Apple is reportedly installing some special safes that will house its upcoming 18-karat gold Apple Watch Edition, sources of 9to5 Mac have learned.
Last week, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced that the company will start shipping the Apple smartwatch beginning April after reporting a record profit of $18 billion. He didn't disclose the price of the wearable device, but according to Trusted Reviews, price tag will start at $349 for the regular style, $500 for the stainless steel edition, and as much as $5,000 for gold edition.
Now that we have an idea that the gold edition is worth thousands of dollars, it sounds rational for the Cupertino, Calif.-based company to install some special safes in its retail stores. The source added that the safes will store both the demo units and the to-be-sold units. Each safe is equipped with Apple Watch MagSafe chargers to keep the demo units fully charged overnight.
There will also be special weighing scales that should be available in each Apple store to weigh the amount of gold in case buyers return them or ask for a replacement. Store employees will also undergo training beginning mid-February so that they can properly demo the smartwatch.
Aside from preparing the special safes, the stores are also being reorganized to accommodate the Apple Watch displays. The company is expecting a surge of people wanting to try the smartwatch in different bands and colors so they want to make sure that enough space is provided.
Last December, a survey released by UBS analyst Steven Milunovich showed that 10 percent of iPhone users are "very likely" to buy the Apple Watch over the next 12 months. He also projected that Apple could sell 24 million smartwatches or $3.4 billion worth of sales, during the first nine months following its release based on its current consumer base. The sales are expected to double by 2016 and could reach 67 million smartwatches by 2018.
