The Apple Watch


Apple today re-announced the Apple Watch. This time around we got a pre-order date (April 10th), a ship date (April 24th). and a price. Lots of prices.

We knew the entry level would start out at $350. We learned that the stainless models will run you $200 more. And we learned Apple will have a number of band options. We also learned that if you want the larger 42mm model, that will cost you an extra $50. This is kind of interesting. Intuitively a bigger display reasonably costs more. Also, intuitively, generally men watches are larger than women. So, in this case, it seem weird that Apple would charge more for basically the men's watch. If you're looking to buy one of the gold Edition models, this 42mm up-charge is $2000.

Speaking of the Apple Watch Edition... During the podcast we did a little over/under discussion. I picked $2500 as the number, and everyone was pretty much split on whether the Edition would cost more or less than that. Obviously the price is much over that. The Edition at 42mm and the gold buckle bands top out at $17,000. Yikes. Watching the stream, my take was Tim Cook rolled out the "from $10,000" a little sheepishly. And unlike the Sport and stainless models, there was no pricing slide and no feature video.

In general one challenge I think for the Apple Watch is how many people will be willing to buy a new watch regularly. This is kind of nutty land for $10,000-$17,000, but I suppose if you're willing and able to spend that much on a watch, you might not be too concerned about future upgrades.

I'm wondering if down the road the Apple Watch has a chance to outpace upgrades for the iPhone. In other words, if the Apple Watch is a hit, will the watch become a bigger interface than the phone, and thus people may be more motivated to upgrade what's on their wrist rather than carry in their pocket.

Anyway, this will be an interesting product launch.