Reports claim that Swiss watch exports plummeted following the release of the Apple Watch. (Photo : Reuters/Robert Galbraith)
A purchase of any new iPhone, including the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus, entitles customers in Apple stores to a $50 discount on an Apple Watch or Apple Watch Sports.
However, the price-off is a limited offer that is only until Nov. 15 in selected Apple stores in the Boston and San Francisco bay areas, reports Macrumors. CNET adds that the price cut excludes Apple Watch Edition and Apple Watch Hermes models. Orders placed online are not discounted.
The discount is being linked to weak sales of the wearable device in view of the Cupertino-based giant being not transparent about Apple Watch sales, unlike iPhone sales which Apple CEO Tim Cook banners.
The closest that Apple has said about Apple Watch sales is that it is "up sequentially" and "ahead of our expectations," but no dollars and cents figures to back it up. Cook even defends the secrecy, saying he does not want to let the competition know of its sales data, even as he insists that shipment keeps on growing.
Analysts' estimate vary, ranging from a predicted 2015 sales of 10.5 million units by Pacific Crest Securities analyst Andy Hargreaves to Fortune's 3.95 million watches sold. A Quartz review of Apple's data on "Other Products" says that total watch revenue for Q3 was between $1.3 billion and $1.6 billion. Given an average price of $500, it translates to about 2.5 million to 3.2 million Apple Watches sold.
The last figure would be close to the 3.3 million watches in Q3 estimate of Gene Munster, analyst of Piper Jaffray.
