“Apple’s launch of its Watch in April was its most significant product introduction since the iPad made its debut five years ago,” Tim Bradshaw writes for The Financial Times.
“But, three months in, the response from analysts and consumers bears a greater resemblance to the launch of the iPhone than to the more enthusiastic reception that first greeted the iPad. Despite its subsequent success the iPhone was initially met by confusion and widespread doubts about its prospects,” Bradshaw writes. “With no sales figures from Apple to act as a guide, speculation about the Watch’s performance has run wild. Estimates for sales so far range between 2m and 5m, with first-year sales pegged anywhere between 10m and 30m.”
Bradshaw writes, “Some potential customers were put off by the initial need to make a reservation to try the Watch in-store and having to wait weeks to buy online, due to supply constraints, said James McQuivey of Forrester Research, who forecasts 10m units sold this year. Those early supply problems have been solved, but some see the plentiful stock in US Apple Stores as a sign of low demand. By contrast, the iPad was at the time the fastest-selling new tech product ever, with 3m units shifted in its first 80 days.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: 3 million in the first 80 days? Who wants to bet that Apple Watch is easily Apple’s new all-time fastest-selling product?
Once again, you really have to use one in order to understand. It’s like trying to explain “Why Mac” to a Windows PC sufferer. There are just too many details, too many nuances; a list of benefits simply doesn’t do it justice. With Apple Watch, as with the Mac, it’s the whole experience. It’s indescribable, yet indescribably better.
We’ve now worn our Apple Watches every day for 2 months and 24 days.
We will never go back to the primitive days of not wearing an Apple Watch.
It’s amusing to watch those without Apple Watches wasting time obsessing over their phones all day, saying things like “Well, Apple Watch isn’t for me” – especially knowing that one day, sooner or later, they’ll also be wearing Apple Watches and then they’ll finally get it, too.
SEE ALSO:
Apple Watch sales are off to an all-time record start – July 15, 2015
Reports of Apple Watch’s death have been greatly exaggerated – July 14, 2015
Apple Watch volumes are much better than Slice Intelligence figures suggest – July 13, 2015
Apple Watch naysayers in a baseless feeding frenzy – July 13, 2015
Why Apple must sell one Apple Watch for every 20 iPhones or something – July 13, 2015
Apple Watch online sales in the U.S. estimated at 3 million through first 3 months – July 13, 2015
The Apple Watch demand FUD is out of control – July 9, 2015
MarketWatch hack claims ‘Apple Watch sales plunge 90%’ – July 7, 2015
Apple to release Q315 earnings, webcast live conference call on July 21st – June 29, 2015
Typo info…..correction
3 million in the fist 80 days?
TYPO——FIRST 80 days
First, MDN’s take. Your wants and desires and experience does NOT mean most people will have the same. Most people may end up not liking and not finding use with smartwatches.
Also, you keep comparing the iPhone 1 to the Watch and it’s a mistake. They are not the same products and the industries regarding the watch industry vs the phone industry are not the same.
Second, people keep comparing units sold and units sold in the first 3 months of a new product on the market. What you do is fail to really analyze it. How many countries did the iPad launch in? How many did the Watch launch in?
Right, go do the research and then think about what that means.
Anyway, it simply is far from a foregone conclusion that most people will buy smartwatches. They’re a redundant thing that serves as an accessory to a smartphone.
Comparitively speaking, people need a smartphone. They don’t need a smartwatch, especially one that costs $400+.
people only needed a smartphone since the iPhone came out
before that, and even when the iPhone came out, many said the same thing about it
now we start over with the apple watch
The 4 Apple Watch ads that just came “don’t get it”. People just raising their wrists doesn’t show the difference. Better would be a meeting where some people pull up their phones to see a message and then ask the speaker to repeat, while Watch users just glance and don’t miss anything.
Brwon… that’s a great idea!
(the 4 existing ads are the worst ads Apple has ever produced)
genuine sentiment for the Apple Watch is mixed. Some people simply aren’t interested in a watch, while others are put off by some of the version 1.0 obstacles.
Wearables are obviously the “way of the future,” but Apple Watch 1.0 is really just a shot across the bow.
Add to that STEW coefficients that bedevil any new technology, particularly with PEPR headwinds from emerging markets, and slimmer than expected early sales are understandable.
You’re still doing it. Please stop and quit this tiresome routine. It might have been funny the first dozen times but now is the time to stop.
Wow Tim Bradshaw is really pushing negative FUD on Watch. What did it ever do to him?
Why are analysts given so much power to make predictions on new Apple products? It seems so ridiculous for them to be in the driver’s seat of a company. They’re only guessing and I don’t see why responsible investors fail to see that. Based on past industry smartwatch sales, how can they come up with such high numbers for AppleWatch and then show disappointment if it doesn’t turn out as they predicted. Why aren’t they disappointed with Microsoft Band sales? It was claimed Band sales were restricted due to low supply. Why do they criticize one company and not others?
I’ll admit that although I’m a rabid Apple FanBoy, I didn’t buy the first iPhone. I have a good friend who did but I was in the middle of a Verizon contract and without an App Store and no third party apps, I didn’t feel compelled to own one. That changed with the 3G when my contract was over. From there on I was a Day One new iPhone owner.
Perhaps WATCH is having the same perception problem until watchOS 2 when apps will stand alone on it. Not sure how many people understand it’s a 1GHz Dual Core 512MB System RAM 8GB Storage RAM nano computer. My guess is few. The term “watch” belies its real identity “wrist computer”. Seems like there’s a subset of Innovators and Early Adopters who can see what it is and where it’s going (or not) vs the rest of the populace who either don’t understand it at all or who hate Apple such that they don’t want to understand it no matter how obvious WATCH utility is.
Did Bradshaw really write the same sentence twice, back to back?