Apple’s high-end Apple Watch Edition has already sold out in China, less than an hour after going on sale.
The priciest edition of the smartwatch is no longer available to pre-order from China’s online Apple Store, while shipments in the US were pushed back from their initial availability date of April 24th to between four to sex weeks later than originally planned. Early reviews of the Watch have been generally positive, though suspicions regarding its usefulness seem to have already been confirmed. While many are stating that the Apple Watch as a great step in a new direction for Apple, it’s generally still believed that the first generation of Watch’s are merely a starting point for the company when it comes to their new brand of smartwatches, therefore rendering it a sleek if unnecessary purchase.
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The huge demand for the Apple Watch is hardly surprising given the company’s track record of bank-busting tech launches, though it’s surprising to see the luxury model of the device flying off shelves given that it will no doubt become obsolete over the course of the next couple of years, with Apple likely to continue refining the tech in the Watch’s inevitable future successors. That being said, logic and reason are often flung out of the window at high speeds when a new Apple launch rears its head, and that seems to be the case here.
China is well-known for its love of tech and gadgetry, with the success of the Apple Watch evidence of this. Retailing for 126,800¥ (roughly $20,000) in the region, its high price point evidently hasn’t served as a deterrent, with China’s more financially fortunate snapping up the chance to get their hands on the most expensive edition of the Watch.
The three models of the new device, the Apple Watch Sport, Apple Watch and Apple Watch Edition, were all put on sale on Friday, available for pre-order on Apple’s Store. Unfortunately, for early adopters of the new tech the shipping date for the device is now listed as being in June, while others are being informed that they’ll get their Watch as late as August. As Apple Watch sales continue to increase, we can only imagine what the final shipping date for the device will be, so if you’re interested in purchasing an Apple Watch but unfortunately missed your chance to join the first batch of pre-orders, then you better do so sooner rather than later.
