Affiliate Disclosure
If you buy through our links, we may get a commission. Read our ethics policy.

Early Apple Watch adopters were mostly men, but latecomers are starting to skew toward women

At launch, the overwhelming majority of Apple Watch buyers were men. But in the year since it debuted, women have begun to close the gap and embrace Apple's new wearable platform, new research shows.

E-commerce analytics firm Slice released new data on Thursday, showing that while 80 percent of Apple Watch buyers at launch were men, the gap has since closed considerably. Men are still more likely to buy an Apple Watch, but the split has since narrowed to about 60-40.

The data also shows that rival wearable maker Fitbit is also headed in the same direction, though its customer base remains predominantly female. A year ago, 56 percent of Fitbit buyers were said to be women, and by March of 2016, buyers had increased to 63 percent.

Slice's data comes from more than 4.2 million online shoppers, measuring digital commerce directly from the consumer. The data comes from e-receipts after consumers complete their purchase.

Slice found that the launch of the new Fitbit Alta was a big hit for the company, though its Charge HR remains its best seller through the first quarter of 2016. The Apple Watch Sport took second among wearables tracked by Slice, ahead of the Alta, which launched in February with swappable bands. Apple's more premium priced stainless steel Apple Watch came in seventh, behind the Fitbit Flex but ahead of the One.

In all, Slice found that Fitbit accounted for 61.5 percent of wearable device sales in the first quarter of 2016, while the Apple Watch came in second place with 20.3 percent of all sales. Garmin was found in third at 10.3 percent, Jawbone took fourth with 6 percent, and Misfit was in a distant fifth with a 1.4 percent share.



22 Comments

why- 9 Years · 305 comments

ive never used an apple watch except in store displays but I have to say my initial reaction was surprise at just how tiny it is. maybe its just that I'm used to wearing very large watches but it looks so much bigger on tv........

i mean for something that has a visual maps application and apps like Instagram you'd expect there to be a little more real-estate

foggyhill 10 Years · 4767 comments

why- said:
ive never used an apple watch except in store displays but I have to say my initial reaction was surprise at just how tiny it is. maybe its just that I'm used to wearing very large watches but it looks so much bigger on tv........

i mean for something that has a visual maps application and apps like Instagram you'd expect there to be a little more real-estate

The 42mm is the size of the average male watch sold now in thickness and size (just go on web site that sells watches); male watches these days are much larger than 20 years ago, so if you compared it to those old watches, it would be huge.

Having it smaller is a huge advantage for Apple compared to the competition as they can target women, which eventually will be the ones driving sales.

mac_128 12 Years · 3452 comments

foggyhill said:
why- said:
ive never used an apple watch except in store displays but I have to say my initial reaction was surprise at just how tiny it is. maybe its just that I'm used to wearing very large watches but it looks so much bigger on tv........

i mean for something that has a visual maps application and apps like Instagram you'd expect there to be a little more real-estate
The 42mm is the size of the average male watch sold now in thickness and size (just go on web site that sells watches); male watches these days are much larger than 20 years ago, so if you compared it to those old watches, it would be huge.

Having it smaller is a huge advantage for Apple compared to the competition as they can target women, which eventually will be the ones driving sales.

And why exactly is that?

why- 9 Years · 305 comments

foggyhill said:
why- said:
ive never used an apple watch except in store displays but I have to say my initial reaction was surprise at just how tiny it is. maybe its just that I'm used to wearing very large watches but it looks so much bigger on tv........

i mean for something that has a visual maps application and apps like Instagram you'd expect there to be a little more real-estate
The 42mm is the size of the average male watch sold now in thickness and size (just go on web site that sells watches); male watches these days are much larger than 20 years ago, so if you compared it to those old watches, it would be huge.

Having it smaller is a huge advantage for Apple compared to the competition as they can target women, which eventually will be the ones driving sales.

yeah its huge watch-wise but device-wise its the opposite. i just think theyre trying to do way too much with it

cali 10 Years · 3494 comments

It's clear Apple's only competition is Fitbit and they'll be gone soon unless they step up their tech.