Apple rarely offers discounts, but now temporarily, the company is offering a discount of $50 on Apple Watch if bought with a new iPhone. The offer is not applicable on online purchases.
Discount on selected stores and limited time
An Apple employee in the Bay Area informed buyers that the company made this promotion available for a limited time only and through in-store purchases at selective stores in the Boston and San Francisco Bay areas. This offer is valid from Oct. 30 till Nov. 15 and does not include the Apple Watch Edition or Apple Watch Hermès models, according to MacRumors.
The offer is available at any of the participating Apple Stores in the Bay Area (Burlingame, Chestnut Street, Corte Madera, Hillsdale, San Francisco, and Stonestown) and the Boston metro area (Boylston Street, Burlington, CambridgeSide and Chestnut Hill). MacRumors informed readers that the discount is available even if no other accessories or add-ons are bought.
There has been no comment from Apple about the offer.
Questions about Apple Watch sales
Apple does not usually offer sales promotions on new devices, so the discount comes as a surprise. Apple does not even allow educational institutes to buy products at special prices. During the annual Black Friday sales, the company offers price cuts on merchandise, but this kind of temporary promotion from Apple is rare.
Offering a discount on the watch does raise a question on the product’s popularity, especially since the actual sales numbers are not known. Since no concrete sales data around watch sales is available, there is a lot of discussion around how the Apple Watch has fared in the market. There are several product from Samsung and Motorola in the smartwatch category and Apple Watch has the highest profile, but it’s not very clear whether mainstream consumers are buying it or not.
Apple chose to keep the watch unit sales a secret, saying the number would give insight to competitors. A recent report from Fortune estimated Apple Watch sales at 3.95 million units in the quarter. Apple CEO Tim Cook is bullish on the product and in July said the company sold more wearables in comparison with unit sales of its first iPhone and iPad in their respective comparable launch periods. For the holiday season, the watch will have more sales channels, according to Cook, who believes that the smartwatch will serve as a top gift.
