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Tim Cook: Apple employees will get 50% off Apple Watch, 1000+ apps submitted

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Apple CEO Tim Cook today sent out a memo to all employees ahead of the Apple Watch’s retail try-on kickoff this Friday. Cook thanks employees who have worked on the Apple Watch by saying, “congratulations to everyone who has worked so hard for years to help this product reach our customers.” Cook also prepares the company’s retail division by noting that try-ons will begin in over 400 Apple Stores on Friday ahead of the official Friday, April 24th launch

Likely to the delight of Apple employees, Cook also announced major Apple Watch discounts for all employees: 50% off the aluminum sport and stainless steel models and $550 off of the gold Edition variations. By comparison, the iPad was not immediately offered at discount for employees, while the original iPhone was provided for free to a large percentage of the company. The special pricing for employees lasts for 90 days, starting on Friday, which is when general Apple Watch pre-orders begin. Commenting on the reduced price, Cook told employees that “we want you to share in that experience right alongside [customers].”

Cook also told employees that “more than one thousand apps were submitted in just four days last week when the App Store started accepting them, and the rate of submissions has only been climbing since then.” Apple started accepting Apple Watch app submissions last week. Apple has already previewed several Apple Watch applications on its website and during the March Apple Watch keynote presentation, which will be available to download via the Apple Watch Companion app.

The full memo from Cook to employees can be read below:

Team,

The day we’ve all been waiting for is almost here: Apple Watch is ready to ship.

Our retail stores are training for a whole new way to engage customers and help them experience Apple’s most personal product yet. On Friday, in over four hundred stores across four continents, we’ll open our doors to people who want to try on Apple Watch for the first time and start deciding which one is right for them.

Tens of millions of people have seen our keynotes and demonstration videos about the watch, and there’s much more to come. Some of the most innovative developers in the world are working on new experiences designed specifically for Apple Watch. More than one thousand apps were submitted in just four days last week when the App Store started accepting them, and the rate of submissions has only been climbing since then.

I know that many of you have been looking forward to choosing an Apple Watch for yourselves, and we want to make it easy for you. Starting Friday, in countries where the watch is available for pre-order, a special Employee Purchase Plan will offer a 50% discount on any Apple Watch or Apple Watch Sport for your personal use.

As we introduce the watch in more countries, the special pricing for employees will be offered in those countries as well. Discounts will begin at pre-order and last for 90 days after availability. AppleWeb has more details, so I invite you to check it out.

Our products enrich people’s lives like no others, and we think Apple Watch is going to delight our customers in ways people can’t yet imagine. We want you to share in that experience right alongside them.

Congratulations to everyone who has worked so hard for years to help this product reach our customers. And thanks in advance to the thousands of retail employees around the world who will start placing it on people’s wrists starting Friday.

Tim

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Comments

  1. Milorad Ivović - 9 years ago

    Well, that’s one way to give a small boost to launch-day sales figures, while at the same time making it that much harder for the rest of us to get the one we want.

    • jrburrows - 9 years ago

      “The rest of us” – like normal Apple employees aren’t normal people? Like they’re in some kind of inner circle?

      • Milorad Ivović - 9 years ago

        “The rest of us” as in full-price-paying line-waiting schlubs, yes. If you want to read something into what I’m saying, pull out your crystal ball, and put on the gypsy outfit. Otherwise the line of distinction remains. Some of us get half-off, “the rest of us” don’t

        Pointless reply. Look at the other pointless replies. You chuckleheads got more bent out of shape than I did. At least I got bent out of shape over something tangible like money and product availability. What are you numbskulls mad at?

        Take a good hard look at yourself.

      • Milorad Ivović - 9 years ago

        Seriously, it’s not enough for some of you people to be getting what you want. You also insist that everyone’s happy for you. Fake-ass porn-orgasm happy. [BIG GRIN EMOJI]… Oooo some guy on the internet had an emotionally honest moment. CRUCIFY HIM!!!

        You’re like emotionally disingenuous self-righteous ants to a picnic. Sanctimonious blowhards. Get over yourselves.

    • charismatron - 9 years ago

      Well, that’s one way of taking a corporation’s decent treatment of their staff and turning into sour grapes.

    • incredibilistic - 9 years ago

      I actually take that as a sign that there will be plenty of Watch and Watch Sport’s to go around and I imagine that the fine print is “one per employee”. Since they’ll have to use some sort of employee identifier — employee ID, social security number, etc — you can bet the website will limit them to one.

      That won’t stop me from hitting refresh on Apple’s website this Friday morning.

      All this talk of the Apple Watch continues to rev my enthusiasm engine, which is making the wait worse. Actually, when I preorder and realize I have to wait another 2-weeks is gonna drive me up the wall too.

      • Robbie Biederman - 9 years ago

        bro i haven’t waited this hard for something since the O.G. Xbox.

    • Steffen Jobbs - 9 years ago

      You could quit your present job and see if you could get a job at an Apple retail store in a week. It should be a piece of cake.

      /s

      • incredibilistic - 9 years ago

        I applied once and got turned down (I thought I had all the chops the position required and then some but obviously they didn’t agree). Maybe it was because I was interviewing with another person at the same time that threw me off my game.

        Certainly new for me but apparently Apple does mass interviews all the time. My 2-person interview is rare, normally they do bulk interviews of around 5 to 8 prospects all vying for the same job (or for a position with limited spots to fill).

    • acslater017 - 9 years ago

      Oh come off it. A company that sells 20 million iPads and 50 million iPhones per quarter is gonna try to float its sales by giving a discount and hoping X percent of its 50,000 employees buy one? You can’t really believe that.

      BTW, retail employees are typically instructed to allow the majority of normal consumers to get theirs first before they help themselves. They’re not going to turn away customers so Specialists can hoard all the Watches.

    • iJonni - 9 years ago

      Yes. An insignificant boost to sales numbers. But a “boost” right? Geez. You must work for a company that produces no tangible product. Seeing as how every other company in the USA gives its employees discounts on the products they make or sell or partner with. Because all 80k employees will now purchase a watch simply because there is a discount. And because those 80k are going to make any dent in actual sales numbers or availability.
      Listen, employees have to purchase online. They cannot get this discount in store. So relax and PPP out your line waiting chair like everyone else that doesn’t want to order online…

      • Milorad Ivović - 9 years ago

        You’d think I insulted your mother or something. No need really, you insult her enough just by being yourself.

        There’s a special place in hell reserved for people who complain about complaints. You’re already getting what you want, why don’t you shut up and enjoy it.

      • iJonni - 9 years ago

        Because complainers make the world a dismal place to live in. Why can’t /you/ just quiet down and be happy for those that are getting something at a discount instead of poo-poo-ing on their parade simply because you are not getting what they are. Seriously. What’s the point of complaining? Rant rant rant rant nothing accomplished. Ah well. What the point of me going after you. I imagine you will keep your same opinions and I will have zero influence on your thoughts. Oh well I tried.

    • Donbran™ (@DoneBran) - 9 years ago

      LOL. bro, you have no chill. The retail stores need a reality t.v show so everybody can understand why tim is giving the company 50% off the watch.

      • Milorad Ivović - 9 years ago

        Why is it so important to you dweebs that everyone “understand”? I understand, I just don’t particularly care why they’re getting it, if it makes my life more slightly more difficult.

        Apple employees wouldn’t piss on me, if I was on fire, so trust me, they care EXACTLY as much about me, as I care about them.

  2. dragonitedd - 9 years ago

    I wanna have  Watch at the very first moment, but knowing that somewhat discounts will be following soon (Best Buy, Target etc) made me feel a little bit uncomfortable

    • rogifan - 9 years ago

      Except that Apple Watch isn’t available for sale at Target or Best Buy.

    • Rich Davis (@RichDavis9) - 9 years ago

      I don’t know how fast or how much the discounts will actually be. I don’t know what resellers are going to get them and what discounts they’ll get. Apple products typically only get discounted a small amount. I might wait to see when refurbs come out on the Apple Store. I would like to get maybe the Stainless Steel model, but I can’t afford to drop $600 on one. I have other things to spend money on. :-)

  3. Need to pad Watch sales a bit?

    • jrburrows - 9 years ago

      I think it’s more than it must be annoying working for Apple, wanting a product but having to wait months before you get it to save some money.

    • Michael Perry (@Alticus) - 9 years ago

      Oooooor maybe just doing something nice for the employees and at the same time getting this product on as many wrists as possible because:

      1.) They really believe in this product and believe that many will benefit
      2.) They believe that sales can benefit even further if the watch is on as many wrists as possible so others see what the watch can do (family, friends, strangers on the bus etc…)

      Also, Apple employees already get really nice discounts on many products sold at Apple…. so it’s not a surprise this product is included.

    • Bill Shamblin (@bshammy) - 9 years ago

      Given the volume Apple does in products, it shouldn’t be material to sales — Apple is expected to sell approximately 1 million units in the first weekend. Apple has approximately 80,000 employees.

      Most likely, Apple would like 1. Customers to see employees wearing the watch, and 2. Increase the number of retail employees that can provide first-hand feedback on the product.

  4. hayesunt - 9 years ago

    Very cool.

  5. daitenshe - 9 years ago

    This kinda makes sense. They’ll want to have as many employees as possible wearing one. With a Mac or an iPad you have no idea wether the person working at Apple has one or not, but with the watch it’s pretty obvious to the customer whether the person selling the watch thinks it’s worth getting. Either you have one and its on your wrist or you don’t and the customer sees that.

  6. Mama Gaea (@MamaGaea) - 9 years ago

    This is a brand new product and it is really involved. I think it’s great that they are allowing their employees to be up close and personal on a very personal level to then help explain the product to their customers.

  7. rogifan - 9 years ago

    Man I never thought giving employees a 50% discount would cause sneering. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised though.

    • Rich Davis (@RichDavis9) - 9 years ago

      Typically with a new hot product, Apple typically waits until they have caught up with market demand, but it makes sense for their employees to start using them first. It’s a highly visible product. I guess they don’t think too many employees can afford the Gold versions. :-)

      If I were Cook, I would give Apple Store employees a free watch because they get paid the least out of all Apple employees and they are on the front line dealing with the customers. It would be a nice gesture.

    • charismatron - 9 years ago

      Rogifan,

      No kidding, hey?

      What other company does this for their staff? When has Apple done this for their staff? Anyone buying an Apple Watch would gladly accept the offer. But because they didn’t get something that they wouldn’t have gotten under normal circumstances anyway, these Negative Nancys feel like they’re the ones being mistreated and somehow taking a loss.

      • babywrinkels - 9 years ago

        Apple gave employees FREE iPod with Video, 30gb iPod Color, iPod Shuffles, and iPhones when those product lines first launched. So there IS precedent for Apple doing stuff like this.

        Personally: I think it’s great.

    • Steffen Jobbs - 9 years ago

      When my brother was a manager at Cartier he got some pretty hefty discounts on their watches. At one point, I think he had about eight of them. He’d purchased at least one a year.

  8. Torrey Huerta - 9 years ago

    Well darn. I wish I was an Apple employee!

  9. Emiliano Sena - 9 years ago

    it should be free, just like the phone.

    • rogifan - 9 years ago

      You do realize that Apple has a lot more employees than when the iPhone first released. I think a 50% discount is quite generous.

      • Rich Davis (@RichDavis9) - 9 years ago

        I would have given a free watch to the Apple Store employees only and charge the rest 50%. Why? The Apple Store employees are on the front lines and they don’t paid enough for what they have to do on a daily basis, plus they are in front of the customer. 50% is still a good discount. I just know what the Apple Store employees have to put up with and I think they could use the moral boost every once in a while.

      • iJonni - 9 years ago

        You’re nuts if you think Apple Store employees don’t get paid enough. They are easily the highest paid employees in any retail environment. This is why they get loads of applications and have a 4 interview + screening process. Yes. There are kids at the Apple Store that make 14-25/hr. That’s not too damn shabby. So please relax with that nonsense. There will never be a good enough

    • Negative, The phone wasn’t free to every employee, and only AT&T users would have been able to use it.

      • o0smoothies0o - 9 years ago

        Shhhh you’re using intelligent reasoning as to why this differs from the phone.

      • babywrinkels - 9 years ago

        It was free to every full time employee, and every part time employee who had been there at least a year before launch day.

        Source: Was a part time employee hired in the 2 months leading up to the iPhone launch. If you weren’t on AT&T and had no desire to switch, the managers sorta turned a blind eye I think if you just resold it.

  10. bpmajesty - 9 years ago

    For the first time since being an  Employee, I just got jealous. haha!

  11. iphone6splus - 9 years ago

    I’d buy one for $200.

    • Steffen Jobbs - 9 years ago

      You’d probably be better off with some Android Wear smartwatch if you want to go bargain hunting. There will be plenty of discounts on those after AppleWatch hits the streets.

  12. Scott (@ohnoscotty) - 9 years ago

    I wonder if the EPP will be available for people who get Apple EPP though work (non apple employees) ?

  13. epicflyingcat - 9 years ago

    50%?! Wow, shows how much profit they’re making on these

    • appgarlaschelli - 9 years ago

      Or.. Shows How generous they are… (Or a combination of both)

    • Andrew Messenger - 9 years ago

      Sometimes, for marketing, you take a loss when there’s value involved. In this case, getting a watch on all your employees wrists is cheap marketing. With your reasoning, Apple should be able to manufacture and distribute the iPhone for free, since it was able to give free first generation iPhones to employees.

  14. xprmntr - 9 years ago

    Any chance these employees could sell their watches for a discount off the regular price?

    • Curtis Tunaley - 9 years ago

      If you get one as an employee you have keep said watch for 1 year and prove at end that you have had for 1 year before you can sell it..Apple also can audit you to see if you have it..

  15. Gazoo Bee - 9 years ago

    So now there are THREE “levels” of Apple customers, the “insiders” who work there, the “rich elite” who get preferential treatment, and the regular scum who pay through the nose to fund the whole thing. (the rest of us)

    • rogifan - 9 years ago

      I wasn’t aware you were forced to buy one of these things.

    • babywrinkels - 9 years ago

      Don’t feed the troll.

    • daitenshe - 9 years ago

      Do you ever make comments that aren’t whining, senseless rants? It’s seems like every time you post you make up a list of nonsensical things and then whine about it.

  16. Can you guys help me here:
    I want to preorder it Friday 00.01 AM. But I really don’t know which model, size or even which.
    After I pre-order it, Im thinking to go Friday morning to the Apple store to try it on.
    After I pre-order, is it easy to change or modify my order?
    Will they actually charge me for the pre-order or once they ship it?

    • babywrinkels - 9 years ago

      Since you don’t know which model: Get the Sport edition unless you have money to burn. You’re not a watch person if the idea of Aluminum vs. Stainless vs. Gold doesn’t make it immediately apparent, and there’s no reason to blow a huge load on a v1 product that will undoubtedly be vastly improved in the next 2 years.
      Since you don’t know which size: Go to any decent clothing store. Tell them you’re looking for a 42mm watch. Let them give you a few to try on. Don’t tell them you’re just getting a feel for size. If it feels too big, order the 38mm. If it feels just right, get the bigger one. Bigger watch will have a bigger screen and bigger battery (purportedly).
      I completely agree on going to the Apple Store to try one on. I’ll be doing the same.
      If you need to change your pre-order, I’d imagine there will be no issue unless the model you want has a slipped ship date already. This requires a basic level of competency to go online to Apple.com and specify a different model.
      All of Apple’s products are charge-when-ship.

  17. charismatron - 9 years ago

    Anyone interested in buying an Apple Watch would happily accept a 50% discount. Complaining about it because you’re not staff is just turning a benefit for others into your personal loss. It’s kind of like getting mad at someone for having a cookie while you’re on a diet!

    Coo-coo!

    • Steffen Jobbs - 9 years ago

      That only seems fair. If I have to suffer then everyone should suffer along with me because it might make me feel a little bit better. It’s like that saying, “Misery loves company.”

  18. tommynyc1 - 9 years ago

    Apple has 30,000 employees. Not every single one is going to buy week one. The # is negligible to make a difference.

  19. rike jokanan - 9 years ago

    Oooh…. 50%! Lucky they are.

  20. rike jokanan - 9 years ago

    Reblogged this on rike jokanan and commented:
    It’s another effective and efficient marketing.

  21. I work at a third part reseller….. So close. So close.

  22. I work at a third party reseller….. So close. So close.

  23. golephish - 9 years ago

    can’t wait to login to the employe store at 12:01 PDT

  24. golephish - 9 years ago

    oh man Marc you always get to leak the employee memos. you leaked the apple gift bag when I started at the fruit company.

  25. dlitten - 9 years ago

    Looks as if they have already been released to the rich and famous. Pharrell the coach on the voice looks to be wearing the pink sport watch airing right now which is April 6th. If you have a way to watch it checking out.

  26. Superman (@Codiwin) - 9 years ago

    I can take it to resell it :) why on earth i need to manage other device? i’m already fed up! Macbook, iMac, iPhone and iPad! now i have to get a watch too! come on Apple give me a break!

  27. I’d have an Apple Watch extension built into my app if I wasn’t trying to *still* fix and report serious issues caused by iOS 8. Unlike Apple, I choose to focus on quality first before overextending myself.

  28. Steve Jobs gave all corporate employees an iPhone when it was released.

  29. Ricky Ellmore - 9 years ago

    Here’s my plan. Go in to an Apple store, find an employee who has bought one (say the £300 one for £150, offer them £200 for THEIR watch, they make £50, I save £100, everyone wins.

  30. PMZanetti - 9 years ago

    Unlike any other Apple product, if an employee buys one, they will be WEARING in the store, at work. Hence the big discount, and major encouragement to buy one.

  31. kaaist5 - 9 years ago

    Sweet deal for Apple employees! If they offered me an Apple Watch at 50% off I might buy one too.

  32. horriblestar5 - 8 years ago

    Yeah, I am starting a series soon in blocksworld about someone taking over the Apple Store and steal some Apple Watch