Apple's wearables business nearly size of Fortune 300 company, CEO Tim Cook says

AppleInsider

Apple CEO Tim Cook provided a bit of color on the company's wearables business during Tuesday's shareholders meeting, saying combined Apple Watch, AirPods and Beats headphones revenue is nearing that of a Fortune 300 company.

As usual, Cook failed to provide specific sales figures for any of Apple's wearable line, according to coverage of the event from AppleInsider's Dan Dilger.

"I'm not a big fan of that word," Cook said, referring to the term "wearables."

Whatever Cook wants to call it, sales of Apple Watch, AirPods and Beats are growing. Thought to be leading the charge, at least in terms of revenue, is the premium priced Apple Watch.

A late entry to the segment, Apple has dominated the smartwatch industry since the first Apple Watch debuted in 2015. Driven by strong demand for Apple Watch Series 3, Apple Watch saw its best quarter ever in the recently ended first fiscal quarter of 2018, exhibiting 50 percent sales growth year-over-year.

Over the same period, estimates from market analyst Canalys had Apple ship more Watch units than the entire Swiss watch industry, a first for any smartwatch maker.

Beyond Watch, AirPods remain a hot seller and is consistently out of stock on Apple's online storefront.

Cook also offered commentary on Apple Pay, saying, "Mobile payments have taken off slower than I would have thought."

Apple's first-party payments product has experienced rapid growth over the past 12 months, Cook said, noting fast-paced adoption in Russia and China where PCs are being passed over for mobile devices. Apple Pay has also benefited from its built-in transit integrations, which have been a hit with commuters in Japan and the UK.

Finally, discussing Apple's health initiatives, Cook said the company looks at medical devices as a benefit to end users without paying heed to whether the government will reimburse the contributions. This freedom allows Apple to develop advancements that would otherwise go undiscovered by firms primarily concerned about Medicare or Medicaid compensation.

Spearheading Apple's health efforts are Apple Watch and a series of health-focused apps including Health, and the HealthKit, ResearchKit and CareKit frameworks.

LukeCage

Keep pouring it on Tim, these naysayers need to hear it. Everyone who poo poo the Beats acquisition, who said Apple Watch was too late to the party, who said AirPods are too expensive and was looking for a problem to solve. Let them hear it so they can move on to the next Apple product to bash... looking at you HomePod. 

lkrupp

LukeCage said:

Keep pouring it on Tim, these naysayers need to hear it. Everyone who poo poo the Beats acquisition, who said Apple Watch was too late to the party, who said AirPods are too expensive and was looking for a problem to solve. Let them hear it so they can move on to the next Apple product to bash... looking at you HomePod. 

The naysayers have so much egg on their faces they look like an egg salad sandwich without the mayo. I do notice that they are no quite as strident as they used to be. Maybe they got tired of looking stupid on the Internet. 

chasm

For reference: the current holder of position #300 on the Fortune 500 is Alcoa. Revenue for 2017: $9.3 billion.

Soli

AppleInsider said:

Apple CEO Tim Cook provided a bit of color on the company's wearables business during Tuesday's shareholders meeting, saying combined Apple Watch, AirPods and Beats headphones revenue is nearing that of a Fortune 300 company.

[…]

"I'm not a big fan of that word," Cook said, referring to the term "wearables." 

1) I think its clear the Apple Watch makes up the bulk of those three items, but I'd love for Apple to break them out into unit sales and revenue.

2) I think "wearables" are the perfect name for all three items since, ya know, they're all worn. I look forward to even more wearables down the road.

macmarcus

I bought a Series 3 Apple Watch (didn't own a 1 or 2) specifically because it offered cellular connectivity (so could go sans iPhone now and then) and to participate in the Apple Heart Study (no heart issues - that I know of LOL I hope!) since it will lead to some meaningful heart data for everyone's benefit. I didn't know if I wanted another device to manage and charge but I found I liked it. Could I live without it, sure, but nice to have. Now with respect to my iPhone and MacBook, I can't live without those. Hopefully Apple continues to make the Apple Watch more compelling with each new series.

chasm

Soli said:

1) I think its clear the Apple Watch makes up the bulk of those three items, but I'd love for Apple to break them out into unit sales and revenue.

Actually, in terms of units sold its probably Beats by a very wide margin, with AirPods second. I'm speculating just like you are, but I'm basing this on how many of each thing I see on regular people over the course of my travels. Anecdotal to be sure, but Beats is way more popular than I think non-hip-hop people realize. Apple likely makes back that $3B they paid for it in revenue every year.

In terms of revenue, the Apple Watch is probably the tops, since its average selling price is above $300, but I wouldn't think Beats would be too far behind on that score. That ... er, stuff ... is pricey, and Apple can't be selling too many of those $1,250 ceramic Edition watches. AirPods I would think are one of Apple's lowest-profit hardware items, as they are priced very aggressively.

racerhomie3

Medicaid & Medicare is bankrupting the country!
No , the military is not.

kamilton

racerhomie3 said:

Medicaid & Medicare is bankrupting the country!
No , the military is not.

In late 2008, unregulated oligarchs bankrupted the US government and several other countries.  Over a trillion in debt (US bonds) were sold to China just to keep our banking system solvent.  The mentality that caused the Great Recession is back at work.  Watch close for a good sell date.  If you’re an American, best prepare you parents and grandparents for an early death from lack of Medicare coverage.  

GeorgeBMac

racerhomie3 said:

Medicaid & Medicare is bankrupting the country!
No , the military is not.

Please save your political propaganda for a political website.  Especially the really, really asinine stuff like this crap.

techprod1gy

kamilton said:

racerhomie3 said:

Medicaid & Medicare is bankrupting the country!
No , the military is not.

In late 2008, unregulated oligarchs bankrupted the US government and several other countries.  Over a trillion in debt (US bonds) were sold to China just to keep our banking system solvent.  The mentality that caused the Great Recession is back at work.  Watch close for a good sell date.  If you’re an American, best prepare you parents and grandparents for an early death from lack of Medicare coverage.  

What?

foggyhill

kamilton said:

racerhomie3 said:

Medicaid & Medicare is bankrupting the country!
No , the military is not.

In late 2008, unregulated oligarchs bankrupted the US government and several other countries.  Over a trillion in debt (US bonds) were sold to China just to keep our banking system solvent.  The mentality that caused the Great Recession is back at work.  Watch close for a good sell date.  If you’re an American, best prepare you parents and grandparents for an early death from lack of Medicare coverage.  

The next bankrupting will come from mr turd in charge and his turd like "tax cut" (sic) (borrowing to cut taxes in the hope it will somehow come back as revenue in the future, where have we seen that before despite never ever working cause instead that money is plowed into assets are in leveraging stock buys).  Most debt, including then, is held by people in the US and the Chinese debt wasn't all raised in 2008, so not sure what you're smoking. Where it is raised is a mere side show anyway. In 2008, debt rose up because of unfunded commitments from the Bush era (including tax cut, war, etc), revenues going down (Great recession) and a big one time spending agreed on in late 2008 while Bush was still in office (the $700B one) that somehow was blamed on the Dems for partisan reason.. .Most the ACA spendings only hit in the last few years and are generally neutral cause they're offset by other things inside a few years (unlike the tax cuts, which are never offset).

Soli

chasm said:

Soli said:

1) I think its clear the Apple Watch makes up the bulk of those three items, but I'd love for Apple to break them out into unit sales and revenue.

Actually, in terms of units sold its probably Beats by a 

very wide margin, with AirPods second. I'm speculating just like you are, but I'm basing this on how many of each thing I see on regular people over the course of my travels. Anecdotal to be sure, but Beats is way more popular than I think non-hip-hop people realize. Apple likely makes back that $3B they paid for it in revenue every year. 

In terms of revenue, the Apple Watch is probably the tops, since its average selling price is above $300, but I wouldn't think Beats would be too far behind on that score. That ... er, stuff ... is pricey, and Apple can't be selling too many of those $1,250 ceramic Edition watches. AirPods I would think are one of Apple's lowest-profit hardware items, as they are priced very aggressively.  

I should've been more clear. While I would like them to break out unit numbers, my comment about the Apple Watch making up the bulk of the other wearables was in regards to Cook's statement about it being a Fortune 300 company in and of itself, which obviously refers to revenue.

SpamSandwich

racerhomie3 said:

Medicaid & Medicare is bankrupting the country!
No , the military is not.

You took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up in an unrelated thread.

MacPro

Where is Gatorguy?  He normally disses pro Apple threads with a load of quotes Google HQ send him.