Maybe the Apple Watch isn’t a flop after all.
Best Buy, the 1,050-unit retailer, will begin selling the controversial wrist gadget at every store in its chain by the end of next month — because “demand for [the] Apple Watch has been so strong,” Best Buy Chief Executive Officer Hubert Joly said during a conference call on Tuesday.
That flies in the face of downbeat reports from Wall Street analysts of late, who have estimated that Apple Watch sales have missed forecasts since the device launched last spring.
“How does the Apple Watch momentum compare to the [iPhone 6]? That would be too much detail, I think, at this point,” Joly told an analyst on the call.
Still, Joly said the Apple Watch’s “early momentum” is what “obviously … triggered the decision we have made” to sell the Apple Watch at every store.
That’s despite critical reviews of the new device, which have blasted it for being slow, hard to use and prone to glitches.
Earlier this month, Best Buy became the first US retailer to carry the Apple Watch outside Apple stores, beginning with about 100 locations.
Joly also reported better-than-expected second-fiscal-quarter results, which pushed Best Buy shares up by nearly 13 percent Tuesday, to $32.95.
Wall Street appeared just as excited about Best Buy’s increasingly cozy relationship with Apple as it was by Best Buy’s results.
Apple shares also appeared to benefit from Best Buy’s comments, rising 62 cents, to $103.74, despite worries about China sales that slammed its stock in recent sessions.
Best Buy, which recently began accepting Apple Pay at its stores, likewise is upgrading 740 locations with new fixtures and display tables for iPhones, MacBooks and Apple Watches.
The Richfield, Minn., retailer will also begin selling Apple Care warranties and is slated to become an authorized Apple service provider this fall, complementing Apple’s own “genius bars.”
It reported a 12 percent increase in profits on a 3.8 percent rise in same-store sales.