Apple Watch holiday sales volume beat entire Swiss watch industry for first time
More Apple Watches shipped in the fourth quarter of 2017 than the entire Swiss watch industry, a report claims, showing the Apple-produced wearable device is still growing in popularity, though analysis also indicates the Apple Watch still has some way to go before it can outpace Swiss watches on an annual basis.
A chart produced by Statista examines figures taken from market research firm Canalys concerning the Apple Watch's shipment estimates, comparing them with published shipment counts from the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry, which includes all Swiss-produced watch exports rather than for an individual watch producer.
The chart reveals the Apple Watch shipped an estimated 8 million units during the fourth quarter of 2017, more than the 6.8 million Swiss watch shipments over the same period. It is also noted that the Apple Watch saw a year-on-year increase of 2 million shipments, representing growth of 33 percent, while Swiss shipments slightly contracted from 7 million in Q4 2016.
Across the entire year, Swiss watches continue to outsell the Apple Watch by a wide margin. Over the year, 24.2 million Swiss watches shipped, while 18.4 million Apple Watches are thought to have shipped during the same time.
As well as showing growth, the graph also shows how the two different products are affected differently by seasonality, despite being in the same market. In both 2016 and 2017, most of the Apple Watch shipments took place in the fourth quarter, with 43 percent of annual shipments for 2017 happening during the period.
By comparison, Swiss watch shipments are only slightly affected by seasonal shopping habits, with a difference of only 1.3 million between the highest and lowest points on the chart across the two years.
While the chart does show Apple as catching up with -- and in one quarter, beating -- the Swiss watch industry as a whole in terms of shipments, the numbers do not tell the whole story. Estimates from a market research firm are educated guesses that may still be incorrect, and shipments are also not an indicator of how many units have actually been sold to consumers.
The chart also does not indicate how Apple Watch compares to the Swiss watch industry on a financial basis. Considering that the top price for an Apple Watch from Apple directly is $1,399 and that Swiss watches can sell for far higher sums, such a chart will likely point to Swiss watches continuing to earn more revenue than Apple's timepiece for the moment.
After its launch, Swiss watch producers have been concerned about how it and other types of smart watches could eat into their revenues, with reports in late 2015 reporting the largest decline for the industry in six years. Industry observers did note the Apple Watch as a significant factor in the $2 billion drop, prompting companies such as TAG Heuer to try and enter the market with their own high-priced smartwatches, to limited success.
A chart produced by Statista examines figures taken from market research firm Canalys concerning the Apple Watch's shipment estimates, comparing them with published shipment counts from the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry, which includes all Swiss-produced watch exports rather than for an individual watch producer.
The chart reveals the Apple Watch shipped an estimated 8 million units during the fourth quarter of 2017, more than the 6.8 million Swiss watch shipments over the same period. It is also noted that the Apple Watch saw a year-on-year increase of 2 million shipments, representing growth of 33 percent, while Swiss shipments slightly contracted from 7 million in Q4 2016.
Across the entire year, Swiss watches continue to outsell the Apple Watch by a wide margin. Over the year, 24.2 million Swiss watches shipped, while 18.4 million Apple Watches are thought to have shipped during the same time.
As well as showing growth, the graph also shows how the two different products are affected differently by seasonality, despite being in the same market. In both 2016 and 2017, most of the Apple Watch shipments took place in the fourth quarter, with 43 percent of annual shipments for 2017 happening during the period.
By comparison, Swiss watch shipments are only slightly affected by seasonal shopping habits, with a difference of only 1.3 million between the highest and lowest points on the chart across the two years.
While the chart does show Apple as catching up with -- and in one quarter, beating -- the Swiss watch industry as a whole in terms of shipments, the numbers do not tell the whole story. Estimates from a market research firm are educated guesses that may still be incorrect, and shipments are also not an indicator of how many units have actually been sold to consumers.
The chart also does not indicate how Apple Watch compares to the Swiss watch industry on a financial basis. Considering that the top price for an Apple Watch from Apple directly is $1,399 and that Swiss watches can sell for far higher sums, such a chart will likely point to Swiss watches continuing to earn more revenue than Apple's timepiece for the moment.
After its launch, Swiss watch producers have been concerned about how it and other types of smart watches could eat into their revenues, with reports in late 2015 reporting the largest decline for the industry in six years. Industry observers did note the Apple Watch as a significant factor in the $2 billion drop, prompting companies such as TAG Heuer to try and enter the market with their own high-priced smartwatches, to limited success.
Comments
2) As we know from Android- and Windows-based vendors, unit sales means squat without other factors. I'm curious how the Swiss watch makers are doing. I assume their high-end and low-end products aren't suffering, but that their mid-tier products—where I think they make the bulk of their revenue and profits—would be heavily affected by the Apple Watch
3) As I've said for nearly 3 years now, the Apple Watch is "unnecessary, yet indispensable" and that still holds true today, if not more so, since it now allows me to keep my iPhone off my person more often as I now have the cellular Watch, and I wear it to bed to monitor and record my sleep patterns, only charging during my bis in die ablutions.
If true, this will be a result of cellular? Or simply the chip is good enough now?
If it’s cellular that people want, that’s really bad news for Switzerland. It will only get worse for them from now on.
While not as universally panned, AirPods had its fair share of negative stories in the first few months (truly wireless done by another company first, expensive for wireless buds, only one size, too small - I could lose them, only works with all features in the Apple ecosystem, etc)
HomePod is the current child. While I don't expect that product to have the same sales trajectory as AW and AirPods, I am sure in 3 years the units (estimated:) sold will be much higher than the negative Nancies proclaimed would be the case.
Not 100% accurate by any means, but provides the broader story. So was Q1 2018 (Apple FY) AW shipments 8M, 7.5, 8.5, or even 9? That is difficult to say. Was it 5M or 8M - the models are much more accurate than that.
Now, the Canalys info in this story seems off - they say 8M units, but that shipments were up 33%, which does not align with Apple's statement of "more than 50% growth".
Also:
- how crazy is it that this report compares the output of a new watch company to an entire industry/group of companies?
- what would the figures look like when matched in price range ($250-$1100) watches?
- would we see some drop off in swiss sales or is this entirely competition with non-consumption?
- finally - if mid-range Swiss watches are the gateway to higher end, this is a disaster for the swiss makers.
With high collectability, status symbol, and huge price variance for the high-end (thousands to millions of dollars), I have to assume that they’re fairly insulated from smartwatches as a whole.
One could look at Vertu as an example of how they will ultimately fall to the (modern) smartwatch, but I would say that’s not a good comparison since Vertu is first-and-foremost a cellphone (i.e.: CE).
edit: There's a source in the lower-left corner, but you'll have to find the video to see if you can get a better image. I tried enhancing in but since I'm not part of the CSI team it didn't make things more clear.