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Is Apple Watch a hit?

Jefferson Graham
USA TODAY

Shoppers look at Apple Watch at Apple Store in Palo Alto

LOS ANGELES—No matter how you look at it, the new Apple Watch is no iPhone/iPad-type monster hit.

You can't currently buy Apple's latest new product in stores, availability online for new orders won't be fulfilled until late June/early July, and now Apple's exec in charge of Watch sales, in a panel closely watch by tech insiders , won't reveal sales numbers.

"Fantastic," is the best Apple senior vice-president Jeff Williams could give the crowd at the Code conference near Los Angeles.

That's a contrast with other new-product launches, where Apple has touted its 10 million iPhones sold after the first weekend. Ahead of the sales launch, some analysts had forecast Apple could sell from 8 million to 40 million Watches this year.

Williams, Apple's head of operations, told the journalist interviewing him Wednesday that Millennials don't wear watches, and that Apple was entering a market where other products aren't doing that well.

The company has sold "a lot, but not enough," Williams said.

Apple launched the Watch on April 24th to massive hype, and pre-order sales sold out before the official launch day of the watch. It was only available for sale at one physical U.S. location, in Los Angeles, and a handful of stores in Asia and Europe.

But tight supplies doesn't necessarily mean heavy demand.

Production issues have stymied Apple to get more inventory available for sale. When customers came into Apple stores on the 24th, they were told to order it online for home delivery, which had a four-to-five week backlog.

Today, if you try to buy the watch at Apple.com, there's the same delivery timeframe.

While availability for the watch hasn't improved, there are more apps available to download. Apple now has 4,000 available, up from 3,500 on April 24th.

Decent numbers. But the ones that will indicate whether Watch is a hit—the sales—are still elusive.

Follow Jefferson Graham on Twitter at @jeffersongraham

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