Angela Ahrendts is the senior vice president of the company Apple Lossless Audio CODEC (ALAC), who leads the retail division and manages all the online and offline stores of those in Cupertino, and today she sent an internal memo to employees confirming the fact that Apple Watch will not be available for purchase from Apple Stores on April 24. Ahrendts stated that the very limited stocks and the enormous demand for Apple Watch have led Apple to take the difficult decision to only offer the possibility to try the product in stores, the purchase having to be made only on the Internet with a waiting period of several weeks, and this should continue in May.
Separately, Ahrendts thanked the employees for their efforts in helping customers to sample Apple Watch in the stores, stating that the experience they had was an exceptional one, with a very large number of positive answers to the questionnaires related to the way they were treated in the Apple Store for the trial sessions of the watch. In the end, Ahrendts stated that only in the case of the Apple Watch we will have an exclusive online release, and this is because stocks are small, the watch is part of a completely new category and users needed a sample to choose their case and the right accessories.
Team,
On behalf of Tim and the rest of the executive team, I want to thank you very much for making last Friday's debut of Apple Watch unforgettable. The Previews going on in our stores and support from our Contact Centers are unlike anything we have done before.
The feedback from customers is overwhelmingly positive. They are excited about Apple Watch, and your teams are creating fantastic experiences for them. Customers who pre-ordered will start receiving deliveries next Friday as planned, and I know you will do a great job helping them get set up.
Many of you have been getting questions asking if we will have the watch available in stores on April 24 for walk-in purchases. As we announced last week, due to high global interest combined with our initial supply, we are only taking orders online right now. I'll have more updates as we get closer to in-store availability, but we expect this to continue through the month of May. It has not been an easy decision, and I want to share with you the thinking behind it.
It's important to remember that Apple Watch is not just a new product but an entirely new category for us. There's never been anything quite like it. To deliver the kind of service our customers have come to expect—and that we expect from ourselves—we designed a completely new approach. That's why, for the first time, we are previewing a new product in our stores before it has started shipping.
Apple Watch is also our most personal product yet, with multiple cases and band options because it's an object of self-expression. Given the high interest and initial supply at launch, we will be able to get customers the model they want earlier and faster by taking orders online.
I know this is a different experience for our customers, and a change for you as well. Are we going to launch every product this way from now on? No. We all love those blockbuster Apple product launch days—and there will be many more to come. They're the moments where you, our teams, shine. And our customers love them as well!
Apple Watch is an exciting new product and we are at the beginning of a very exciting time at Apple. You're the best team on earth and you're doing an amazing job.
For customers who want to buy a watch, please continue to help them place their order online. Also make sure they know that, wherever they buy, Apple will provide them with a great Personal Setup experience — either online or in our stores. This includes syncing their Apple Watch with their iPhone and teaching them about all the incredible features of their new Apple Watch.
Thank you very much again, and I look forward to seeing you soon.
