Apple Shipped 3.5M Watches in Q2 2018, 30% More Than Last Year

[Quu]

They keep shipping record numbers of watches but the apps don't seem to be coming, if anything most of the apps I used to use on my watch have been removed or disabled by the developers. It's quickly becoming one of those expensive gadgets with no support like the Gizmondo or something.

I still love it for notifications and it's still quite stylish, physically being able to change bands in seconds is great but the apps leave a lot to be desired outside of exercise monitoring.

 

[MrTemple]

Still wearing my mechanical watch daily.

Neat.

 

[Shanghaichica]

Aside from the numbers, It’s actually interesting, because in 2015 when the Apple Watch initially launched, I thought I was one only one of few that actually had one in public. I was on vacation two weeks ago and in the airport, at the resort, on the beach, I saw Apple Watches everywhere, including male and female wearing them. When you factor in the popularity of iPhone, obviously the Apple Watch is the most obvious choice, but it meshes so well with the iOS ecosystem and now with LTE, I don’t even need to have my phone on with me at all times either. It can only Improve from here with additional health sensors and battery life.

Yes I also got mine on launch day in 2015. In the first few months I only saw a few and that was in central London. However as time went on I started to see them more and more. I remember in the first year it was written off as a flop but this didn’t quite correlate with what I was seeing (increasing). Now they are everywhere. If I go to my local town centre which isn’t that big I can guarantee I’ll see it at least one but it’s usually more.

 

[Black Tiger]

Shipped to stores? How many were actually sold to consumers?

Well considering Apple’s supply chain turns over every week, about the same?

 

[Mansu944]

Shipped to stores? How many were actually sold to consumers?

Less than that...way to nit pick.

 

[ftaok]

Shipped to stores? How many were actually sold to consumers?

For most products, Apple tries to have a 6 week inventory. Hotter selling products usually have lower inventory levels due to inability to meet demand. Also, as a model ages, they try to clear the channel in anticipation of building inventory for the newer models.

Let's just say that they are holding 6 weeks of inventory. At that level, they would have sold 1.88 million AWs (7/13 weeks x 3.5million = 1.88 million). But wait, they would have had to clear out the 6 weeks of inventory from the previous quarter. That would be 1.8 million (6/13 weeks x 3.9 million = 1.8 million.

So one could estimate that they "sold" 3.7 million AWs in the quarter. About 200,000 more than they "shipped".

For Apple products, there are very few situations where shipped and sold aren't very close to each other. Maybe on a product that they are having trouble keeping in stock or a product that they have just reached equilibrium and they are building inventory going forward.

 

[nwcs]

The only way for the Apple Watch to have explosive growth potential is to take a page from the iPod. It must be cross-platform integrated to some extent. There’s not really a reason for it not to be, I think. Like the iPod it can easily become a gateway into the apple ecosystem but why restrict others from dabbling and sampling?
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They keep shipping record numbers of watches but the apps don't seem to be coming, if anything most of the apps I used to use on my watch have been removed or disabled by the developers. It's quickly becoming one of those expensive gadgets with no support like the Gizmondo or something.

I still love it for notifications and it's still quite stylish, physically being able to change bands in seconds is great but the apps leave a lot to be desired outside of exercise monitoring.

I think people have come to realize that there isn’t a killer app for a watch. At least no one has done anything that wasn’t already on the watch or was useful enough to keep doing. As it moves to be more health-centric away from its original concept it means even fewer apps will be meaningful to most.

 

[jayducharme]

From my personal observation, it's now FitBit = Fitness and Apple Watch = Dick Tracy (more than I need with cool extras)

On the contrary, I think the Watch is just starting to find its niche. I want even MORE functionality! The last update was getting closer. But I'm waiting for one thing in particular: freedom from owning an iPhone. I'm not going to essentially pay two cellular bills. As Siri keeps improving, I can see the Watch gaining much of the functionality of the iPhone, minus the bigger screen. I'd happily make that trade-off, living with the tiny screen on the go, letting Siri read me anything important.

 

[DotCom2]

Yes I also got mine on launch day in 2015. In the first few months I only saw a few and that was in central London. However as time went on I started to see them more and more. I remember in the first year it was written off as a flop but this didn’t quite correlate with what I was seeing (increasing). Now they are everywhere. If I go to my local town centre which isn’t that big I can guarantee I’ll see it at least one but it’s usually more.

Not only that but I even see them on kids! The power of hand-me-downs.

 

[Dustonfoster]

Don’t think I’ll be getting the new iPhone this year, ending my streak since the iPhone 3G. This is for financial reasons unfortunately. However, I’ll probably buy the next gen AW instead.

 

[ike1707]

I’m loving my series 3. Great product.

 

[ftaok]

The only way for the Apple Watch to have explosive growth potential is to take a page from the iPod. It must be cross-platform integrated to some extent. There’s not really a reason for it not to be, I think. Like the iPod it can easily become a gateway into the apple ecosystem but why restrict others from dabbling and sampling?

Maybe, but I don't think Apple intends to grow the AW into a huge platform. It's main purpose is to be indispensable enough to keep users locked into purchasing iPhones. Simple things like activity rings appeal to people's OCD tendencies. As one updates their AW to the latest wOS (to gain features), they'll reach a point where they'll need to update their iPhone to a newer model. Then they'll update their AW to a newer model to gain new features that are unavailable on their current AW.

It's a vicious cycle. As people hold onto their iPhones longer and longer, Apple needs to have ways to get them to upgrade their phones. If they buy and upgrade their watches too, that's a bonus.

I wonder if anyone outside of Apple has investigated the iPhone upgrading tendencies of AW users vs. non-AW users. It would be very interesting. I would imagine that AW users stay on iOS at a higher rate as well as upgrading their iPhones at a higher rate as well. I wouldn't be surprised if AW users buy the higher end model of iPhones at a higher rate as well.

 

[44267547]

I still love it for notifications and it's still quite stylish, physically being able to change bands in seconds is great but the apps leave a lot to be desired outside of exercise monitoring.

I would disagree. In Retrospect, look how the Apple Watch has shifted from 2015 to 2018. I think when the Apple Watch first debuted, they were demoing how many different types of applications for the Apple Watch was capable of using for opening garage doors, starting cars, gaining access to hotel rooms, ext and and now if you look how the Apple Watch has shifted with the Series 3, I don’t even know that many users anecdotally who care to download third-party applications to the Apple Watch aside from using the stock ones, or simply just want to Apple Watch to be notification and fitness device, and now LTE growing, which the Watch executes fairly well. I don’t think the applications is the future (Or priority for some) with the the Apple Watch in terms of applications, I think it’s with the health sensors and LTE currently.

 

[citysnaps]

Shipped to stores? How many were actually sold to consumers?

Roughly the same number. Apple is a master at setting daily inventory levels to very closely match sales.

 

[gugy]

Aside from the numbers, It’s actually interesting, because in 2015 when the Apple Watch initially launched, I thought I was one only one of few that actually had one in public. I was on vacation two weeks ago and in the airport, at the resort, on the beach, I saw Apple Watches everywhere, including male and female wearing them. When you factor in the popularity of iPhone, obviously the Apple Watch is the most obvious choice, but it meshes so well with the iOS ecosystem and now with LTE, I don’t even need to have my phone on with me at all times either. It can only Improve from here with additional health sensors and battery life.

Agreed, I was recently on vacation in Europe and I saw a lot of people wearing them. I love mechanical watches and while in Switzerland, I was tempted to buy one but in the end, I use my AW at all times tracking activities and workouts so my need for a mechanical watch now is only at social occasions when I want to have a dressy watch. I end up not getting anything and just stick to the old Omega I have. I am sure Swiss watch manufacturers are a bit concern with the success of AW.

 

[ftaok]

I would disagree. I think when the Apple Watch first debuted, they were demoing how many different types of applications for the Apple Watch was capable of using for opening garage doors, starting cars, gaining access to hotel rooms, ext and and now if you look how the Apple Watch has shifted with the Series 3, I don’t even know that many users anecdotally who care to download third-party applications to the Apple Watch aside from using the stock ones, or simply just want to Apple Watch to be notification and fitness device, and now LTE growing, which the Watch executes fairly well. I don’t think the applications is the future (Or priority for some) with the the Apple Watch in terms of applications, I think it’s with the health sensors and LTE currently.

I agree with you. There's very little that the AW cannot do that I would even be interested in (but then again, I'm not that imaginative).

For me, the AW features that I need are as follows.

1. Fitness device
2. Notification device (mainly seeing text messages and upcoming appts)
3. Quick info device (weather and calendar complications)
4. Stopwatch
5. Alarm clock
6. Siri device (AW S2 is so much more responsive than my iPhone 6)

Anything else doesn't excite me. I really wish I could remove the apps that I never use from the app screen.

 

[PickUrPoison]

One would assume there’s not a lot of unsold inventory at Apple or 3rd party retailers so I can’t imagine there would be a big difference between shipped and sold.

Right. And no matter what the actual inventory levels may be, they were likely similar at the quarter beginning and ending, since there’s no reason (incentive) for retailers to increase their inventory.

So if inventory was 3 million at the beginning of the quarter, and 3 million at the end of the quarter, shipped=sold. If inventory started the quarter at 3 million but ended at 2 million for some reason, Apple will have sold a million more units than were shipped.

 

[Labrat561]

Don’t think I’ll be getting the new iPhone this year, ending my streak since the iPhone 3G. This is for financial reasons unfortunately. However, I’ll probably buy the next gen AW instead.

If you get a Apple Watch make sure you get AppleCare. They break.

 

[Mad Mac Maniac]

I wonder if the numbers would explode if Apple made them compatible with Android (a la iPod and windows).
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Don’t think I’ll be getting the new iPhone this year, ending my streak since the iPhone 3G. This is for financial reasons unfortunately. However, I’ll probably buy the next gen AW instead.

If you get a Apple Watch make sure you get AppleCare. They break.

Not sure where you're getting your facts from... Yes everything CAN break, but many many of us (myself included) are on their Day 1 Series 0 Apple Watch and going strong. I'm sorry if you've had bad luck. I'm getting Series 4 for sure. Can't wait!

 

[Abazigal]

If you get a Apple Watch make sure you get AppleCare. They break.

My general threshold for warranty is no more than 10% of the cost price of the product. For the Apple Watch, the warranty is expensive enough that I would rather just self-insure. If it breaks, it breaks and I might look at replacing it altogether.

 

[subjonas]

I really wish Apple made a smart band. Not a full on screen, more low key with week long battery life.

 

[Abazigal]

I really wish Apple made a smart band. Not a full on screen, more low key with week long battery life.

Doubt so. How would Apple further monetise their product if they can’t sell additional watch bands?

 

[NT1440]

I think people have come to realize that there isn’t a killer app for a watch. At least no one has done anything that wasn’t already on the watch or was useful enough to keep doing. As it moves to be more health-centric away from its original concept it means even fewer apps will be meaningful to most.

Yup. Another way to look at it is the watch is so personal in its usage there’s simply no universally “needed” killer app.

That said, the second non invasive blood glucose monitoring is developed enough to get FDA clearance we’re going to see a *dramatic* surge in sales worldwide.

 

[wowotoe]

Anyone looking at the chart? Q2 2018 is 30% more than Q2 of 2017? The bars look like they are on the same level. If it's 30% more, Q2 2018's bar should be way higher.

 

[Kaibelf]

i'm glad things are going well for the watch. But here is what I don't understand. Most everyone wants a bigger TV/Monitor/iDevice screen. Hard to understand the appeal of an "iPod Nano" for the wrist. And if you live in Texas...well.

Different use case. Very.