Parallel Imported Apple Watches available

The Apple Watch in action. Not many Kiwis are expected to queue for Apple's latest device. Photo / Getty Images

Kiwis keen to get their hands on an Apple Watch early can pay a premium and buy one through Parallel Imported.

While two Noel Leeming stores are listed on Apple's website as the only bricks-and-mortar store to get the product in Auckland when it launches on July 31, Parallel Imported has been selling the devices for the past few weeks.

Parallel Imported's website lists a variety of Apple watches for sale, some at a $100 premium to what they will go for when they officially launch.

Parallel Imported's Candice Fuller said prices will reduce when the devices go on sale elsewhere.

One shipment of the high-tech timepieces had sold out but Fuller could not say how many it contained, citing commercial sensitivity.

Come July 31, New Zealanders can buy the product directly from Apple's website and will pay NZ$599 for the sports version and NZ$21,000 for a rose-gold cased version.

Whether there is much appetite for the watch here is another story, with one expert saying it will probably attract only "early adopters" and executives.

Technology commentator Peter Griffin said that with an entry-level price of $599, the Apple Watch was an expensive product.

"I see it remaining the domain of executives and early adopters for the time being," Griffin said.

"There's good scope for bundling deals with iPhones and other Apple products. But it is a first generation model and experience with other smart watches, such as the Samsung Gear, shows that innovation progresses rapidly.

"By the time consumers really warm to this thing, a couple of generations of watches will have passed and hopefully the price will have come down," he said.

But there is scope for bargain hunting wannabes.

New Zealanders are already ordering lookalike versions of the watch from Chinese retail giant AliExpress for US$54.

A lookalike "A9 Smart Watch" boasts many of the same features as the real thing, although one man with knowledge of the technology said it was unlikely to be as finessed or robust as the genuine product.

The official Apple device includes a rectangular touch-screen face, sensors to detect pulse rates and other health-related features and must be paired with an iPhone to work properly.

The watch was released in April to excited crowds, however last month it was announced that sales for the watch had plummeted by 90 per cent.

Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri said this week that the company beat its internal expectations for the watch and that the number of them sold in the first nine weeks was greater than the number of iPhones or iPads that the company sold in a comparable period after those products launched.

-additional reporting: AP