TL;DR
- Hermès withdraws luxury leather for Apple watch bands..
- Speculation about Apple’s environmental motives.
- Mark Gurman’s predictions are coming true.
- Uncertainty about the future of Apple-Hermès partnership.
- Expectations of new synthetic bands and casings.
Renowned purveyor of luxury goods, Hermès, has elected to withdraw its entire inventory of leather wristbands designed for the Apple Watch from its online emporium.
This shift in strategy unfolds a mere forty-eight hours before Apple’s highly anticipated unveiling of the Apple Watch Series 9 and the iPhone 15.
Remarkably, this move occurs precisely one week after Mark Gurman, an eminent figure at Bloomberg, speculated that Apple would embark on a trajectory away from employing leather in crafting iPhone cases and Hermès removes Apple Watch bands, citing environmentally and ecologically sound motivations.
In a recent discourse disseminated via the platform X, Gurman expounded upon the conceivable ramifications of Apple’s purported divergence from leather materials, especially concerning their established alliance with Hermès.
The prestigious purveyor had hitherto offered an opulent selection of leather straps tailored exclusively for the Apple Watch bands.
The astute Bloomberg correspondent, who boasts a commendable track record of predicting Apple’s strategic maneuvers, reissued a missive on the Lord’s Day, juxtaposing visual evidence of Hermès’ digital storefront before and after it expunged all reference to its leather wristbands intended for the Apple Watch.
Concurrently, 9to5Mac unveiled an empty Hermès product page that had, until the recent past, showcased an assortment of Apple Watch bands of exquisite craftsmanship.
The ramifications of this cessation of leather Apple Watch bands remain enigmatic. It raises the inquiry as to whether this signifies the culmination of Apple’s long standing partnership with Hermès or whether this illustrious merchant is merely preparing to rejuvenate its online marketplace with a novel array of non-leather accouterments, or conceivably even leather-based options, on the imminent Tuesday.
It is worth noting that, at the juncture of composing this exposition, Hermès’ digital emporium still proffers a gamut of leather accouterments tailored for Apple products, encompassing AirTag key fobs, cases for AirPods Pro, and a calf-hide casing designed for the iPhone 12.
Furthermore, Apple’s official website continues to showcase a plenitude of leather wristbands originating from the ateliers of Hermès.
Apple’s purported shift away from the utilization of this particular material may receive validation as early as this week during the revelation of the new Apple Watch and iPhone models.
This revelation may coincide with the introduction of an innovative repertoire of synthetic bands and casings, which may entirely supplant the leather alternatives.
Gurman recently asserted that issues pertaining to the environment and sustainability would assume a disproportionately substantial role in the events of the forthcoming September 12th launch.
Hence, it remains conceivable that Apple might disclose consequential developments in realms beyond the domain of timepieces and telephony.
Source(S): digitaltrends
