“Apple Watch’s debut was followed by a sharp drop for the sales of traditional watches in the United States,” Anum Yoon reports for LearnBonds. “The sector saw its biggest drop in seven years. Let’s call it technological Darwinism.”
“Elmar Mock is one of the inventors of the Swatch (the ‘stylish watch’),” Yoon reports. “He warned in March that Apple might cause an ‘ice age’ for the traditional watch industry with the advent of its sophisticated new timepiece.”
“In June, retailers sold $375m worth of watches. That’s a year-over-year drop of 11%, according to NPD. The decrease reflects a 14% decline in unit sales – the biggest drop since 2008, according to Fred Levin, who heads NPD’s luxury division,” Yoon reports. “According to the data, watches that cost less than $1,000 will see the largest drop. This makes sense, because they’re typically purchased for function over form. Pricier watches are often purchased by people who have means as a status symbol.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take:
The Apple Watch is going to flop… The Apple Watch is Jonathan Ive’s Newton… Apple may have built out the watch to satisfy the urges of a designer who has become more obsessed with Bentleys and Rolexes than making attractive, functional technology that will actually make life better for the 99%… The Newton, Apple’s original, failed tablet, didn’t sell because tablet technology wasn’t polished, and we didn’t have the wireless networking infrastructure to make its experience particularly meaningful. Sound familiar? — Mark Wilson, March 2, 2015
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Once people start using Apple Watch, they aren’t going to want to leave it at home. Ever. And that’s bad, bad news for watchmakers not named Apple. – MacDailyNews Take, April 16, 2015
SEE ALSO:
U.S. wristwatch sales post biggest drop in seven years after Apple Watch debut – August 7, 2015
A convert’s Apple Watch diary: Three months in, a skeptic no longer – July 31, 2015
Apple Watch dominates smartwatches with 75% market share – July 28, 2015
The Apple Watch reviewed, 3 months on – July 24, 2015
Apple Watch after 3 months: It’s still personal – July 24, 2015
Apple Watch: A brilliant addition to my life – July 24, 2015
Juniper Research: Apple is world’s #1 smartwatch maker – July 23, 2015
Canalys: Apple ships 4.2 million Apple Watches in Q2 to become world’s top wearables vendor – July 21, 2015
Apple Watch satisfaction is unprecedented at 97%; beats original iPhone and iPad – July 20, 2015
Non-techies love their Apple Watches even more than tech users – July 20, 2015
Apple Watch is Apple’s most successful product debut ever – June 1, 2015
Apple Watch Edition is poised to disrupt the classic Swiss watch – April 16, 2015
Apple Watch, the world’s first real smart watch, will be a massive hit – September 9, 2014
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “eldernorm” for the heads up.]
Oops!😜😱⌚️
Fitbit. Not the Apple Watch.
FitBit has been on the market for years and did not cause a drop like this. Even if FitBit is out selling Apple Watch it is because a lot more people are now aware of smart watches. I see more Apple Watches than FitBits, however there is an Apple Store in our area.
Damn! Apple down 2 1/2% and sinking.
Please let us know why, if there is actually any sensible reason why. I’d like to know.
Oh of course! China has been shoved into a corner and told to properly value the Yuan. Apparently, that makes day trader tards all scared about the whole stock market in general. Darn! If only the US economy wasn’t largely based on the slave wage labor of Chinese citizens!
I’ve been telling Apple to ‘Get The Hell Out Of China’ for about a decade now. But the fact is that making China come clean is always a good thing. I’ll take honesty over delusion every time.
Perhaps, DC, you should provide Apple with a plan on exactly how the company can execute your directive to “get out of China.” Where else can Apple source the experienced manufacturing base to assemble its precision products?
Furthermore, Apple *sells* a lot of products in China. “Getting out” in terms of manufacturing will not isolate the company in terms of sales. In fact, I suspect that Apple sells more products in China (and encounters less interference from the Chinese government) because of that manufacturing relationship.
Isolationism is not the answer. If the U.S. improves its business climate and adopts advanced manufacturing automation, then labor rates will become far less of an issue and other factors will push some of that business back to the U.S.
My Plan: Go to Malaysia. Go to the Philippines. ‘Judy go to India!’ How about any of a dozen countries in Africa? How about Japan? There are plenty of positive, less corrupt, less militarist, less empire building countries from which to choose. Ukraine? They could use the income and it would be a lovely thumb in the eye of the Putin dictated Russia. This is such and easy question!
“…and encounters less interference from the Chinese government…” <–You havent' been paying attention, have you? China's government relentlessly gets in the way of everyone they can get a buck from. The Chinese court system has attempted to rip off Apple right, left and center over the years with outrageously bogus lawsuits they've supported and even allowed to be won.
Quick observation: You're very naive about China. Sorry KingMel. I'm entirely flummoxed by your attempting to defend this EXTREMELY dangerous and detrimental country.
Isolationism? Non sequitur, isn't it. Where did you pull that thing from?
As for US labor wages, I saw the wage crunch coming to the US back in the 1990s. As it hit, I said nothing but 'obviously'. It's one of the default results of business success in any country. Have you taken a good look at how it has progressed in Japan? Wages too high. And yes, I suggested manufacturing in Japan because they're brilliant at it, which should be the first consideration, NOT wages. But wages win anyway because profits are the bottom line, not quality.
Enough of my wasting my time on this subject. Next!
And you are astonished that Apple doesn’t listen to everything you say? Talk about delusion!
Since when does Apple listen to ANYTHING that ANY of us here say? It’s all play land chattering, isn’t it.
The problem is China sales, not so much manufacturing. An iPhone purchased in China effectively will cost 20% more than it did last week.
And rising! I chattered in some other response about how China has turned this into an opportunity to create a currency war, clearly of benefit to them and no one else. Oops.
Just simply amazing how you have so much to say when you post.
Damn! AAPL is down .o4% and Gaagle is down 2.45% and sinking. See, anyone can play.
Sorry the Apple watch is now invaluable to me and I won’t ever go back in time 😉
Oh yes. People all over the world who normally spend 20 to 50 dollars on a watch are now going to spend $400+ on a watch that will be obsoleted very 2-4 years. Makes perfeft sense to me.
Weeding through your pigeon English, I think you’re confusing watch markets. There’s the inexpensive watch market. There’s the expensive watch market. There’s the simple watch market. There’s the smart watch market. There’s Timex. There’s Apple.
Comprendé? 이해?
I will ad that the Timex market has already been hit by cell phones, not just smartphones. The low end watch market is where people need to get rid of a redundant device.
BTW I’m not the person you said I was when I disagreed with you. Learn to take some criticism, you are not always right. Neither am I. I just agree with you this time.
I apologize if I unjustly offended you previously. I only intentionally bash on the bashers.
If you’re going to attempt to insult someone, at least get the attempted insult correct. Thanks for the laugh anyway.
I’m sorry if I used the wrong insult on someone. Please correct me and offer a preferable insult. Also a hint: If I’m not laughing while I’m insulting, I know I’m doing it wrong. Bashing the bashers should be a joyful event.
If you look at any copy of the New York Times, New Yorker etc. you will notice that a third of their advertising is for watches costing upwards of $10,000! I know, it is ludicrous, but there is the evidence that a certain kind of person builds their personality around their watch. Go figure!
And no *ding*bats*. Voting down positive responses to the ascendency of the Watch isn’t going to make it go away or make ScramScrum’s (or any other) alternative gain in market share. All you *ding*downs* do is amuse. So please *ding*down* this comment. Amuse me.
Funny that Tim Cook does not share this opinion. Apple Watch sales data are conspicuously secret. Consider this, if iPad or iPhone sales were crushing competitors Apple would not hesitate to broadcast these data. Apple grudgingly acknowledges drops in sales of all other products, but hasn’t revealed the truth about Apple Watch. One point every statistician knows is that correlation neither implies nor corroborates causation. Apple fanboys obviously are ignorant of this basic statistical interpretation. The only valid data is actual Apple Watch sales data. The longer Apple refuses to divulge these data the more suspect Apple Watch success becomes. This won’t halt the rumors pro and con, but until Apple is willing to spill the beans it’s anyone’s guess how well Apple Watch is selling.
as soon as amazon, samsung, microsoft reveal REAL numbers sold, rather than 20% more SHIPPED for their failing products, apple will reveal watch numbers. idiot
CEO Tim Cook and the Apple CFO, the Apple Financial Call on July 26th, both agreed that the Apple Watch sell through (sale to end users) was better than the initial sales of the 2010 roll out of the iPad which up until now was the best selling roll out of any product of all time with 3.1 million sold in the first 90 days. So you are wrong about Tim Cook disagreeing. He is just following through on his statement before the release of the Apple Watch that Apple would NOT release sales figures due to competition issues.
Haha. The dickbag incumbents in the industry always say Apple will not do well when entering.
Yes, I’m being purposely antagonistic in the same way they are.
Headline writers, get a clue. “11 %” is not “kills”. The traditional sector took a major hit, but it is not dead.
Apple announced long before the Apple Watch shipped that it would not disclose sales data for competitive reasons. I purchased 5 Apple Watches and everyone loves them. They have been thoroughly integrated into everyday life as an indispensable tool of life.
As for China, growth is slowing but still remains strong just missing analyst estimates. Devaluing the RMB will result in cheaper manufacturing costs, which while having some impact at retail will be offset by increased margins outside of China. And further, to the extent that sales in China stay in China to pay for manufacturing and retail costs, the effect is further offset. Apple sales in China will continue to accelerate.
Five, eh?
And “everyone loves them”?
Brings tears of joy, or is it laughter, to my eyes. I know sixty plus people and NONE owns an Apple Watch. What does that say about your paltry five?
*AN entire
Do people still want to buy basic cell phones that do nothing but call? Very very few. The same will be for dumbwatches. Only the tech illiterate will buy them, and since tech illiterate people typically make small incomes, they’ll be your Walmart special watches they do actually buy. Yeah…utterly destroyed by Apple Watch.
The sad part is that those companies weren’t competing with Apple. Too bad Apple won’t release stuff that destroys the industries that Samsung has as its bread and butter. Perhaps HomeKit will enable better quality customers to find Samsung’s competitors more appealing and they’ll destroy them that way.
Make it slightly thinner, waterproof to 50m and with at least three day battery life and I’ll get one. I’m hoping the old “wait until 3rd gen” adage about new Apple kit stands up with this one too.
Agreed. Swimming is my preferred method of exercise, and it sucks that I can’t use it in the pool.
Now, I’m not a watch wearer. Never have been. I prefer using my iPhone for looking at the time, amongst 10,000 other things I like to do.
But, for what the Apple Watch is, and what it does, is really cool. It’s not for everyone, and I feel it is kind of a toy, but my childhood inside me is just itching, as I was growing up watching things like Dick Tracy and Knight Rider, where watches could do such awesome things, and Apple pretty much created that very thing we so longed to have.
It’s a simple design that does so many great things, and that’s what Apple’s good at. Be it a status symbol or a utility, perhaps I should eat my own words… maybe the Apple Watch isn’t as much of a toy as I made it out to be.
I would say it’s a toy insofar as it’s not a necessity. I have one, I like it, but it has not changed my life like it supposedly has for some.