After several years of so-so fitness trackers and the abomination known as Google Glass, the debut of Apple Watch was supposed to inaugurate the age of wearable devices, taking them mainstream and
multipurpose. However, the first few months of sales figures seem to suggest our tech-obsessed world isn’t reacting to Apple Watch with the same kind of feeding frenzy that greeted the iPod,
iPhone, and iPad.
That’s according to a report from Slice Intelligence, which shows that sales of Apple Watch have tumbled 90% from its debut, from roughly 1.5 million units sold in the
week following its launch on April 10, averaging around 200,000 per day, to fewer than 20,000 per day currently. On some days sales have dipped as low as 6,000 per day. Additionally, sales have
clustered in the cheaper “Sport” edition of the Watch, which goes for $349, compared to other models, which sell for $549 and up (and up and up).
These sales figures are based on
Slice’s analysis of electronic receipts sent via email. Apple itself has been tight-lipped about its early sales figures, in contrast to earlier device roll-outs, when the tech giant was eager
to share the good news.
Indeed, it’s worth comparing these sales figures with the rapturous reception for Apple’s previous device debuts. After the first iPhone hit the market in
the third quarter of 2007, Apple had sold 1,389,000 devices by the end of that quarter, and another 2,315,000 in the fourth quarter of that year. So sales had almost doubled from the introductory
quarter to the next one.