Tech giant Apple is giving out a rare surprise $50 discount if you buy an Apple Watch or an Apple Watch Sport alongside an iPhone at the same time. But while the amount can be seen as too "Scroogy," it is still significant as Apple is known to be too stingy and does not believe in discounts.
According to The Verge, the offered discount represents only a six percent off even if buy the cheapest iPhone and Apple Watch models. Indeed, the Cupertino-based tech giant only offers stingy discounts only during back-to-school and Black Friday sales.
MacRumours writes, "The promotion is available at participating Apple Store locations in California and Massachusetts, including Burlingame, Chestnut Street, Corte Madera, Hillsdale, San Francisco and Stonestown in the Bay Area, and Boylston Street, Burlington, CambridgeSide and Chestnut Hill in the Boston metro area.
"Apple confirmed that the promotion runs from October 30 through November 15, 2015, and is not available online. The deal does not require purchasing AppleCare+ or other accessories and add-ons. The offer is only valid when the qualifying iPhone and Apple Watch are purchased together on one transaction."
The Verge hinted that Apple might just be testing the waters if the bundled sales could boost sales of Apple Watch. Apple might expand the offer across the country if the bundled deal proves to be successful.
A report by PC Mag claimed that the limited promotion could indicate that sales of Apple Watches are not meeting its target. Apple has been reluctant to release sales figures of its Apple Watch but the discounts could be saying a lot that it is not as good as the company has anticipated.
Apple CEO Tim Cook commented during Apples first earnings call since the release of the Apple Watch, "That was not a matter of not being transparent. It was a matter of not giving our competition insight on a product that we've worked really hard on."
Apple CFO Luca Maestri said in June that sales of Apple Watches reached more than $952 million as of that period.
An independent report from Forbes has also speculated that the discount offering could point to flagging sales of the Apple Watch. Forbes cited data by Pacific Crest Securities analyst Andy Hargreaves who suggested that demand for Apple Watch was slowing quickly. Hargreaves predicted that Apple Watch sales for 2015 would reach 10.5 million - 500,000 less than his initial estimates. A separate estimate by Fortune placed the prediction at 3.95m units sold, again another lowered estimate than their original.
