4 ms·

I truly wonder. Why is Apple doing that? If I'm not mistaken, it is a small niche in terms of revenue. My hypothesis is that this is perhaps a new approach for

by _l7dh 4y ago

I truly wonder. Why is Apple doing that? If I'm not mistaken, it is a small niche in terms of revenue. My hypothesis is that this is perhaps a new approach for marketing: find hobbies that correlate the most with the populations with the biggest potential revenue, taking into account the networking and demographic effects within such a population. Just throwing this off the top of my head. Bear with me :-).

jackdh 4y ago
Diving has a much larger market than you'd initially believe. For instance, consider all of watch brands which have basically created an entire company under the premise of diving.
the_other 4y ago
Everything about the Ultra model is like this. It's pure aspiration porn made physical. It worked really well for Apple in the '00s. Their computer hardware was expensive enough that most people wouldn't think to buy it over a similar PC. Today, Apple's phones, watches and tablets are much more commodity items (cue someone telling me the sales figures tell a different story). The economics are still largely the same now, but the perception of Apple hardware has changed. They use the XDR screen, the Mac Pro (the big boxy one) and now the Ultra series watch to create the sense of mystique.
idreyn 4y ago
I think that's basically right. They've been weaving "high-status outdoor adventuring" into their brand for a long time — think about the codenames High Sierra and Mavericks, or going to an Apple store and seeing a ski trip under planning in the sample iMessages. A big part of the way Apple signals their products as clean, healthy, and high-status is by depicting themselves as exactly that sort of people. (Not to imply that this is particularly disingenuous, but they know exactly what they're doing)
fundad 4y ago
Fashion is my simple answer. I think serving the niche well promotes sales among people with disposable income. People like it for looks.
- stevekemp 4y ago
  There are certainly millions of people who wear Submariners without any desire to go underwater. Though I suspect more people would regard the submariner line as better looking than any smart watch, albeit less capable.

by _l7dh 4y ago

jackdh 4y ago

Diving has a much larger market than you'd initially believe. For instance, consider all of watch brands which have basically created an entire company under the premise of diving.

the_other 4y ago

Everything about the Ultra model is like this. It's pure aspiration porn made physical. It worked really well for Apple in the '00s. Their computer hardware was expensive enough that most people wouldn't think to buy it over a similar PC. Today, Apple's phones, watches and tablets are much more commodity items (cue someone telling me the sales figures tell a different story). The economics are still largely the same now, but the perception of Apple hardware has changed. They use the XDR screen, the Mac Pro (the big boxy one) and now the Ultra series watch to create the sense of mystique.

idreyn 4y ago

I think that's basically right. They've been weaving "high-status outdoor adventuring" into their brand for a long time — think about the codenames High Sierra and Mavericks, or going to an Apple store and seeing a ski trip under planning in the sample iMessages. A big part of the way Apple signals their products as clean, healthy, and high-status is by depicting themselves as exactly that sort of people. (Not to imply that this is particularly disingenuous, but they know exactly what they're doing)

fundad 4y ago

Fashion is my simple answer. I think serving the niche well promotes sales among people with disposable income. People like it for looks.

stevekemp 4y ago
There are certainly millions of people who wear Submariners without any desire to go underwater. Though I suspect more people would regard the submariner line as better looking than any smart watch, albeit less capable.