Apple Watch To Hit Stores On Friday

(RTTNews) - Technology giant Apple, Inc. (AAPL) said Thursday that its much-awaited Apple Watch will be available for preview and pre-order, beginning Friday. Customers who pre-order their Apple Watch can have it shipped for delivery, beginning April 24. The company expects strong customer demand to exceed its supply at launch.

Angela Ahrendts, Apple's senior vice president of Retail and Online Stores said, "To provide the best experience and selection to as many customers as we can, we will be taking orders for Apple Watch exclusively online during the initial launch period."

Apple launched the Apple Watch on March 9 and said it will be available in Apple stores or start shipping on April 24. The smartwatch will be available for pre-order from April 10.

The Apple Watch will be initially available to customers in nine countries - Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, the UK and the U.S.

Apple said that customers in these countries will be able to try on and experience Apple Watch at their local Apple Store or at Galeries Lafayette in Paris, Isetan in Tokyo, Selfridges in London, and select Apple authorized resellers in Japan and China. Customers who want to try on the device must make an appointment by going to the Apple website, starting Friday, April 10.

Beginning April 24, Apple Watch will also be available at boutiques in major cities, including colette in Paris, Dover Street Market in London and Tokyo, Maxfield in Los Angeles and the Corner in Berlin, and select Apple authorized resellers in China and Japan.

Apple earlier confirmed that customers would not be able to just walk-in and purchase the Apple Watch across the counters at local Apple stores from April 24, when it is scheduled to start shipping.

Beginning April 10 at 12:01 a.m. PDT, customers can pre-order their Apple Watch through the Apple Online Store, www.apple.com, the Apple Store app for iPhone and iPad, and select Apple authorized resellers in China and Japan.

Apple is expected to use the online reservation to get a control on inventory when the smartwatch is released for sale. It would also enable Apple to provide the potential buyer a realistic date of delivery.

According to the company, all Apple Watch customers will be offered personal setup, online or in-store, to pair their Apple Watch with their iPhone.

New owners can learn how to personalize Apple Watch by selecting a watch face, decide which notifications to receive, set up the Activity app, and receive an introduction to Apple Pay as well as the Apple Watch App Store. Apple Pay is only available in the U.S. and through participating banks.

The Apple Watch comes in three collections, Apple Watch Sport, Apple Watch in stainless steel, and the luxury Apple Watch Edition in 18 carat gold.

The pricing for Sport model starts at $349 and $399, while the mid-range model is priced at $549 to $1,099 and the luxury edition is priced at an exorbitant $10,000. The Apple Watch requires to be paired with an iPhone 5 or above for use.

Apple said that starting Friday, customers visiting an Apple Store will be able to view all three collections. They can get hands on with Apple Watch Demo to browse and edit different watch faces, and learn about Apple Watch's health and fitness features, Digital Touch, Siri, Apple Pay and other features.

AAPL is trading at $125.31, down $0.29 or 0.23 percent on a volume of 7.94 million shares.