Apple has said that all Apple Watch orders placed during May will ship within two weeks, with one exception – and no prizes for guessing which.
This suggests retail store sales will begin around 18th June …
All orders placed through May, with the sole exception of Apple Watch 42 mm Space Black Stainless Steel with Space Black Link Bracelet, will ship to customers within two weeks. At that time, we’ll also begin selling some models in our Apple Retail Stores.
Apple has also announced that the Watch will go on sale in seven more countries from 26th June, in both online and retail stores, as well as selected resellers. The Apple Watch will be available in Italy, Mexico, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland and Taiwan from Apple’s online store, retail stores and selected resellers.
A ‘curated selection’ of models will also be available at 10 Corso Como in Milan, Boontheshop Cheongdam in Seoul and Malmaison by The Hour Glass in Singapore, said Apple.
Apple’s senior VP of operations Jeff Williams said that the company was making “great progress” with backorders.
This will bring the total number of countries where the Apple Watch is available for sale to 16, following its online-only launch in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, the UK and the US. Apple is currently preparing for the retail launch of the Watch, and has said that native apps – that run directly on the Watch rather than via an iPhone – will be possible from the fall.
The response to Apple Watch has surpassed our expectations in every way, and we are thrilled to bring it to more customers around the world. We’re also making great progress with the backlog of Apple Watch orders, and we thank our customers for their patience.
KGI last month lowered its forecast of Apple Watch sales by a further 20-30%, now expecting annual shipments of around 15M. Slice Intelligence also said that orders rapidly tailed off to below analyst estimates following dramatic first day orders.
