UAE customers take a time out over pricey Apple Watch

Apple has given no indication as to when its latest device will become available officially in the UAE, but Apple Watch was available for sale via grey market channels just days after its official international launch on April 24.

A customer tries on an Apple Watch in Hong Kong. Apple has given no indication as to when its latest device will become available officially in the UAE. Kin Cheung / AP Photo

Barely two weeks after the Apple Watch’s high-profile launch, the device is becoming increasingly available – at swiftly falling prices – across a growing number of grey market UAE outlets.

Yet while Apple has said that international sales of the devices are “very good”, uptake among the UAE’s affluent gadget lovers has yet to replicate the success of the iPhone or iPad

The Apple Watch was available for sale via grey market channels across the country just days after its official international launch on April 24.

However the small numbers of watches available via traditional wholesale sources meant that the few devices that were to be had were extremely expensive, according to Omar Kassim, founder of local online marketplace jadopado.com

“There was very little inventory initially available for those trying to source the Apple Watch for the grey market in key markets like Hong Kong and the UK,” he said. “The stock that was coming in was coming in little drips, at ridiculous prices, as much as $1,200 for the entry level Sport edition.”

Availability of wholesale stock has improved in the past week, however, with prices more than halving as a result, he said.

But increased availability and lower prices have not yet translated into a huge uptick in sales.

“There has been demand as prices have slipped, but is it an iPhone-esque launch? Not yet,” said Mr Kassim.

“It’s still an early adopter product. There’s curiosity from the mass market, but no huge appetite yet.”

The increased availability of stock has lead to an increased number of bricks and mortar stores offering the watch, with the price going down on an almost daily basis.

Lulu Hypermarket last week quietly started selling the 38mm Apple Watch Sport in selected stores, for Dh3,099, with the prices dropping Dh200 just two days later.

However an official at one of the hypermarket’s outlets in Abu Dhabi said that, while there had been plenty of interest in the watch, they had not sold any units as of yesterday [Saturday] morning, with interested customers unable to see the product out of its box, and therefore reluctant to hand over their cash.

Such lukewarm sentiment is on display on Abu Dhabi’s Defence Road, the traditional destination for the capital’s grey market mobile devices – while virtually all had stocked the iPhone 6 in advance of its official UAE launch, less than half of those surveyed last week offered the Apple Watch.

While one retailer reported about 15 watches sold over the past two weeks, another retailer three doors down reported just 6 sales in the same period.

“People are interested but it’s still seen as very expensive,” said one shop owner in Abu Dhabi, who asked not to be named, on Thursday afternoon.

“Wholesale prices are still above the price of a basic iPhone 6, and people are reluctant to pay.”

But while sales have so far been slow, one mobile customer at a shop on Defence Road suggested that a certain segment of Emirati customers have found a novel answer to the question tech analysts have puzzled over for years, namely: what it is about smartwatches that make them worth buying?

“A few of my friends who are doing national service recently bought Apple Watches,” he said, asking not to be named.”

“When you do your national service you’re not allowed to take your phone out of your pocket, but you’re allowed to wear a watch. So they use their Apple Watch to check Facebook and so on, while keeping their phones out of sight.”

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