

With a $10K watch, Apple is preparing for a future of inequality - HillRat
http://fusion.net/story/53028/does-apples-future-depend-on-income-inequality/

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aetherson
Apple has arguably been living (and thriving) in a present of inequality for
its entire modern existence. It is, after all, a company of 30% unit margins
and a persistent unwillingness to price-compete. It's never been "products for
everyone," it's always been "products for the top quintile or so (of
Americans)."

But the idea that the $10k aWatch is some kind of new strategy of abandoning
the middle and selling only at the extreme upper end doesn't take the
realities of the consumer electronics world into account.

Apple Watch is going to live and die based on the success of the $350 and $400
models, because only those models can generate enough population for app
developers to actually care about the aWatch, and only apps can turn the
aWatch from "a really bad traditional watch" to, potentially, "a good smart
watch."

If every Edition edition of the aWatch sells immediately, but the $350 edition
doesn't sell to expectations, the aWatch will be a failure. If not a single
Edition edition sells, but the $350 edition is a hit, then Apple will have
another hit product on its hands.

The high-end versions of the watch are, clearly, a reliable way to get people
talking about the watch, and perhaps a low-volume, high-margin product that
will serve as price-discrimination, but the bread and butter of the aWatch is
going to be the Sport edition.

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melling
Does the $10,000 watch do something that the $350 watch doesn't do?

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seanmcdirmid
It probably offers increased positive signalling during mating and social
rituals, but nothing technical.

I attended Basel World (the luxury watch exhibition) once, where the lowest
price watch was like 40k CHF (~40K USD). They didn't really do much more than
a normal watch, but attracted plenty of attention anyways.

