Apple Watch Sales to Be Online-Only Through May

SAN FRANCISCO, United States — People looking to walk in to an Apple Inc. store to buy an Apple Watch after it goes on sale next week will have to wait until at least June to do so.

Apple is keeping orders to its website because of limited supplies and high demand, Angela Ahrendts, the company's head of retail, said in a memo to staff members that was published earlier by the website 9to5Mac.

While the watch officially goes on sale April 24, Apple has already predicted that many deliveries won’t arrive until June or July. The company began taking pre-orders on April 10.

Limiting orders to its website is a new strategy for Apple, which has traditionally attracted long lines of customers to its stores when a new device goes on sale. Instead, the stores are being used as showrooms for people to test out the new wearable gadget.

Apple declined to comment on the report.

By Adam Satariano. Editors: Jillian Ward, Andrew Pollack, Cecile Daurat.