashed for being incompetent in estimating demand or is accused of intentionally limiting supply to increase the hype as a marketing ploy, or is accused of having production problems with defective units. Once the supply catches up with demand the doomsday scenarios come to the front and the hand wringing starts. So, you see, no matter what, it’s bad for Apple because, well, it’s just bad because it’s Apple. They can’t win in the blog universe and the first two posts prove it.
Not sure if this is good or bad.
Apple can't win, eh?
Let's see. They have outsold the entire 2014 global smartwatch sales at least 2-3 times in the US alone in three months at an ASP being 3-4 times higher. The answer is clear. This is bad.