Apple’s smartwatch performed strongly in Q2 2018, with 3.5 million shipped worldwide, 30% more than in the same period last year. Overall, global smartwatch shipments reached 10 million units on the back of stellar performances by, among others, Fitbit and Garmin, as vendors capitalized on the wearables trend and diversified their portfolios to target distinct customer segments. As a result, Apple’s share of the smartwatch market fell to 34% from 43% in Q1 2018. Apple Watch shipments to Asia (excluding China) surpassed 250,000 units, with the LTE version accounting for about 60%. The cellular-connected Apple Watch Series 3 was the best-shipping smartwatch in Asia in Q2 2018.
“Apple’s decision to expand internationally with operators has quickly reaped rewards in Asia Pacific,” said Canalys Senior Analyst Jason Low in a statement. Since the launch of the Apple Watch Series 3, Apple has formed partnerships with operators in Australia, Japan and Singapore, with Thailand, India and South Korea added in the last quarter. “Operators in these markets are willing to resell connected devices other than smartphones that can help them generate extra revenue from data services. India is a surprising addition to the list of countries. But this is a good strategy by Airtel and Reliance Jio to retain their high-value customers in a bid to minimize churn in a cut-throat market.”
“Apple faces a growing threat from competitors, which have started to pass the million quarterly shipments mark,” said Canalys Research Analyst Vincent Thielke in a statement. “Vendors are trying to differentiate their products with advanced heart-rate metrics, smart coaching and mapping, and consumers now have a much wider range of smartwatches to choose from than they did a year ago. Amid further competition from Samsung and Google, rumored to be launching Galaxy and Pixel watches respectively, Apple needs to work out how to drive refreshes in markets such as the US, where its penetration into the existing iPhone installed base has started to level off.”
Source: Canalys
MacDailyNews Take: That’s an average of over 1.1 million Apple Watch units per quarter in the thrid quarter after Series debuted. Factoring in debut quarters and the holidays, Apple is easily selling over 20 million Apple Watch units per year.
Wonder how many are like me in that they bought the LTE Watch but have not activated the cell radio?
I did because it has a slightly bigger battery and I figured the LTE would improve the resale price at upgrade time.
My Series 3 is way better than the Series 1 I gave to a Niece.
I’d like to hear from all the people who posted here every day for at least two years telling us how Apple Watch was a Tim Cook boondoggle and money pit.
Well when Apple provides actual earnings and sales results, then you can gloat about how wonderful an investment the Apple Watch was. Until then, MDN and the AW fanboys are just bragging about analyst estimates.
Anybody who claims the watch is better or more important than the iPhone or mac must have a very limited life. Sad.
I have never heard anybody claim that the Watch is more important for Apple than the iPhone or Mac. It may be that important for some buyers, however.
In any case, something that costs $350 and sells 1.2 million units each month (in the slowest calendar quarter) is not exactly unimportant… unless you regard $5,000,000,000.00 in annual revenue as pocket change.
It certainly isn’t the disaster that we heard loudly trumpeted here for months on end.
I’m in my 3rd Apple Watch (Series 3 LTE) since the initial day one launch. For me it’s way more important to my daily life & activities than my iPhone. And paired with AirPods it’s a true game changer. I have an iPhone X – but most of the day it sits on my wireless charger at my desk or in the center console of my car. The watch does virtually every task I need except for taking pictures & is the top priority of all my Apple devices (watch, iPad, laptop & desktop)
And they still aren’t selling it here where I leave (the wireless version). I want to buy 3 of those instantly when they arrive hear.