Apple Watch still holds top smartwatch sales spot, even with short Series 2 availability
In a smartwatch market challenged by low demand and new product release timing, Apple continues to hold the top spot for quarterly sales in the segment, despite not shipping the Series 1 and 2 until the last two weeks of the reporting period.
According to research firm IDC, in the third quarter all smartwatch vendors combined shipped 2.7 million units -- just 48.4 percent of the year-ago quarter. Apple held 41.3 percent of sales, coming in at 1.1 million units.
Garmin held the second spot with around 600,000 units shipped, and Samsung placed third at 400,000. The data has limited impact from the Apple Watch Series 1 and 2, or discounted sales of the original Apple Watch. The market may also be hamstrung by Google not releasing Android Wear 2.0 as of yet.
In the third quarter of 2015, Apple sold around 3.9 million Apple watches, even with limited retail availability at the time.
"Apple revealed a new look and feel to watchOS that did not arrive until the launch of the second generation watch at the end of September," said IDC. "Google's decision to hold back Android Wear 2.0 has repercussions for its OEM partners as to whether to launch devices before or after the holidays. Samsung's Gear S3 ... has yet to be released. Collectively, this left vendors relying on older, aging devices to satisfy customers."
According to release day statistics, a sizable chunk of Apple Watch Series 2 pre-orders went to customers who own the original Apple Watch, while millennials replaced Gen-X as the largest buyer demographic. Millennials were the largest pre-order group over the four-day sample period, accounting for 39 percent of initial Series 2 purchases.
Women accounted for 26 percent of pre-orders of the 2016 Apple Watch lineup, up from 20 percent with the original Apple Watch. Early adopters appear to be gravitating toward larger Series 2 model, with 66.6 percent of buyers opting for the 42mm version instead of 38mm variants.
Apple announced Apple Watch Series 2 at a special event in September. The wearable is externally similar to its predecessor, but contains internal improvements including a faster dual-core processor, GPS radio, brighter display, larger battery, and water resistance down to 50 meters.
For the latest pricing and current availability on Apple Watch Series 2 models, please visit our Apple Watch Price Guide.
According to research firm IDC, in the third quarter all smartwatch vendors combined shipped 2.7 million units -- just 48.4 percent of the year-ago quarter. Apple held 41.3 percent of sales, coming in at 1.1 million units.
Garmin held the second spot with around 600,000 units shipped, and Samsung placed third at 400,000. The data has limited impact from the Apple Watch Series 1 and 2, or discounted sales of the original Apple Watch. The market may also be hamstrung by Google not releasing Android Wear 2.0 as of yet.
In the third quarter of 2015, Apple sold around 3.9 million Apple watches, even with limited retail availability at the time.
"Apple revealed a new look and feel to watchOS that did not arrive until the launch of the second generation watch at the end of September," said IDC. "Google's decision to hold back Android Wear 2.0 has repercussions for its OEM partners as to whether to launch devices before or after the holidays. Samsung's Gear S3 ... has yet to be released. Collectively, this left vendors relying on older, aging devices to satisfy customers."
According to release day statistics, a sizable chunk of Apple Watch Series 2 pre-orders went to customers who own the original Apple Watch, while millennials replaced Gen-X as the largest buyer demographic. Millennials were the largest pre-order group over the four-day sample period, accounting for 39 percent of initial Series 2 purchases.
Women accounted for 26 percent of pre-orders of the 2016 Apple Watch lineup, up from 20 percent with the original Apple Watch. Early adopters appear to be gravitating toward larger Series 2 model, with 66.6 percent of buyers opting for the 42mm version instead of 38mm variants.
Apple announced Apple Watch Series 2 at a special event in September. The wearable is externally similar to its predecessor, but contains internal improvements including a faster dual-core processor, GPS radio, brighter display, larger battery, and water resistance down to 50 meters.
For the latest pricing and current availability on Apple Watch Series 2 models, please visit our Apple Watch Price Guide.
Comments
The main problem was the OS. It's a shame that WatchOS 3 couldn't have shipped with the original hardware. WatchOS 3 is such a radical improvement over the original. Offhand, I cannot think of any software update that has ever brought such massive performance improvements to a computer-like device. The improvement in the logic of the UI is also very substantial.
The other problem was that they went a bit too far in marketing and pricing the Apple Watch as a luxury watch. Most people are not going to pay luxury watch prices for a product that is obsolete in two years, unless there's an upgrade path. Now we know that there was no upgrade path -- Apple actually expected people to spend $500+ on a new watch every two years. That's not going to happen. They seem to now have mostly fixed the marketing and pricing.
Regarding the original OS.... yeah. It's almost as if the person running that project would have put Adobe Flash on iPhones.
And actually one thing I don't like about it is in some places they got rid of force touch and replaced it with swipes. Previously you would force touch to end a workout. Now you swipe right. I would have preferred if they left force touch but added the other as just another option. Some people don't like but I personally love it, just like I love 3D Touch and the haptic feedback on iPhone.
WTF does that even mean? Market share is the number of actual devices purchased/still in use. Shipments do not equal market share. This is particularly true in tech and has been shown to be self-evident by the numerous write downs taken by large tech companies over the last few years with their pathetic attempts to unseat Apple. Yep, they shipped a lot of units ... that sat on the shelf gaining dust until they were ultimately returned or destroyed, or in Samsung's case given away on BOGO type deals.
So let me get this straight. In other product categories they use Apple's actual reported sales numbers vs the competitions shipped numbers in addition to the nebulous "Other" category which can be pretty much whatever they want to skew the narrative towards their paying clients desires. Even then they often have to portray it as Apple against the entire industry (IOS vs Andriod) or an defined Apple product vs. anything remotely comparable (smartwatch vs anything that can be worn over a wrist ... evening gloves?). Apple does not report Apple Watch numbers so IDC has no actual sales numbers on any of the companies, they have more or less questionable shipped numbers from the different vendors (nothing from Apple), which again makes determining market share super accurate. The sad thing is, I can't tell if this IDC report being entirely devoid of any factual sale numbers might somehow make it more accurate than what they normally put out?
Although many of the higher cost ones are a result of the ridiculously priced bands.
Apple let seems to have accomplished that - I see more in the wild every month, and I have never had any concerns wearing mine for any occasion. Now of course other vendors will benefit from Apples break through in that area for smart watches, but that is the way it goes. Apple will own the top 20% with the most valuable customers long term (higher in the next few years).
YOUR personal needs don't change the reality of the Apple Watch's performance in the smartwatch segment, and moreover its significance in terms of wearable tech.
You've provided the forum with a personal anecdote. Which is fine, but it means next to nothing.