Commentary

Apple Watch Sales Fall Steeply

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.

2 comments about "Apple Watch Sales Fall Steeply".
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  1. John Luma from iLumaNation, July 9, 2015 at 10:39 p.m.

    These figures show just how high the expectations have soared now for all new Apple products. Almost any other company would be happy with between 6,000 and 20,000 daily sales @ $350 each -- but this is considered a big Apple letdown. Yet did any rational person think a multipurpose watch about an inch square would be "must-have"? Once again, only the early adopters and tech addicted thought it might. And it is possible it could lead Apple to a new breakthrough in wearables. 

  2. Dan Ciccone from STACKED Entertainment, July 10, 2015 at 11:11 a.m.

    This is one product where I think Apple really dropped the ball in how it is offered/presented in its stores.  I can walk into an Apple store and play with any Apple product I want to see with or without help from the staff.

    If I want to explore the Apple watch for myself, it is housed behind glass - a coveted item that I must ask for permission to see.  Or I must make an appointment to have the staff show it to me.  Staff that will hover over me and tell me everything about the watch instead of letting me explore on my own as I can with any of their other products.  Apple's products and marketing have always been inclusionary in nature.  The Apple Watch has been presented as being exclusionary and elusive and forces the consumer to take additional steps just to hold it.  This is one product where Apple has made the process burdensome.  It seems very un-Apple in how they are approaching this item.

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