Reviews of the new Apple Watch have been mixed, but
that isn’t stopping people from placing orders. The device became available for
preorder on April 10 and it took only hours for the ship dates to be pushed
back from April 24 to July because of heavy demand at the online Apple Store.
The financial services firm Cowen & Co. estimated
that worldwide preorders for the watch reached one million units during the
first weekend of sales, according to a report in CNET. Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray agreed with the one-million preorder
mark for Marketwatch and KeyBanc Capital Markets lowered its earning estimates for traditional
watchmakers Fossil and Movado because of the Apple numbers.
“After trying on the Apple Watch, visiting stores, and
based on our fieldwork, we are now more convinced that the Apple Watch will be
disruptive to the fashion-watch market,” KeyBanc analysts told investors. “At a
minimum, the widespread buzz may cause something of a standstill in the watch
market.”
