Roger Fingas
The Apple Watch was far and away the most popular smartwatch during 2015, accounting for about 51.5 percent of shipments, or 8.8 million units, according to a Jupiter Research estimate.
By comparison, Android Wear devices made up less than 10 percent of the market, Jupiter said. The firm calculated that including the Apple Watch, overall smartwatch shipments likely reached 17.1 million units.
One reason for the Watch's popularity is thought to be the number of apps available. Jupiter noted that last May, whereas Android Wear had around 4,000 apps, the Watch already had some 10,000.
Many people still don't see a reason to buy a smartwatch, however. Of the people who told Jupiter they didn't have immediate plans to buy a wearable, a full 30 percent said they didn't think they'd make use of it.
Apple hasn't announced any official sales figures for the Watch, and estimates about the number of units shipped have sometimes varied wildly. The company will presumably try to make a better case for the product when it announces a second-generation device, something that could happen as soon as this March.
Charles Martin
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Wesley Hilliard
Malcolm Owen
Andrew Orr
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24 Comments
Don't think the numbers are reasonable. Way more than 2MM Android watches seem to be on the streets, and it seems like there is a 3-6% penetration on the Apple Watch in the US, although I may have not estimated my sampling bias correctly. The 5:1 ratio seems possible, but my guess would have been 8:1:1 including Pebble.
Waht is the other smart watch platform they are counting?
Everybody is expecting Apple to announce dismal numbers on 1/26 but the hand wringing is based on the next quarter predictions. All people see are the negative reports and think Apple is failing. The numbers on 1/26 will be astounding. I just heard an info-babe on CNBC report that Apple is still tops in China and that surveys show the Chinese update their phones a lot faster than we do in the West. I will eagerly be waiting for Apple’s own guidance for the next quarter. Maybe we’ll be able to tell the analysts to STFU.