Tim Cook greets customers in Istanbul as Apple Watch launches in 3 new countries

As expected, Apple Watch launched today in three new countries. Starting today, Apple’s wearable is available in Turkey, Russia, and New Zealand. This expansion comes after a launch in seven new countries earlier this month. Apple CEO Tim Cook was in Istanbul, Turkey to celebrate the launch and took to his Twitter account to share his experience.

Cook tweeted that the company saw a great turnout for the launch of Apple Watch in Turkey and shared an image of an Apple Store worker helping a customer try-on the device.

In Turkey, Apple Watch starts at 1.249,00 TL for the Sport model and increases for each subsequent model. In New Zealand, Apple Watch Sport starts at NZ$599 and increases to NZ$699 for the 42mm model. Finally, in Russia, the device starts at 23 990.00 py6 for the Sport model.

You can see Tim Cook’s tweet below:

Hello Istanbul! A great turnout for the launch of Apple Watch in Turkey today. pic.twitter.com/8J9fUxaFNi

— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) July 31, 2015

Filed under: AAPL Company Tagged: Apple watch, New Zealand, Russia, Tim Cook, Turkey

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Apple Supplier Numbers Suggest Apple Watch Sales Are Below Analyst Expectations

We're all curious about how many Apple Watches Apple has sold, but with the company opting not to break out its Apple Watch sales numbers, all we have to go on are analyst guesses, information distilled from third-party sources, and tidbits of data that Apple has provided.

The latest data that hints at how the Apple Watch has fared comes from The Wall Street Journal, citing shipment information provided by analyst Mark Li from Taiwan's Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc. (ASE) most recent earnings call. ASE is the company that builds the S1 package housing the many chips and sensors used in the Apple Watch.


An ASE subsidiary reportedly failed to meet its "break-even volume" of two million units shipped per month during the second quarter and does not believe it will meet that target in the third quarter, either. The company's failure to meet this target suggests the Apple Watch "is not selling nearly as well as some analysts expected," says The Wall Street Journal.

"The shortfall of Apple Watch is a disappointment," Mr. Li wrote in a note to clients. "We came in with a low expectation but below break-even still surprised us."

In an interview, Mr. Li said it is unusual for a company like ASE not to reach break-even volume during a typically busy period like the third quarter, especially when dealing with a new product.

He said that he now expects ASE to fall short of his forecast of shipping 18 million units this year, peaking in June.

Ahead of Apple's recent earnings call, analyst estimates of Apple Watch sales during its first quarter of availability ranged from 2.85 million to 5.7 million, averaging out to 4.07 million. After the call, many analysts adjusted their estimates, with the consensus largely changing to between 2.2 and 3 million units sold. Estimates continue to vary, however, with Strategy Analytics suggesting Apple sold 4 million units in a recent report.

During the call Apple CEO Tim Cook said Apple Watch sales "exceeded [Apple's] expectations," despite supply continuing to trail demand at the end of the quarter. "We feel really great about how we did," he said. Apple CFO Luca Maestri hinted current revenue from the Apple Watch was "well over" $952 million, but he also did not provide insight into sales.

In the past, Tim Cook has warned against attempting to infer information from single data points from the company's supply chain due to its complexity.

Apple reportedly not hitting its ‘break-even’ mark of 2m Apple Watch units per month

Specific sales of Apple Watch have been a mystery since the device’s launch back in April, with several analysts offering up their own respective estimates on numbers. Now, Taiwan’s Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc. has hinted at sales of the device. ASE, for those unfamiliar, is responsible for putting all of the internal parts of Apple Watch into a case through a process known as system-in-package (via WSJ). The company, however, claims that Apple Watch sales are not as high as expected…

Mark Li, a Bernstein Research analyst, said recently that an ASE subsidiary told investors that the company did not hit its “break-even volume” of two million Apple Watch units per month in the second quarter of 2015. Furthermore, ASE does not expect to reach the two million per month number during the third quarter either, which is unusual seeing that it’s the quarter leading up to the popular holiday shopping season.

ASE now expects that it won’t hit its target of shipping 18 million units in 2015. Earlier this month during Apple’s earnings call, Tim Cook hinted that Apple Watch revenue was higher than $1 billion, which would lead to sales higher than 3 million units for the quarter.

“The shortfall of Apple Watch is a disappointment,” Mr. Li wrote in a note to clients. “We came in with a low expectation but below break-even still surprised us.”

It’s interesting to hear Apple and Tim Cook repeatedly claim that Apple Watch was beating expectations during its first full quarter of availability, with ASE claiming that sales have been less than expected. With Apple claiming it doesn’t want to report specific sales numbers for competitive reasons, it’s unlikely that we’ll get any confirmation anytime soon.

Filed under: Apple Watch Tagged: Apple, Apple watch, sales

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IBM to Purchase Up to 200,000 Macs Annually, With 50-75% of Employees Ultimately Switching From Lenovo

A year after teaming up with Apple on an enterprise partnership to push iOS devices and apps for business users, IBM is moving forward with plans to rapidly move its own employees onto Apple's platforms, MacRumors has learned.

While IBM announced in an internal memo several months ago that it was planning to purchase up to 50,000 MacBooks for employees by the end of 2015, chief information officer Jeff Smith has revealed in a new internal video released to employees yesterday that he believes IBM could actually end up purchasing 150,000-200,000 Macs annually.


In the video, Smith relates a conversation he had with Apple's chief information officer Niall O'Connor about the possibility of a massive Mac deployment for IBM.

"I'd like to be able to offer these to everyone that can use it. We've got to find a way to make the overall cost the same or lower than PCs to make that happen. Would you be interested in helping me do that, because you guys know these devices", and he said, "No, Jeff, we'd never do that...very secretive, we never allow anyone in. You know, we just don't do that."

And I said, "Well who's your largest corporate customer?" And he said "Well, that customer has got about 25,000 MacBooks a year." And I said, "Well we could be 150-200,000." And he goes "Jeff, that's a great idea! We're gonna come here, you know, next week...you bring your whole team," and that's exactly what happened.

In a separate clip from the video, Smith describes a recent conversation between Tim Cook and IBM vice president Fletcher Previn in which Previn indicated the initiative could see 50–75 percent of IBM employees eventually converting to Macs from the Lenovo ThinkPads that are currently the company standard.

Apple and IBM, former rivals in the PC market, have been working increasingly closely together on both specialized enterprise-focused iOS apps and more recently on HealthKit and ResearchKit data management tools. With so many IBM employees now in line to switch to Macs for their work machines, the stage is setting up for even more collaboration going forward.

Buyer's Guide: Discounts on Retina iMac, MacBook Air, Apple Accessories, and More

As Back to School approaches, we may see major retailers dropping the prices on Macs and tablets in an effort to draw people into stores. This week, there are no standout deals on iPads or iPhones, but there are a few Macs that are available for reasonable prices, including the 27-inch 3.3GHz Retina iMac, available for $1,799, the lowest price we've seen on that machine yet.

Last week, Apple launched its Back to School program. Instead of offering gift cards for the iTunes Store or Apple Store as it has done in years past, any Mac purchase through September 18 will net you a free pair of Beats headphones. If you're buying a new Mac, that's a deal worth checking out.


In this week's deals post, we've also got some discounts on Apple accessories, including an external battery for the Mac, and a selection of iPhone and MacBook cases. As always, we've also rounded up deals on popular apps and games.

iPad Air 2

B&H Photo is offering a small discount on some of its iPad Air 2 models, dropping prices by $30 to $50. With the discount, 64GB model Wi-Fi only model in Space Gray is priced at $568 and the 128GB model in Gold is priced at $659. Prices vary somewhat by model, but there are slight discounts to be had on quite a few of the site's iPads.


MacMall also has some slight discounts on various iPad Air 2 models, discounting them by up to $40. The 64GB Wi-Fi only iPad Air 2 in Silver is available for $568, while the 128 GB Gold version is available for $659 and the Space Gray 64GB model is $568.

iPad Air

Best Buy, Amazon, and B&H Photo have deep discounts on some remaining stock of now-discontinued higher-capacity iPad Air models, as listed below.

- iPad Air Cellular Space Gray 64GB (AT&T) - $532.99
- iPad Air Cellular Silver 128GB (Verizon) - $663.99

iPad mini 3

Amazon has a couple iPad mini 3 models available at a low price. The 16GB Silver Wi-Fi only model is available for $345, while the 16GB Space Gray Wi-Fi only model is available for $379.99.


B&H Photo is offering some modest discounts on various iPad mini 3 models, dropping the price by up to $50. The 16GB WiFi + Cellular iPad mini 3 in silver is available for $429, the lowest price we've seen, and the 128GB version is available for $639. The 128GB WiFi only iPad mini 3 in Silver is priced at $499, a $100 discount.

Discounts for each model and color vary, but most models are being offered at a lower price than you'll find at the Apple Store, and buying from B&H, you won't have to pay sales tax unless you're in New York.

iPad mini 2

Amazon has some discounts on current iPad mini 2 models, offering The 16GB Space Gray Verizon iPad mini 2 for $335.99. The 16GB Silver Verizon iPad mini 2 is available for $355.

Best Buy, B&H Photo, and Amazon have remaining stock of now-discontinued higher-capacity iPad mini 2 models, which are a good deal if you're looking for an iPad mini. Compared to the iPad mini 3, the iPad mini 2 only lacks Touch ID.

- iPad mini Cellular Silver 128GB (AT&T) - $549.99
- iPad mini Cellular Space Gray 128GB (AT&T) - $538.99
- iPad mini Cellular Silver 128GB (Verizon) - $528.98
- iPad mini Cellular Space Gray 128GB (Verizon) - $534.99 (Lowest Price Ever)
- iPad mini Cellular Space Gray 64GB (Verizon) - $439

iMac

- 2013 21.5-inch 2.7GHz/8GB/1TB (Adorama) (B&H Photo) (MacMall) - $1,199.99, $100 off
- 2013 21.5-inch 2.9GHz/8GB/1TB (Adorama) (B&H Photo) (MacMall) - $1,399, $100 off
- 2013 27-inch 3.2GHz/8GB/1TB (B&H Photo) - $1,679.99, $120 off
- 2013 27-inch 3.4GHz/8GB/1TB (Adorama) - $1,794.99, $204 off
- 2014 27-inch 3.5GHz/8GB/1TB Retina iMac (Adorama) (B&H Photo) (MacMall) - $2,199.99, $100 off
- 2015 3.3GHz/8GB/1TB Retina iMac (B&H Photo) - $1,799.99, $200 off (Lowest Price Ever)

Mac mini

- 1.4GHz/4GB/500GB (Adorama) (B&H Photo) - $464.99, $34 off
- 2.6GHz/8GB/1TB (Adorama) (B&H Photo) - $664, $35 off
- 2.8GHz/8GB/1TB (Adorama) (B&H Photo) (MacMall) - $938, $60 off

MacBook Air

- 2015 11-inch 1.6GHz/4GB/128GB (Adorama) (B&H Photo) - $824.99, $75 off
- 2015 11-inch 1.6GHz/4GB/256GB (Best Buy) (Amazon) (Adorama) - $1044.99, $50 off
- 2015 13-inch 1.6GHz/4GB/128GB (Best Buy) - $899, $100 off
- 2015 13-inch 1.6GHz/4GB/256GB (Best Buy) (B&H PHoto) - $1,099, $100 off
- 2014 11-inch 1.4GHz/4GB/256GB (Adorama) - $798, $300 off (Lowest Price Ever)
- 2014 13-inch 1.4GHz/4GB/128GB (Adorama) (B&H Photo) - $879, $120 off
- 2014 13-inch 1.4GHz/4GB/256GB (B&H Photo) - $869, $330 off (Lowest Price Ever)

Retina MacBook Pro

- 2015 13-inch 2.7GHz/8GB/128GB (Best Buy) (B&H Photo) - $1,199, $100 off
- 2015 13-inch 2.7GHz/8GB/256GB (Best Buy) - $1,399, $100 off
- 2015 13-inch 2.9GHz/8GB/512GB (Adorama) (B&H Photo) (MacMall) - $1,699.99 $100 off
- 2015 15-inch 2.2GHz/16GB/256GB (Adorama) - $1,815, $180 off
- 2015 15-inch 2.5GHz/16GB/512GB (Adorama) (B&H Photo) - $2,349, $150 off
- 2014 13-inch 2.6GHz/8GB/256GB (Adorama) (B&H Photo) - $1,229, $259 off
- 2014 13-inch 2.8GHz/8GB/512GB (B&H Photo) - $1,449 $350 off
- 2014 15-inch 2.5GHz/16GB/512GB (B&H Photo) (Amazon) - $1,999 $500 off

Apps

There are also quite a few iOS apps that are on sale at discounted prices or available for free for a limited time. We'll highlight a few here, but make sure to check out our sister site AppShopper for a complete list.

Runner platformer WonderCat Adventures is available for free, down from $1.99. Shoot 'em up game Aliens Drive Me Crazy is available for free, down from $1.99. Kairosoft's simulation game Ninja Village is available for $1.99, down from $4.99.

LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7 is available for $0.99, down from $4.99. LEGO Harry Potter Years 1-4 is available for $0.99, down from $4.99. LEGO Lord of the Rings is available for $0.99, down from $4.99. The LEGO Movie Video Game is available for $0.99, down from $4.99.

Task management app toDo+ is available for free, down from $1.99. Board game Lost Cities is available for $1.99, down from $3.99. Photo editing app FX Photo Studio is available for free, down from $2.99.

Physics battle game Worms3 was named Apple's App of the Week, so it will be free to download until next Thursday when a new app is picked.

Apple Accessories

The Titan Heavy Duty Lightning cable by FuseChicken is available from StackSocial for $24.99, down from $25. Woot is selling Beats Solo HD headphones for $108.99, down from $199.


Groupon has a Nylon Incase Sleeve for the MacBook Pro for $24.99, down from $60. The Griffin Identity Case for iPhone 6 or 6 Plus is available for $10.99 from Groupon, down from $39.99.


The iRing Grip and Stand for iOS devices, designed to help you hold your iPhone or tablet while taking photos, is available for $9.99 from LivingSocial. Best Buy is offering 10 percent off select Lifeproof Fre cases for the iPhone 6. The Lenmar ChugPlug External Battery for MacBook Air or Pro is available for $49, down from $129.99.


Best Buy has the Harman Kardon Onyx Bluetooth Speaker available at a $200 discount, dropping the price to $199.99. Best Buy has the Speck CandyShell case for Apple Watch for $5 off, dropping the price to $24.99.


MacMall is still offering MacRumors readers 20 percent off AppleCare for iPad with the purchase of any iPad or iPad Air 2, using the coupon code MWBCJMACRUMORS.

Groupon's also hosting an Apple Event, discounting a huge range of additional Apple accessories ranging from the Apple TV, iPads, and iPhones to cases and keyboards.

MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors.