Why the Apple Watch Edition should cost 5000 euros

June 03, 2020

The Apple Watch is here! It should be available from $ 349 – and millions of fans are enthusiastic about the different designs of the Apple Watch. And yes, I have to admit, the Watch Edition models already look classy. However, they will probably not cost $ 349, but rather 5000. Exactly. Five thousand, and probably in this country also in euros.

The analyst According to John Gruber For the price of $ 349 communicated at the Apple event, “only” the Apple Watch will be available in the sports version, i.e. with an aluminum case, ordinary glass and rubber strap. And so the watch competes in terms of price and materials with the rest of the smartwatch competition from the Android Wear warehouse.

And then there is the Apple Watch and Apple Watch Edition, which do not care about the assembled smartwatch competition. The Watch and Watch Edition, which don't even want to be primarily a smartwatch.

Why?

Because they are supposed to attack the luxury watch segment – even at comparatively low prices. According to Gruber, the standard watch with a stainless steel case and sapphire glass will be available from $ 999, the starting price for the Watch Edition should even be $ 4999.

The reason for this is simple: The Watch Edition is made of gold. Real solid gold. That writes Apple on its website, and also reports from participants of the event, the Edition models are said to be significantly heavier than their cheaper siblings. And at least for the watch versions with a stainless steel bracelet, the $ 999 is quickly explained if you take a look at Apple's description of the bracelet production process:

"The link bracelet is made of the same 316L stainless steel alloy as the case and consists of over 100 individual parts. The machining process is so precise that it takes almost nine hours to cut the links for a single bracelet. This is partly due to the fact that not all are the same size, but gradually get bigger the closer they are to the housing. After assembling, the links are brushed by hand so that the texture matches the contours of the design."

Apple does not see itself with its watch in competition with Samsung, Motorola & Co. – yes, the word "Smartwatch" did not come up once during the presentation. And accordingly the watch is not called iWatch like the rest of the Cupertino toys for iPod, iPhone & Co., but simply watch. The clock.

Finally, the Watch Sport is the democratized version of this luxury watch. And that has always been something that made Apple stand out – a piece of luxury for the masses. And mass, that's exactly what Watch Sport will do anyway. At least if Apple's plan works.

More than a smartwatch (?)

If Apple comes out with all the data on the watch in early 2015, the price will be a huge disappointment for many fans. And Apple has exactly one chance to make up for it: the software has to rock incredibly.

During last week's presentation, there were only a few snacks of what the Apple Watch can do. And even at the event, the journalists were not allowed to push around on the watch themselves. There was only a limited product demo of the Apple employees present, and the watch was allowed to be tried once. That’s it.

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Apple Watch

5000 euros for two years?

As Gruber so nicely writes: Compare today a 2007 Rolex with an iPhone from 2007. The former will still be a status symbol in seven more years, the second at best in a museum. And here's another big problem for which Apple needs a solution.

While a high-quality watch will last for generations with appropriate care, a smartwatch will be completely overhauled after two or three years. But who buys a product for thousands of euros that lasts just two years?

A conceivable solution would be if Apple offers a trade-in program – after all, the noble materials do not lose their value. And those who wear their gold watch in the Apple Store two years after purchase will get a big discount on the newer model.

A second, even more daring approach would be if Apple simply exchanged the inside of the watches and brought them up to the current state of the art for a comparatively small fee. The four little windows on the back of the watch should still be suitable for all sorts of other futuristic sensors in the future. And maybe it was no coincidence that Apple did not speak of a system on a chip when presenting the S1 processor in the watch, but of a computer on a chip.

Conclusion

Apple will probably do it completely differently than the assembled competition, as it has done so often in the past – and will choose a daring path. Now that smartwatches with Android Wear are becoming attractive, Cupertino motivates willing buyers to wait a little longer. Only until the beginning of 2015. These insights into still unfinished products are extremely rare at Apple – and this time it is probably also due to the competition, which has picked up a lot recently.

And then, that day sometime in the first quarter of 2015, Apple will disappoint countless fans who have been waiting for the Watch (Edition). The only question is: Will Apple then have the convincing arguments for the customers in the software part, that they may also be satisfied with a Watch Sport – or put a lot of money on the table for the more expensive models?

Genius and madness are close together. And a failure would be incredibly devastating for Apple.

Source: Daring fireball 

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