“Shipments of smartwatches declined a significant 32% during the second quarter of the year, according to a July 21 report from IDC that lays the blame at Apple’s feet,” Eric Zeman writes for InformationWeek. “Shipments of Apple’s wearable sank from 3.6 million units in the year-ago period to 1.6 million units in the three months ending in June.”
“The numbers may look bad, but IDC cautions against panicking,” Zeman writes. “At 47%, Apple is still far and away the smartwatch leader. With 1.6 million units shipped during the second quarter, it more than doubled the 600,000 million units that Samsung shipped.”
“The refresh cycle is weighing heavily on consumers’ minds, according to IDC, which likely played a role in the slowdown of Apple’s smartwatch,” Zeman writes. “‘Consumers have held off on smartwatch purchases since early 2016 in anticipation of a hardware refresh, and improvements in WatchOS are not expected until later this year, effectively stalling existing Apple Watch sales,’ Jitesh Ubrani, senior research analyst for IDC Mobile Device Trackers, wrote in the report. ‘Apple still maintains a significant lead in the market and unfortunately a decline for Apple leads to a decline in the entire market. Every vendor faces similar challenges related to fashion and functionality, and though we expect improvements next year, growth in the remainder of 2016 will likely be muted.'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple Watch 2 will break the wearable sales record (set by the original Apple Watch).
if these data are correct another interpretation is that there is a finite limit in the Apple fanboy population.
Nobody knows how many Apple Watches have been sold, but Apple. Period.
Nobody knows what the customer return rate of Apple Watches are, and how it compares to other Apple products, but Apple. Period.
The jury is still very much out on whether smartwatches are a viable category of computing or not. After all of this time on the market, Apple Watch is by far not the success like the iPhone was when it first started.
My take is that smartwatches simply will not be a viable computing platform. Their fatal flaw is the size of the screen and also in turn how they do not do hardly anything better than a smartphone. They are thus flawed and redundant.
There is a finite limit in *any* population, Frank. Have you ever seen a sign that said “Population Infinity?”
The early Apple Watch adopters probably are mostly fanboys by your definition. So what? The Apple Watch will keep on selling and haters will keep on hating. Frankly, Frank, we are used to the goading by now and yours is lame and poor by MDN standards.
So what? Isn’t it obvious? OK, I will have to explain it to you. It is quite possible that only Apple fanboys have any interest in Apple Watch and there is only a limited number of fanboys willing to purchase Apple Watch. Therefore, having done so already naturally sales would decline owing to a saturated market. Seriously, was that too difficult to understand that you needed my help?
Your explanation is as simple-minded, derogatory and speciously ridiculous as you are. Automatically classifying anyone who buys an Apple Watch product as a “fanboy” makes you a disingenuous troll. The fact you use it as flammatory put-down bait shows your true intentions as an assholic troublemaker. Every product as it nears the end of its life cycle and new ones loom experiences diminishing sales. Your unnecessary insulting demeanor and fanboy gilding the lily isn’t required or needed moron. It does have the knock-down effect of summarily & immediately cancelling out anything you stupidly have to say and send you to the dung heap of lost credibility.
Whenever I see the word “fanboy” being thrown around I automatically assume it’s being used by an Android/Windows loving troll. In the case of Frank it can also denote a dick.
You mean my Frank in your mouth.
See? Slimebags like you just can’t help themselves being a natural born jerk.
Excellent! Out yourself as a total dick. It’s the perfect way to DEAD END your credibility. So piss off.
Meanwhile, I replied to your initial post for the benefit of those (unlike you) who care. See below…
“You mean my Frank in your mouth” — ?
That’s the height of your conversational ability?
SERIOUSLY – I mean it… How old are you? I really want to know.
I never wrote that, fanboy. You seen so apt to criticize when your meager mind fails to comprehend and your primordial emotions run rampant. There will always be some people who will trickle into an Apple Store or browse the Apple website and purchase an Apple Watch. Given the vast decline in sales it should be obvious that the majority of Apple Watch was purchased rapidly by the most ardent of Apple products users (i.e. fanboys).
Don’t act so innocent and disingenuous. It’s certainly implied and used as a comment denoting a kind of sneering tech contempt. Why use the inappropriate word at all then? As someone else write here:
“Whenever I see the word “fanboy” being thrown around I automatically assume it’s being used by an Android/Windows loving troll. In the case of Frank it can also denote a dick.”
The majority of Apple Watch’s were bought by those who like and trust Apple products period. That doesn’t make them “fanboys or fangirls.” I wouldn’t expect someone as dimwitted and thick dickheaded as you to make the distinction. It’s a major part of your problem.
I believe I have discovered the underlying basis of your pathology, blood pecker. You constantly seek to gain approval from MDN’s resident fanboys. You do this because you are essentially friendless. Therefore, you ingratiate yourself to them by insulting and castigating others who don’t ascribe the same thoughts and predilections of fanboys. You think that by slandering and discrediting others (although you have absolutely no facts to support your infantile posts) you will gain favor with you little internet buddies. You are a pathetic individual.
I believe I have also discovered the source of your pathology – you’re an asshole who steadfastly & proudly remains an asshole even though anyone with a hint of introspection ability would not veer into the brain diseased waters you swim in regularly. As a result you end up becoming a troll pariah & failed Wile E. Coyote everywhere you go. Even while brandishing your homemade scrawled card saying “Frank E. Doofus, Super Genius.” Of course you’re anything but in your own weak mind. You also fashion yourself a mental health expert when you in fact are in desperate need of those services for yourself. I suggest you get help ASAP. Seriously. You are one sick, and yes pathetic, one note coyote.
Gee, your post seems so similar to mine. You actually imitated me! You know what they say, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”. Thanks, bloody pecker.
Not at all, no one’s quite the “bloody peckerwood” YOU are. You are Troubled & Shallow personified. It’s such a sad thing to be Frank.
Frank
– Why are you here?
– Is your life really so pathetically empty? (I guess so.)
– And, as you’ve been asked, how old are you?
Frank, you’ve burned this anonymous coward nick to the ground. It’s time for you to pull another out of your back orifice. Who will you be tomorrow? I mean, besides being a total dick.
Is your name rhyming slang perchance?
Apple fanbois want the best tech available. They don’t ‘settle’. Therefore, Apple consistently runs into specifically this situation where a significant upgrade is looming and the fanbois are willing to wait for it. That means demand for the current version drops ‘dramatically’, to put it dramatically.
As the functionality and quality of the Watch grows, so will its sales and market share. That’s the typical history of any decent Apple product and will therefore be the course of the Watch.
Another influence: Version 1.0 Syndrome. This is typical of the entire computer industry. Always expect bugs and compromises in the first version of anything. Wait for version 2 for the well-baked product. This is also the case with the Watch.
Meanwhile: Yeah, it’s annoying that Apple hasn’t broken out the sales numbers of the Watch. But that’s their right. Refer back to Version 1.0 Syndrome. They’re aware of it and don’t want the future of the Watch tainted by it. It’s about marketing.
Since there is no real significant proof that a new watch is coming that I’ve seen, people could be waiting a while for that next gen Apple Watch.. all the rumors are iPhone 7. Sure watch is mentioned, but where are the pics, the perpetual pointers.. not happening yet
There was no leakage about the Apple Watch in 2015 showing what it was going to look like or what it was capable of when it was first released. Unlike the iPhone pre-releases, the Watch exists below the leak radars.
No, there are indeed rumors about the Watch 2.
Rumors are only rumors. We’ve seen utter nonsense rumors about the iPhone 7. The rumors of the Watch 2 may be utter nonsense as well. But, if you haven’t noticed, ever since Apple moved their manufacturing to China: Criminal Nation, there has been a constant stream of LEAKS. Some rumors are real leaks, some of those leaks are merely of prototypes, some of those ‘leaks’ have been Chinese berserker kids taking a leak on the world, some of them have been of fraudulent knock-off wannabe crap. IOW: Expect rumors to only be rumors. 😉
This is a stupid interpretation. The Apple Watch was introduced in the second quarter of 2015, which is the quarter to which IDC is now comparing 2016 second quarter sales. Even iPhones show a dramatic drop off of sales a year after the same model was introduced, usually about 30% or so. Nothing continues sales at the excitement level of an introductory rate of sales for an entire year. It will pick up again when the newer models come out and users buy replacements with better features and new customers who have been waiting finally buy in.
” With 1.6 million units shipped during the second quarter, it more than doubled the 600,000 million units that Samsung shipped.” – Suggest you may want to check that figure.
Why? If you know another figure, please post it and reference it! We’re all pretty much guessing in the dark about Watch sales numbers.
I think he is referring to the error in the numbers, I.e., 600,000 million units.
studio8h and pedro are right. The sentence was so poorly constructed that the scaffolding obscured a numerical error in plain sight (I didn’t notice it myself until today!) The writer wanted to tell us that 1.6 billion is more than twice 0.6 billion. Alternatively, 1.6 billion is more than twice 600,000.
Clarity is a casualty of clicking. 😁
And of course I too fell prey to the innumeracy bug—or maybe just plain sloppiness—in using billion in place of million. Pitfalls everywhere!
IDC…stop reading right there. They don’t know anything. Apple isn’t reporting sales numbers. Even when they do, IDC still gets them wrong.
Heck, just wait until people get WatchOS 3.0 installed on their current Watches and see the difference. That alone will spur a sales spike.
I’m hanging out for g2. Me and millions of others can hardly wait