“Analyst Amit Daryanani of RBC issued a note to investors on Monday, indicating that strong demand for the Apple Watch after preorders began on Monday will translate to blockbuster sales,” Neil Hughes reports for AppleInsider.
“His forecast calls for Apple to sell between 3 million and 5 million units in the June quarter — numbers he said Monday are ‘reasonable’ expectations with the immediate sell-out of preorders,” Hughes reports. “For the first year of Apple Watch sales, Daryanani sees Apple moving between 15 million and 20 million units.”
“Earlier, Timothy Arcuri of Cowen and Company revealed comments from retail employees who indicated that nearly all try-on appointments for the Apple Watch have resulted in preorders,” Hughes reports. “Arcuri is more bullish on the Apple Watch than Daryanani, with a forecast calling for sales of 31 million units in the first 12 months.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: We like that Apple is sitting on the numbers. It’s smart to not give away the preorder totals and to place Apple Watch into a new reporting category called “Other products” that encompasses iPod sales and a slew of accessories, including Beats headphones and speakers, Apple TV, and peripherals and accessories for iPhone, iPad, Mac, and iPod. There’s no need to give Samsung and the other stupidwatch also-rans any useful information whatsoever.
I’m not very anxious in reporting a lot of numbers on Apple Watch… and giving a lot of detail on it because our competitors are looking for it. And so aggregating it is helpful from that point of view, as well. — Apple CEO Tim Cook, October 20, 2014
Where’s George Peppard?
I need a cigar.
I love it, when…
with samsung et al., shipped >> sold; with the apple watch it is sold >> shipped, for a while anyway!
Perhaps it would be more accurate to report that Apple HAS sold more than 5 million Apple Watches in the first half hour of sales.
If that’s true, it would be an unqualified success not just for a smart watch, but for any new product, let alone new category. If it is true it worries me though. People who frequent sites like this and keep up on technology will know what to expect from the Apple Watch. Others will not. I worry they will be, in many cases, expecting miniature iPhones on their wrists.
I hope that rather than buying sight unseen most buyers take Apple up on their offer to allow you to come in and test the watch. That could make sure many people are aware of exactly what it does and what it does not do.
If you check out the extensive and well written article on the Verge reviewing the watch, it becomes clear that there are shortcomings. Not the least of which is diminishing speed and flakey apps. None of this is unusual for a first generation product, but everyone knows Apple is held to a higher standard.
The problem with sitting on the numbers is that it may come back to bite them if the actual numbers don’t match up to even half of the values the hype is raising them to.. 2.5 million is the highest ‘guess’ so far and that’s only after 3 days..
http://seekingalpha.com/article/3067226-apple-watch-understanding-early-sales-data
This shows how Slice reports 1.2 M units in USA ALONE – just in Day 1. Seems the problem may more be supply than demand. If there are no more units to sell until June, then there are no more units.
Good point.. How long did it take to produce the units they had on hand for pre-order and how many more can they produce in the next 11 weeks or so will determine the upper limit of Apple Watch sales for the quarter.
It’s a complicated production. They’re likely getting relatively low yields initially. Production will ramp up quickly as the process gets ironed out.