Apple Watch still holds top smartwatch sales spot, even with short Series 2 availability

In a smartwatch market challenged by low demand and new product release timing, Apple continues to hold the top spot for quarterly sales in the segment, despite not shipping the Series 1 and 2 until the last two weeks of the reporting period.

According to research firm IDC, in the third quarter all smartwatch vendors combined shipped 2.7 million units — just 48.4 percent of the year-ago quarter. Apple held 41.3 percent of sales, coming in at 1.1 million units.

Garmin held the second spot with around 600,000 units shipped, and Samsung placed third at 400,000. The data has limited impact from the Apple Watch Series 1 and 2, or discounted sales of the original Apple Watch. The market may also be hamstrung by Google not releasing Android Wear 2.0 as of yet.

In the third quarter of 2015, Apple sold around 3.9 million Apple watches, even with limited retail availability at the time.

"Apple revealed a new look and feel to watchOS that did not arrive until the launch of the second generation watch at the end of September," said IDC. "Google's decision to hold back Android Wear 2.0 has repercussions for its OEM partners as to whether to launch devices before or after the holidays. Samsung's Gear S3 ... has yet to be released. Collectively, this left vendors relying on older, aging devices to satisfy customers."

According to release day statistics, a sizable chunk of Apple Watch Series 2 pre-orders went to customers who own the original Apple Watch, while millennials replaced Gen-X as the largest buyer demographic. Millennials were the largest pre-order group over the four-day sample period, accounting for 39 percent of initial Series 2 purchases.

Women accounted for 26 percent of pre-orders of the 2016 Apple Watch lineup, up from 20 percent with the original Apple Watch. Early adopters appear to be gravitating toward larger Series 2 model, with 66.6 percent of buyers opting for the 42mm version instead of 38mm variants.

Apple announced Apple Watch Series 2 at a special event in September. The wearable is externally similar to its predecessor, but contains internal improvements including a faster dual-core processor, GPS radio, brighter display, larger battery, and water resistance down to 50 meters.

For the latest pricing and current availability on Apple Watch Series 2 models, please visit our Apple Watch Price Guide.

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27 Comments

Soli

said about 7 years ago

Seems like they are near dominating the entirety of the watch market. I assume by next Summer they will have taken the first place spot from Rolex Group.

blastdoor

said about 7 years ago

I think the Apple Watch is now a good product and I hope Apple sticks with it. The original had some problems that might have damaged the brand, but I think those problems have been fixed. Hopefully people will give it a second look.

The main problem was the OS. It's a shame that WatchOS 3 couldn't have shipped with the original hardware. WatchOS 3 is such a radical improvement over the original. Offhand, I cannot think of any software update that has ever brought such massive performance improvements to a computer-like device. The improvement in the logic of the UI is also very substantial.

The other problem was that they went a bit too far in marketing and pricing the Apple Watch as a luxury watch. Most people are not going to pay luxury watch prices for a product that is obsolete in two years, unless there's an upgrade path. Now we know that there was no upgrade path -- Apple actually expected people to spend $500+ on a new watch every two years. That's not going to happen. They seem to now have mostly fixed the marketing and pricing.

blastdoor

said about 7 years ago

sog35 said:

blastdoor said:

I think the Apple Watch is now a good product and I hope Apple sticks with it. The original had some problems that might have damaged the brand, but I think those problems have been fixed. Hopefully people will give it a second look.

The main problem was the OS. It's a shame that WatchOS 3 couldn't have shipped with the original hardware. WatchOS 3 is such a radical improvement over the original. Offhand, I cannot think of any software update that has ever brought such massive performance improvements to a computer-like device. The improvement in the logic of the UI is also very substantial.

The other problem was that they went a bit too far in marketing and pricing the Apple Watch as a luxury watch. Most people are not going to pay luxury watch prices for a product that is obsolete in two years, unless there's an upgrade path. Now we know that there was no upgrade path -- Apple actually expected people to spend $500+ on a new watch every two years. That's not going to happen. They seem to now have mostly fixed the marketing and pricing.

Whoever designed the original OS for the Watch should be fired.
Yes it was that horrible.

The whole point of Apple marketing it as a luxury was for public perception. The biggest obstacle for wearbles is social acceptance. We saw that when the Google Glass came out. People were outraged. So how do you make something socially acceptable to wear? Push hard with fashion and luxury. And that is what Apple did.

I'll be honest. 18 months ago I was not comfortable wearing a smartwatch because of the social akwardness. But today? With Apple's push in luxury, sports, and fashion its as normal as having an iPhone. Mission accomplished.

You may say they went too far pushing fashion/luxury. But maybe if they didn't then smartwatches would still be seen as a tech nerd toy. Its amazing that in 18 months Apple has been able to change the entire perspective of the mass market regarding smartwatches. And alot of that has too do with the strong emphasis on fashion and luxury.

I agree that there needs to be a strong fashion/luxury component to the marketing for exactly the reasons you site. And maybe it is better to err on the side of going too far rather than not far enough. But I think they've got the low-end pricing right now, so I think they've fixed that.

Regarding the original OS.... yeah. It's almost as if the person running that project would have put Adobe Flash on iPhones.

dougd

said about 7 years ago

A useless contraption that needs daily charging

rogifan_new

said about 7 years ago

As far as the Watch OS goes what's radically different other than replacing the 'friends' side button with an app switcher and combining glances with it? Yes the improvement in app load times is great but that was more about being ultra conservative with battery life than a fundamental flaw in the OS concept. I don't see watchOS 3 and a radical change but incremental improvements based on how people were using the device.

And actually one thing I don't like about it is in some places they got rid of force touch and replaced it with swipes. Previously you would force touch to end a workout. Now you swipe right. I would have preferred if they left force touch but added the other as just another option. Some people don't like but I personally love it, just like I love 3D Touch and the haptic feedback on iPhone.