Apple Senior Vice President of Retail Angela Ahrendts sent a video to Apple Store retail employees explaining the decision to limit initial Apple Watch orders to online only. In the video, which was posted by French site Mac4Ever (via 9to5Mac), Ms. Ahrendts delivers a very personal address that goes deeper into points she made in a written memo earlier in April, and stresses that Apple launched two new products at one time, Apple Watch and MacBook.
Angela Ahrendts - "This is not just a new product for us."
In the video, the former Burberry CEO said that the decision to limit initial sales to its online store "was not an easy one," and that it was done to better meet initial demand. She stressed that it was due to "unique" circumstances, and that Apple wasn't going to handle future product rollouts in a similar manner.
Ms. Ahrendts also noted that because the new MacBook has just one port, a USB-C port for charging and data, migration for many customers will be vastly different compared to previous Macs. She told employees to be ready for questions about that, and directed them to internal training materials to help them help customers. Her emphasis on the topic suggests this is an early point of heightened interest for new owners.
The video posted by Mac4Ever was clearly a video taken of the video, rather than an original copy, and the audio includes a significant echo. Here it is in full: