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Friday, April 10, 2015

Apple Watch Adoption

An important component to the successful adoption of the Apple Watch will be Apple's retail stores.  Just enter the please touch me world of an Apple store and immediately their devices are at your fingertips.  Play with an iPhone 6 Plus, try out the Apple TV, surf the web on a Macbook Pro.  And have a question, an Apple employee is easily spotted in their branded T shirt, happy to help.  Never is anyone told to not touch any of the Apple devices.  In fact, Apple makes it easy to become a fan. 

It is that approach to retail that should surely aid the introduction and adoption of the Apple Watch.  As long as the customer is allowed to play with it, touch it, figure it out, then they will build a connection and ultimately purchase.  The Apple Watch has a long life cycle ahead of it; the first generation watch will come with a lot of learning, some failure, but ultimately future success.  And while reviews were mixed on what was loved and hated on the watch, most expect future generations of the Apple Watch to succeed. 

I too may not be an early adopter of the first gen watch, but I like what I see so far.  The potential is enormous and the future bright.  Like other devices from Apple, price points will eventually come down, noticeable improvements of screen, battery, and memory will occur, and consumers will continue to demand more.  The best way to gauge the success of the Apple Watch might just be to watch consumers pour into their nearest Apple store to play with the device again and again.  For what Apple has learned through retail, the more they interact, the more likely they are to buy.