Apple Watch Isn't a Luxury Watch

Many people are trying to analyze Apple Watch with the assumption that the device is just another luxury watch only with additional customization and features. I think this type of thinking misses the big picture. An Apple Watch will be just as much a watch as an iPhone is a phone.

Last week, I discussed how I thought Apple will sell Apple Watch by positioning it as a watch with customizable faces and bands. By keeping the message simple, anxiety and uneasiness will be removed from the buying decision. Most consumers, even if they don't wear a watch, understand what a watch is and what it does. However, the comparsion of Apple Watch to a luxury watch needs to stop there as once a user begins to rely on Apple Watch for communication, health and fitness tracking, and mobile payments, the idea that it is just another luxury watch will no longer apply. 

The Apple Watch and its strengths shouldn't be compared to luxury watches, and more importantly, luxury watch strengths. Timelessness, or lack thereof, seems to be at the top of the list of lingering questions about Apple Watch. If a luxury watch can last the test of time and be passed down from generation to generation, how would Apple Watch compete? Who would pay thousands of dollars for a device that won't stand the test of time? Timelessness won't matter for Apple Watch since the Apple Watch isn't a luxury watch. Instead, Apple Watch is a mobile computing facilitator worn on the wrist. The users will have just as much motive and desire to pass the device down to children or family as they would with an iPhone or iPad. By discussing price in context of luxury watches, I suspect many are jumping to the conclusion that the only reason someone will pay thousands of dollars for an Apple Watch is to wear it forever as a status symbol. Instead, people will pay thousands of dollars in order to have the opportunity to buy an Apple product that can be worn. The desire to upgrade to a newer, more advanced version in the future will likely be just as strong as it is with iPhone. 

Apple understands its user base very well and correctly sees that there is a market for very high-end tech gadgets. This buyer takes an iPhone and its lack of personalization, puts thousands of dollars into the device to truly make it his or her own, and then will eventually upgrade to a newer iPhone just like everyone else. The Apple Watch Edition collection is Apple's first attempt at addressing this segment of the market. 

Just as with fashion, technology evolves. The Apple Watch isn't a luxury watch, but rather a fashionable communication facilitator worn on the wrist. 

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