Apple places order for six million smartwatches but without critical health features, will it sell?

Shawn Knight

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Apple has reportedly ordered between five to six million Apple Watches from its overseas suppliers in preparation for an April launch. The Cupertino-based company may have a tougher time convincing prospective buyers to shell out hundreds of dollars for the wearable, however, after many of its planned health features have been nixed according to The Wall Street Journal.

People familiar with the matter noted that the five to six million units is a combined figure of all three models with half of that order representing the entry-level $349 sport version. The high-end Apple Watch Edition, which features an 18-karat gold casing, is only being produced in a very limited quantity initially.

During the development process, Apple executives conceived a wristwatch with state-of-the-art health monitoring features including the ability to measure blood pressure, heart activity and even stress levels. But the end result – the first generation Apple Watch – won’t include any of those features.

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As the publication notes, some features weren’t reliable. Others were simply too difficult to implement. But perhaps most telling of all is the fact that some would have brought about unwanted regulations from the Food and Drug Administration.

Without these features, Apple executives reportedly struggled to find a purpose for the smartwatch. It’s the same argument I’ve been making for well over a year now with regard to smartwatches.

The first generation Apple Watch will have to find a purpose. It’ll likely rely on a bevy of features found in other devices in addition to leaning heavily on its digital crown method of interaction to come up with new use scenarios.

Will the Apple Watch be a hit? It’s hard to bet against a company with the recent track record that Apple has. I think they've nailed the UI and interaction issue with the aforementioned digital crown but I’m still not convinced that smartwatches solve a problem or fill a need.

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According to reports the fitness and health aspects of current smart watches are about as reliable as Kinect. It's gimicky and I don't think the majority really even care.
 
These things will sell just like any Apple product, to the uneducated masses striving to have better gadgets then the next person in line. Whether it has any real practical purpose is irrelevant, it says Apple on it, can be linked to an iPhone, clearly all that is required for a product to sell in the iLife portfolio.
 
These things will sell just like any Apple product, to the uneducated masses striving to have better gadgets then the next person in line. Whether it has any real practical purpose is irrelevant, it says Apple on it, can be linked to an iPhone, clearly all that is required for a product to sell in the iLife portfolio.
Blondes are hotter then brunettes.
 
According to reports the fitness and health aspects of current smart watches are about as reliable as Kinect. It's gimicky and I don't think the majority really even care.
the majority doesn't care because their past experience with these things HAS been gimicky. At least in my experience. if these things worked as designed theyd be a hit.
 
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According to reports the fitness and health aspects of current smart watches are about as reliable as Kinect. It's gimicky and I don't think the majority really even care.

The calories listed on food items aren't completely accurate either. So it's really all about gathering a general estimate of calories taken in, distance traveled (with GPS) & calories burned. Plenty of people are able to reach their fitness & weight goals using these various fitness trackers and tools.
 
These things will sell just like any Apple product, to the uneducated masses striving to have better gadgets then the next person in line. Whether it has any real practical purpose is irrelevant, it says Apple on it, can be linked to an iPhone, clearly all that is required for a product to sell in the iLife portfolio.
Blondes are hotter then brunettes.
You are wrong!
 
You are wrong!
ok, then brunettes are hotter then blondes :)

either way, it all comes down to ones preference. What maybe nice to one, might not horrible to someone else. This works with phones, girls, guys, soups, etc. Apple hating kids will never see this sadly.
 
The calories listed on food items aren't completely accurate either. So it's really all about gathering a general estimate of calories taken in, distance traveled (with GPS) & calories burned. Plenty of people are able to reach their fitness & weight goals using these various fitness trackers and tools.

I'm not bashing the idea, just its execution. Don't get it twisted.
 
These things will sell just like any Apple product, to the uneducated masses striving to have better gadgets then the next person in line. Whether it has any real practical purpose is irrelevant, it says Apple on it, can be linked to an iPhone, clearly all that is required for a product to sell in the iLife portfolio.

True, but at least we'll know who to avoid a little easier :). Oh and: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cux9T9wvERs
 
They'll sell this product the same way they've sold every other product, as a life style rather than a product, making them feel that it will bring a certain status.
 
"either way, it all comes down to ones preference. What maybe nice to one, might not horrible to someone else. This works with phones, girls, guys, soups, etc. Apple hating kids will never see this sadly."

I guess that would make this generation of apple's smartwatches sort of like the woman who looks somewhat decent but ends up having a rather useless personality. But at least she's part of the same crowd as the that high status iphone woman. Even if she does keep getting cloned with some slight variations, at least the iphone still has that blind status. Because Apple.

I guess those apple sheep just love the UI so much they don't need such silly things like functionality. The sales on this particular smartwatch will be an interesting spectacle indeed.
 
I'll still take occasional PC infections over roughly half the hardware power any day.
 
"You think having an iphone puts you in high status?"

I cant stress the word sarcasm enough.
 
ok, then brunettes are hotter then blondes :)

either way, it all comes down to ones preference. What maybe nice to one, might not horrible to someone else. This works with phones, girls, guys, soups, etc. Apple hating kids will never see this sadly.
Ok, just as long as we agree on the brunettes :p
 
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