“The Apple Watch is on its way. Who’s going to buy it?” Mike Murphy asks for Quartz. “Over the past week, Quartz polled 811 US smartphone owners using SurveyMonkey Audience. And it seems many are waiting to see the watch in person before they decide to buy one.”
“The first Apple Watch will require an iPhone to work, and about half of our survey group already owns one,’ Murphy reports. “Of those, only about 2% said they were extremely likely to buy an Apple Watch in the next 12 months, and another 3% said they were very likely. A total 20% said they were at least somewhat likely. The percentage of those unlikely to buy one was even greater for non-iPhone owners, who would also need to acquire iPhones to use Apple Watches. More than 90% said they weren’t likely to get an Apple Watch, and fewer than 1% were extremely likely to buy one.”
“More than half of those interested in buying an Apple Watch said they would first go to an Apple Store to see the watch. Fewer than 3% said they would go to a high-end watch store. This is huge for Apple,” Murphy reports. “With over 400 Apple Stores worldwide and highly trained staff — now under the watch of Burberry’s former CEO — Apple has a physical advantage over competing smartwatch and wearable brands that have to rely on placements in big-box electronics stores.”
Read more in the full article here.