Apple often surprises us with cool accessories and this time it is watch bands. Their official site featured them and the two products will be sold simultaneously. Apple Watch received strong competition from its rivals and in 2016, they are slowly stabilizing. Instead of adding cool features, they shifted their focus to the fashion aspect. Apple Watch really looks good and performance‐wise, it is mid‐level. Hermès will definitely get more exposure as the traffic in their online store is quite high. But people are a bit disappointed because of the price. The band previous came with the gadget itself and suddenly Apple made it a separate product.
The total price reaches $1,100 and very few people can afford that. Some bad reviews were starting to come and Apple knew this Watch needs improvement. Apple created a strong hype around this product and sadly all that came down to nothing. It totally flopped and other smart watches won the race. The problem is not with the design, it is about awareness. People are still not ready for wearable tech and motivating modern buyers is not easy. Fitbit openly criticized Apple and now questions are being raised about their innovation. Apple disrupted sales figure and lately they are looking very weak.
Some buyers love spending more and brand is the only thing that matters to them. Amazon offers some alternatives and these items are much more affordable. By slashing the price to almost $150, Apple could have targeted a wider market segment. Hermès is closely associated with Apple and this collaboration is profitable to them. Some retail locations sell Hermès bands and now with online availability, more people can try them out. Apple’s standards are high and their Watch is nowhere close to that standard. Many customers rejected Apple Watch because of the poor design. Productivity matters and being fashionable is a plus point.
