Microsoft Band inventory depleted online ahead of holiday season

Blazeblue, were you replying to me? Difficult to tell with the way the WC app displays comments.
Anyway, if you were replying to me, it is somewhat ironic that you make out my message to be bold and aggressive when yours is more so.
Jjmurphy already said they aren't interested in sales figures for products...my comment just shows how sales numbers can be useful.

It helps judge the demand for the device. If Microsoft made 10,000 and are sold out, okay. If they made 1,000,000 and sold out, clearly that places the success of the device in a different category entirely. Knowing the figures would help determine if the Band is really making its presence known in the fitness band market segment, or if it's just a curio some people are keen to own.

I wonder if jjmurphy was meaning in a personal sense. How does knowing those numbers affect us, our thoughts on the Band and our decision to purchase and use one (or not purchase)? And in that sense I think it's less relevant, to me at least. If I like what the band offers then I should buy one and enjoy it, if I don't then I shouldn't. If you're buying a Band on the promise of a large app market place and ongoing future upgrades & support then current sales figures could be an indicator but Microsoft has already stated that the Health platform is their real focus here and the Band is more of a prototype to engange other vendors.

Knowing how many sold can certainly be a decision for buying one. If only 10,000 were sold I know I would consider holding out due to it just being more of a passing fad. If 10,000,000 were sold, well now I know they have a prescense and I can hope for more updates and possibly an SDK and 3rd pary apps.

Local retail store? Ha!   Guess I'll be buying something else alltogether. Sort yourself out in the future MS.

I still don't understand why they made the band cross platform. If they only had that few bands made, I'm pretty sure they would have sold out even if it was exclusive to WP users. Now, some WP fans who are actually loyal customers don't have the chance to get one because of some undeserving Android and IOS users who have hundreds of other options.

Because making it cross platform was the intelligent thing to do. Apple and Google are taking the low road, trying to lock their users in. Microsoft is taking the high road: Offering products anyone can use, whether they buy android, iPhone or Windows. It's the smart thing to do.

Amen

Yeah, which doesn't even matter if nobody can buy it. If they already knew that had such a limited supply, they should at least let WP users have a chance to get it before everyone else.

Just wait for them to hit an international release in a few months time, then release V2 of the product to the US two or three months later, showing how much contempt they have for their customers again ala Surface Pro.

To get anyone famous using it they'd need to get it cross platform and WP has like none of the target market in the US.

Let's make all Microsoft websites only work in IE too, that's totally a healthy business move (... or not).

The band has metro design, its just a tricky way to promote WP and windows.

I have about decided to get Fitbit ChargeHR when it comes in January. Tired of waiting and supposed to be more comfortable.

I understand that MS retail stores are few and far between, but if you have one nearby I HIGHLY reccomend going to one if you're looking for a band.  My wife wanted to get one eventually, so we stopped by the store this weekend just to try it on.  Two or three associates told us that they were currently out of stock.  We did some browsing (read: bought an xbox one), and my wife looks over at a shelf and asks me: "are those bands?"  I picked up a box and realized that yes, they were.  I think they'd been restocked very recently (kept near the back of the store) and their presence hadn't been communicated up to the folks up front yet. 

How could they have so severely underestimated demand? Same with the white Xbox One bundles. Missed opportunities you can't get back.

They don't know how well a product will be received. You probably would have said the same thing if they had saturated the stores with Bands...like something similar to them trying to sell an unproven smartwatch

White Xboxs were limited edition. Limited quantities. Now as for the Band. Imagine if they had a largely built inventory. The Band could have been huge for Microsoft. But limited quantity suppressed the buzz.

This wasn't intended to be a huge blockbuster thing, though. I honestly don't think Microsoft anticipated people would actually be this excited for it.

Perhaps they don't want to further alienate other OEMs such as Fitbit? Just wished either MS bands or Fitbit with similar Band sensors were available up here in Canada! Dream on, eh?

Exactly. MSFT is more interested in licensing the tech than manufacturing hardware. They don't want to alienate Fitbit, which is a huge potential licensee of this tech...

If you go by Daniels logic from a while back, the band wasnt really meant to be a mainstream device. Also, the xbox analogy is pretty tough to maintain; you'd be hard pressed to find many people who would only buy an xbox that's white

Well I have mine and Very happy about that!! I hope others get one soon!

Do you love it or like it a lot?

From tech standpoint I LOVE it!!!

i love my MS band.  i recommend a fitness device to everyone.  it encourages people to be fit.  i track my sleep, heartbeat, steps, calories, etc with my band.

But not your weight, right? Seems like a bit of an omission on a health and fitness product/service no?

How can a fitness band track your weight? Weight is also a bad measure of fitness as when you build muscle you may gain or stay the same weight.

Mildmanneredjanitor, Support for weight tracking is considered. Remember that this is intended as not just a device launch, but also a platform launch. I've had my Band for about a week. The Band tracks my calorie burn. MyFitnessPal is also linked to my Microsoft Health account however, and lets me periodically enter my weight and easily track calorie intake. Heck, most of my diet comes from prepackaged food and I just scan the barcode in. MyFitnessPal displays a trend, letting me know based on intake and burn, and maybe a more complicated algorithm, what my expected weight loss or gain is expected to be over the next few weeks.
I already find myself making healthier choices based on that.

Got mine last weekend. Great product so far

Is it noticeable (feel and aesthetics) while its worn?

I've had mine for a couple weeks. I wear it on my non-dominant hand with the display facing inward. Comfort-wise, it's no different than a wristwatch. May feel odd at first but you'll quickly get used to it and hardly notice it's there. 

I want a band. Actually, I want a smartwatch with the best quartz and a flagship.

Recommend visiting the next Microsoft store? No problem, just walk around the corner and, wait no, we're in Europe. I forgot this one.

Haha, I want a MS Store in Rome!

You did know that the Microsoft Band only got a USA release just yet? So ofcourse there advise to go to a local  Microsoft store is reasonable and logical. Its an advise ment for American customers, not global. 

FYI- he likes to joke bro...and yes he's aware to make it clear -_-

Plenty of Americans dont have a local store either. It's not like they're Apple.

Well, that just makes things worse, wouldn't you agree? MS have a long history of forgetting about the world outside of USA.

Why cant they just make some more

If I'd have to guess, I'd say every single manufacturing plant on the planet is working overtime to put out gadgets for the Christmas season. However, since I have no clue where/how the bands are made that's just conjecture.

Seems reasonable, until you realize Microsoft is only trying not to step on the feet of their partners.

What happened to the Nokia manufacturing plants they bought? Did they shut all of them?
Nokia wouldn't have made this SNAFU.
What's the point of being a devices and services company if you can't get logistics and manufacturing right?

To be fair Nokia had far more experience in manufacturing than MS. It's kind of like expecting a middle schooler to be as proficient in a subject as a college professor.

So lame they wont release sales. Amazing if version 2 was available world wide before Xmas *dreaming*

Why do you need version 2, what's missing in current. I am enjoying my band in its current form. Any missing thing can be easily,upgraded via software at this time.

I love my band as it is but always looking forward to new sensors and new design.

Its like they made this and expected no one to buy it.

Maybe they were scared after the Surface RT fiasco.

Wow! It's not even Thanksgiving and they are out of stock. How many did they have in stock? 50

The guy at the local store said they got 230 at launch at that store, and sold them all.

More than fifty but it wouldn't surprise me if the number was in the low thousands.

They already said weeks ago it was well beyond 5000. Did you miss all the article or just have reading comprehension problems?

From this site "Microsoft says they have sold 'well beyond' 5,000 units of Microsoft Band". This was posted on the 17th.

A guess from what I've been told by MS Store employees in Orlando and other MS people I know is that they've sold about 15,000 since launch.  It's an educated guess, but MS wouldn't tell you how many they've sold if it was 10,000 or a million, but I've heard hints that after the last release of bands, it was near 15K.    That said, the Orlando staffers were told their initial stock was estimated to last them at least a month.  Microsoft didn't expect the strong response and erred on the side of caution.  Even for them, the Band is more of an experiment to start things off.  MS lowkeyed the announcement specifically because they weren't attempting to make a huge splash initially.    Was told to expect more releases throughout the holidays.  The MS Store employees have said that interest in the Band is drawing more people than ever into the MS Stores and attracting Apple Store patrons that are interested.  Expect them to have stock on hand when the Apple Watch launches.  A lot of the Apple users like the MS design more than they like the Apple design.

I checked the notify me when more was in stock option, I got the email but didn't purchase a band. Today I got an email stating what the article said but I got a $10 off promo code to use online. HP stream for $89 seems reasonable.

....and all of them went to eBay

Nope.

Dirty profiteering scum.

Looks like I got mine just in the nick of time. I absolutely love my Band.

Why don't they do preorders? Seems kind of stupid that they are not. Best of both worlds. The buyer knows he has a Band that will be coming and Microsoft gets a purchase. This whole lets put out 500 more Bands and see what happens thing is just stupid when the demand is much higher.

So that people will actually go to the MS stores. I think its smart.

Uh, no. I'm not driving 3 hrs to a MS store

For a pre order they also need to set a date, with this high demand and lower production rates in holidays it would be a challenge imo

Preorders are for unreleased items. If you want something similar to a preorder, my local MS store told me that I could give them my info and they'd let me know and hold one for me when they came in (a friend got one this way). I would imagine all MS stores are doing it if it's in the system for my little specialty mall kiosk.

It seems a bit odd that they have the inventory to keep stores stocked, but not the online store. It also seems odd that production wouldn't have ramped up. I'm guessing it's intentional. I wonder if they're afraid of flooding the market with a product that's technically still in Beta because it might backfire. Maybe will do a wider launch with a second version. But I suspect the main reason for this is simply to get people in the stores so that they don't look so dead compared to Apple stores.

I don't think they have enough for the stores either. I called the Lexington, KY store to see if I was still on the backorder list, and the guy says they have no regular shipment of Bands and talked like it would be quite a while before he got to me.

I already have the band but still got the 10 dollar offer woooo!!!!

I don't understand Microsoft sometimes. Posted from The Dark Side.

The MS store in Metairie, LA (New Orleans) has a ton of MS bands.

Do you have a local number that does not get routed through the MS Store exchange?  I will be in NO Thur & Sun if i can reserve one. I just spoke with a MS Store online rep and all inventory (which they have) is assigned to the back order fullfilment list for that store. The rep said the time it spends on that list is determined by the local manager. Usually 24 to 72 hours. If it is not picked up then it goes to the next person on the BO list. If there is any inventory left it goes to the floor. (Which makes perfect sense) She also said they will supply brick and morter stores only at this point. The online store is not expected to get inventory anytime soon.  When I asked what she meant by anytime soon she said after the holiday season. I have no idea if she knows she is talking about or not. It does make since they dont want a repeat of last week online. Knowing they cant produce enough for online consumtion why not make it B&M only.  

Sometimes this MS business model reminds me about Soviet Union. No wonder the WP market share is so low. We are all the time sold "out of stock", "not coming to your market", "coming to your market 6 months after the release date".

Soviet union? Are you high?

But when Apple runs out of phones they are the greatest in the world right. If you really think they are holding back then you don't know business. When you make a superior product people will wait. It's been proven.

Rubbish analogy.
Apple sell millions of iPhone's in a weekend & run out of stock.
Microsoft sell 15,000 Band's and drain their entire inventory!
There comes a time where Microsoft have to focus on getting products into retail channels.
The same applies to Microsoft's Lumia strategy.

Citation required.

They should have made more than 5000

You should have read the clear statement from MS that they had far more than 5,000. Of what point is it to keep posting a false rumor?

"Far more than 5,000" is incredibly vague. They should be open about how much they hav sold if they want to get rid of these rumours.

Eh, not really. The only ones throwing that number around are internet trolls (certain bloggers and tech sites included) and people annoyed that their band/watch of choice isn't getting as much publicity. It would be nice to know how many have been sold but it's not that big a deal.

I really thought Microsoft had finally stumbled their way to how to do a product launch. Now this? Maybe Microsoft is trying hard to not step on OEM toes, but this just makes Microsoft look like they really don't have any kind of clue. In what scenario does this at all benefit them? Proof of concept? Which concept? How to Piss Off Customers and Alienate People?

There are two sides to that coin. Some people may perceive the product more favourably if they think it's popular - something the iPhone has benefited from to some degree for a long time. That's also why some accuse Microsoft, likely in error, of limiting supply with the direct purpose of creating that impression.

Oh, I don't doubt there is more to the story. However, Microsoft could have saved a lot of face by handling this differently. For starters, let people preorder online. Telling people to visit their local store when they are as hard to come by as the Band for most people adds insult to perceived injury. Maybe Microsoft is gearing up for big Christmas sales at major retailers as had been reported before, but doubtful we'll being setting that play out the next six weeks.

My holiday season was in June. Could the headline perhaps be talking about... Christmas? The other dreaded 'C' word?

Whenever I think about Microsoft's product launch team, I always hear the Benny Hill music in my head.

As always bring the band to canada!

They have bands at the new Microsoft store in Cerritos, ca. Went there yesterday. They have 20+. Maybe sold out by now though.

Buy them up sell them on eBay. There about 350 to 500...

Yeah same here! Went there yesterday and they have a lot. Able to snag a medium!

I'll just put in an order and hope it ships sometime before the 24th. If not, no harm done ;)

Its all well and good not wanting to step on partners shoes, but I want wrist based notifications and voice activation of Cortana, but nobody else offers this in a way that works with my phone

Microsoft is horrible at estimating public demand.  why dont they release the products world wide.  Nokia had the best distribution network and yet they dont use the one they purchased paying billions of dollars. btw, i love my band.  it is an awesome device.  it is helping me change my lifestyle and be fit.

Got that "lol, sorry, we are gonna be out for a long time...here's a $10 coupon!" email today as well. I have a band. Barely used. May eBay that sucka...

People are seeking then on eBay and Amazon for almost double what Microsoft is seeking then for. Basic principles of economics; supply and demand.

Wait I got the email but no $10 gift code.

I just bought one today after I could make it to the mall as I was at work. There was a lot in stock of all sizes, about 6 x 2 deep of boxes. I was at the Somerset Mall Collection in Troy, MI.

I was lucky enough to get a MS Band a week and a half ago (Austin, Texas). I LOVE the device and I really like where they are going with the tech. I am very skeptical of the numbers sold. I would guess 20,000-40,000 units. Taking into consideration the spontaneous release, lack of leaks before the release, large number of sensors, and the lower price I would say this device was not released to be a Christmas knockout. I think MS is mining information from those who were able to buy one. They are looking how MS Health will be used with the device and fine tuning the device. It is a smart way to show other companies the potential of the sensors. This ain't no apple watch! I think Microsoft has huge plans for health and they are much bigger than a single hardware release. Also, I am transfixed on the four screws that open up to the batteries... possible upgrade potential? Wireless charging expansion? I don't know... now let's all continue to justify buying this great device! ;)

Naturally, my wife just measured her wrist today for fitment. LOL!

I literally just picked my band up this afternoon at a microsoft store in st louis. Some have it, some don't, the st louis one appeared to be fully stocked. The person who helped me said the demand was pretty high, and noted that they "completely sold out" 70 units on the first day, if that puts it in any perspective. Twas definitely something Microsoft didn't see gaining that much traction, but apparently is. If you're still looking for them, there are a few that have predictably popped up on eBay, most above but some at the $200 price point. Otherwise, pretty much need to wait for the online store to eventually stock them again.

The band was a prof of concept on a min. production run in my opinion. Look for V2 next year.

Local store? I have one on backorder since 10/31 at my store and they still havent called me to pick it up.

No UK launch for Christmas then? :(

Sorry Sam there is only America

Just wondering, didn't they expect this product to sell? Sadly but true, once again the EU are not included in the Microsoft Strategy - I will never get access to the Band

I got on the waiting list at my local Microsoft store on launch day and also signed up for notifications on-line. The store called me back a week later, so I've had my Band for awhile now...but I also just got the $10 coupon from the on-line store. Win win!

 MS,IF YOU CAN MET SUPPLY AND DEMAND ,WHY THE TEASE.

Now and sure, that i won´t be lucky to had one of the Microsoft band for this holiday, I don t understand why it so complicated, this  are the reason why Microsoft have to improve in couple of things, If they wanna to competre with Cupertino people, This  it is the wrong way to do it. The only thing it look clear to me, with this Microsoft Band Gate, Microsoft even imagined such a great product in his hands. That it sad, i hope they fix this soon.