Neil Hughes
Investment firm Piper Jaffray published the results of a new fashion-focused survey on Tuesday, in which respondents were asked about a rumored Apple "iWatch," with interest in such a device found to vary wildly based on price.
The first-ever "Piper Jaffray Watch & Wearables survey" polled nearly 100 individuals with an average age of 32 years old and household income of $130,000. The survey skewed mostly female, at 61 percent, while almost all respondents were from North America.
While the poll was mostly about fashion and jewelry, it did touch on rumors of an Apple "iWatch" in an attempt to gauge consumer interest. The poll found that 14 percent of consumers would buy an "iWatch" priced at $350.
Among the 86 percent who said they wouldn't buy, Piper Jaffray polled them on pricing, and found that users would be far more interested at a price below $200. However, 41 percent of respondents said they would not be interested in an "iWatch" regardless of the price.
User interest at the $350 price point does fall in line with a survey of general consumers conducted by Piper Jaffray last October, in which 12 percent of respondents said they would buy at that price. And an April poll of teenagers found that 17 percent said they would be interested in an "iWatch" at $350.
Piper Jaffray also found that 18 percent of respondents owned a fitness band, with Fitbit being the most popular brand. Another 13 percent of respondents said they plan to purchase a fitness band in the next year. Only 32 percent of those polled would consider wearing a fitness band and watch at the same time.
Among traditional watch owners, the most popular brand for men was Timex, while women preferred Fossil/Michael Kors, with both taking the respective crowns among preferred brands and next intended purchases for their genders.
As for Apple's iWatch, the company is said to be planning a media event for this October where it's expected to introduce the company's "first wearable device. The "iWatch" is believed to offer fitness and health tracking, and will accordingly tap into the new HealthKit tools for developers that Apple will include in the forthcoming iOS 8 mobile operating system.
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58 Comments
I wonder how these poll numbers to compare to a then hypothetical Apple Phone? My guess is they are a lot lower.
Piper Jaffray are the world masters of scientific inquiry and market forecasting. We stand in awe.
I'm looking forward to the iWatch and I think it's going to be a hit, but I have to question the methodology here. Surely a "household income of $130,000" is not representative of the average person.
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I'm looking forward to the iWatch and I think it's going to be a hit, but I have to question the methodology here. Surely a "household income of $130,000" is not representative of the average person.
Why would it be representative of the "average" person? It wouldn't be. Anymore than, say, if you were doing a survey about a hypothetical new Tesla sports car. Or if you were doing a survey concerning a new design for Ping golf clubs. Or ... well, you get the idea.
What the "average" person thinks is useless in almost any survey like this. People with low incomes, people with medium incomes, people with huge incomes, people on fixed incomes -- they all represent different interests in different products.
There's no real point, for instance, in surveying people with incomes over $250k whether or not they would be more, less, or equally likely to buy a Chromebook if the price were cut by $25. If someone's making $500k/year, she doesn't give a crap about a $25 difference. So, there's no value in surveying her.
Etc.