Apple Named World's Largest Wearables Vendor With an Estimated 3.5M Apple Watch Shipments in Q1 2017

[The Game 161]

I will never understand why anyone buys this watch, seriously.

Never thought apple would become a gimmick pusher like this :'(

Because it's damn useful

Nobody should want to be looking at their phone every damn sec to check notifications, texts, emails, sport scores e.t.c. Or even getting your phone out all the time just to check the time.

 

[actinide]

Well sales don't matter much anyway as long as you're happy with the product.

Phones like pixel don't sell massive numbers that doesn't mean it's not a great phone

They matter if you are a stakeholder, shipments not so much

 

[kdarling]

Apple is in all-in mode, no competitor has the slightest chance to match the kind of applied medical research that will transform a nice gadget into a must have, life saving revolution in health care.

Google does a lot of medical research and so does Samsung.

Examples: Google's contact lens non-intrusive sensor for diabetics.

Samsung's Sim Band health watch reference design available for anyone to use, including sensors for ECG, PPG, galvanic skin response, bio-impedance, and skin temperature.

 

[xDKP]

Smartwatches without LTE connectivity are useless for situations where I can't or don't want to bring my phone.

Not really the case. I have the gen 2 and actually prefer it to not have LTE when I run etc.

I run only with my watch and am able to listen to music and track my runs. Would hate it to receive calls and messages etc. when I'm out

 

[Chair-Sama]

Then how come watches with LTE connectivity aren’t selling at all? You know, like the LG Urbane and the Samsung S3 that don’t even register on this report.

i am kind of wondering this exact same question.........hmmm

 

[lowkey]

I bought my gf a Misfit Ray for this reason. It looks like a piece of abstract jewelry rather than a wearable device. She hates any watch looking and techno looking devices, but loves this mat aluminum cylinder.

I don't think the Apple Watch is anywhere near what I would wear yet. It's like looking at an old Powerbook 520 from the 90s. "What? That was the cutting edge of portability? Are you kidding me?"

Perhaps when it's half as thick as the current model I'll change my mind.

It's a wearable. it's not all about features. I don't own a smart watch but the one thing that strikes me about the non-Apple ones is how unattractive and not-wearable some of these wearables are. Most companies seem to be playing to the geek crowd and making their watch look like something vaguely Star Trek-ish. I think most of what Fitbit has produced is terrible looking and the Android world is a hodge-podge of the good, the bad and the ugly (mostly the ugly. Seriously, go do a Google Image search for "Android smart watch" and tell me you're not repulsed by most of what you see.) Apple, despite being mocked for it, cozied up to the fashion industry early on and angled for that aspect, probably knowing the rest of the tech industry would be blind to it.

 

[Abazigal]

So we might potentially be looking at a future where the Apple Watch ends up with the bulk of the profits in the wearables market, similar to the iPhone today?

 

[macdragonfl]

Firstly I think Series 2 exists to get new people to buy the Watch, not to make everyone on Gen 1 upgrade. And secondly, Gen 3 hasn't been announced yet! How do you know you don't want it?
[doublepost=1493965457][/doublepost]

Exactly. Even just using the Watch as a health and fitness tracker, I think the aluminium one will be better value than a Fitbit. I know people who own fitbits and the build quality isn't great. They also aren't as 'small and light' as people claim, despite only tracking fitness.

It's like when people buy £300 Windows laptops. Great at first but they don't serve so well over time. Then there are friends who still use MacBook Pros from 2011.

It seems many I know start with a Fitbit then go with AW, it is the gateway as they spend less to see if the would wear or use.

 

[Abazigal]

Google does a lot of medical research and so does Samsung.

Examples: Google's contact lens non-intrusive sensor for diabetics.

Samsung's Sim Band health watch reference design available for anyone to use, including sensors for ECG, PPG, galvanic skin response, bio-impedance, and skin temperature.

View attachment 698548

That's the perfect example of how tone-deaf tech companies like Google can be.

http://optometrytimes.modernmedicine.com/optometrytimes/news/how-diabetes-affects-contact-lens-wear

Patients with diabetes should not be wearing contact lenses in the first place.

 

[BPresh]

What an crazy post

That's like saying

Well i don't see any celebrities so that means they don't exist

Many are buying the watch and it's a great product. Just because you would rather use your phone for everything doesn't mean others want to

"with an estimated 3.5 million Apple Watch shipments"

Shipments, not sales. There may be containers filled with Apple Watches at the button of the ocean because I have seen probably two here in Miami just this year. Nobody is buying that garbage.

Lol, buddy, your personal assessment doesn't matter. If it did, that would have to mean that my personal assessment matters, and if so, I can tell you "factually" that the Apple Watch is a huge hit on the campuses of major universities. Miami really doesn't matter. There are plenty of affluent students wearing Apple Watches, and literally, almost none of them wear any other wearable whatsoever... nor would they consider doing so. It's Apple Watch, maybe a "fashion watch," or nothing. Fitbit, etc. are already afterthoughts in this most important of demographics.

The fact that you irreverently call Apple Watch "garbage" proves you aren't qualified as an objective observer to make any proclamations re: sales. Especially when you're basing sales not on the numbers provided, but upon your subjective, "lololol I live in Miami and nobody wants that garbage!"

Please just stop. And anyone else that has called the Apple Watch a failure, ever... stop. You're wrong and have been proven wrong. And frankly, your act is tiresome and embarrassing.

EDIT: Props to The Game 161 for spreading some common sense here, btw.

 

[Rob_2811]

That's the perfect example of how tone-deaf tech companies like Google can be.

http://optometrytimes.modernmedicine.com/optometrytimes/news/how-diabetes-affects-contact-lens-wear

Patients with diabetes should not be wearing contact lenses in the first place.

Nonsense. My girlfriends sister is diabetic and wears contact lenses most of the time without any issue. Did you even read the article in that link by the way?

Patients who have diabetes and wear contact lenses are particularly challenging for optometrists. The susceptibility of patients with diabetes to corneal erosions, occurring at multiple places on the cornea,7 must be a factor in recommending a lens and ongoing patient management, Dr. Hom said.

Not every patient with diabetes is a good candidate for contact lenses, based on A1C levels and ocular surface health. But if contact lenses seem to be appropriate, the best option may be daily disposable contact lenses.

That is a long way from saying diabetics should not be wearing them and also refers to contact lenses currently on the market.

Contact lens technology has been established as a suitable method for monitoring blood glucose levels and is being worked on by several Universities around the world as well as Google.

This isn't Mac vs Pc or iPhone v Android, this research could help treat a condition that has become a global epidemic. There isn't any place for fanboyism in that debate.

 

[kdarling]

That's the perfect example of how tone-deaf tech companies like Google can be.

http://optometrytimes.modernmedicine.com/optometrytimes/news/how-diabetes-affects-contact-lens-wear

Patients with diabetes should not be wearing contact lenses in the first place.

You clearly did not read the article. It started out mentioning that about half (not everyone as you seem to think) of diabetics have dry eye, and then it goes on to explore possible solutions to allow them to wear contacts.

Moreover, it actually ends with a pro-Google statement:

"Help for diabetic patients may also come from an unorthodox source. Google announced in 2014 that it is developing a smart contact lens that could measure glucose levels in tears using a miniature wireless chip and glucose sensor. Google is partnering with Alcon to bring the project to the market in the next few years."

 

[Abazigal]

@kdarling @Rob_2811 You are right, I misread the article. I just personally feel that contact lenses are too invasive, even if it can mean a life and death scenario for diabetes patients.

 

[44267547]

It seems many I know start with a Fitbit then go with AW, it is the gateway as they spend less to see if the would wear or use.

And I think Fitbit still outweighs the Apple Watch for what I see others wear in public. Usually it's Fitbits lower end fitness band that I see the most. But after while, after the consumer actually gets use out of the band, they gravitate towards the Apple Watch being its more iPhone specific and the Sport model is fairly affordable now compared to its origin price point at $350.00/$400.00.

 

[macdragonfl]

And I think Fitbit still outweighs the Apple Watch for what I see others wear in public. Usually it's Fitbits lower end fitness band that I see the most. But after while, after the consumer actually gets use out of the band, they gravitate towards the Apple Watch being its more iPhone specific and the Sport model is fairly affordable now compared to its origin price point at $350.00/$400.00.

I see so many AW's here now in S. Fl, I used to see more Fitbits than I do now other than at the gym. But many of my friends and family started with Fitbit and went to AW after about 6 months. And yes the price adjustment did help. Under 300 seems to have been the sweet spot.

 

[signs]

Of the Apple-geeks I know, less than 10 has gotten the watch, and most of them are like "yeah, cool gadget, but...", none, afaik is interested in upgrading.
People who are into watches scoffs at a digital toy, so the "watch crowd" is not the target group and never will be.

I remember when the iPad came out, at every meeting, people were taking notes on their iPad (or at least trying to) because this was the way forward, computers were soooo yesterday. Now, I can't remember when I saw an iPad at a meeting. Most people gave them to their children to play games, I know I did.
In 2011 people were desperate to find funds to order an iPad and we distributed so many (work at uni). Now, we order less than one a year, nobody cares.

Now, everybody needs to track their training for some reason, and they absolutely need to have notifications on their wrist. I give it a year or 2, then most watches will be in a drawer.

The iPhone was a gamechanger, the iPad and the watch not so. Sure they'll sell loads of them, but not like the iPhone, nowhere near.
I've said it before and say it again: I think all companies are throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks, everybody wants to have that new iPhone that reinvents a segment. So far, no one has succeeded. The watch is not the answer.

Apple geeks is a small fraction of Apple users. People who are into watches are probably even less than Apple Geeks. Even Apple users is still a fraction of possible buyers. As Horace Dediu of Asymco (who knows a thing or two) would probably say, the competition is non-consumption, certainly not the iPhone. The narrative of "it's no iPhone" (or "Apple's lost it", sometimes) makes it easy to miss whether it's a good product or not -- for those who buy it!

It's kind of the same with the iPad. The challenge is truly to make it a great product. Not an iPhone. Which funnily enough was maybe the biggest distraction even at Apple at first, because of their technical similarities.

 

[winston1236]

Exactly. One of my friends had a FitBit break, and burn them. They contacted FitBit customer support who were very rude. They ended up simply buying a new FitBit.

Compare that to someone who bought an Apple Watch which still works well. FitBit have an apparently higher market share because they've made two sales, and look cheaper!

There's probably some truth to that. I had the Charge HR and the first one broke in the first week, they sent me a replacement, that one broke 7 months later, they sent another replacement, that one broke a year later and out of warranty, they offered a 25% discount on anything in their store. They got to mark 3 shipped from 1 sale. They lost a customer though, I went with a Garmin Fenix 5 instead.