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I don't know what they can do with it to make it "must have." Standalone apps on a 1" screen? Built-in GPS? More sensors? Camera? Thinner? None of these things come remotely close to making this product interesting enough to buy.

Medical innovations..
If they can innovate a new technology that has a real medical function, it could be huge.
I'm not sure what..

How about they discover a way of NON-INVASIVE real-time monitoring of blood glucose levels.
No more finger-pricking and meter reading for the millions of people with diabetes.
Wow. Those glucose testing strips cost a fortune.. so an Apple Watch would be cheaper, as well as no more finger-pricking with a sharp lancet.. plus constant monitoring linked to alerts.. wow.. that would transform diabetes management.
 
I don't need an article to back anything up. AW sales suck. The early adopters got theirs, feedback from customers and reviewers confirms again and again that it's a mediocre product, and consumer interest is falling off a cliff. It was a dumb product from day one. I've been buying Apple products for 30+ years and Apple has made me a pile of cash as an investor. I love the company. But the Watch is lame. Way overhyped and now that they've finally delivered, it's exactly what many of us expected, a decent wearable that isn't necessary. But don't take my word for it. This thread alone has significantly more posts from people expressing their disappointment in the product, returning it, etc. than it does people praising its brilliance. I see iPhones every day all day long. I have only seen one Apple Watch in the wild and it belongs to my uber nerdy friend and even he's rather underwhelmed. Finally, to your point about data, what data would you expect me to have? I don't work for Apple and last I checked they aren't releasing watch sales numbers (hmmmm...I wonder why). So we're left with anecdotal evidence (often backed up by real world experience and observation) to form our conclusions. Now go back to gulping your Kool Aid.
http://appleinsider.com/articles/15...lly-shows-apple-is-crushing-smartwatch-sector
 
We may not know exact numbers, but lets face it - macrumors is made up of members who are more into tech than most people, and a lot more into Apple than most people, and theres an unusally large chunk of EVEN THESE PEOPLE who are negative about the A-watch. I've not seen an Apple product this disliked by this many on this site since 2003, when I became a member. If anything, because these are mostly Apple fans, this is especially damming.
We on this site are the kind of people that will evangalize Apple products, and it's not happening for the A-watch.

http://appleinsider.com/articles/15...lly-shows-apple-is-crushing-smartwatch-sector

by the way, happy about you getting the stamp of approval from B. Frost :)
 
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The iPhone costs $649-949. The iPad runs from $299-929. The mainstream Apple Watch lines run from $349-$1099. Could the Apple Watch sell 10 million per quarter one day? Perhaps. That would be less than a 20% uptake rate from iPhone purchasers, but likely still bigger overall than the Mac and perhaps even the iPad when that market settles.

Mac sales have been increasing though, I suspect Apple watch sales have dived. Will be interesting to see how it performs moving forward but as I said, their is no real market for smart watches.
 
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I don't know what they can do with it to make it "must have." Standalone apps on a 1" screen? Built-in GPS? More sensors? Camera? Thinner? None of these things come remotely close to making this product interesting enough to buy.

Yep, you got it. It's NOT a must have by any stretch. I suppose neither are phones or tablets if we are going to be technically accurate but at least those seem to have more real uses. It's not surprising that sales are falling off. It's basically an overpriced toy watch. Bleh and meh.
 
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Exactly...
I really question whether this will go the way of the Apple TV where it sits along the wall at the Apple Store and every once in a while someone goes over and buys one.

It is not a revolutionary product. It's an expansion device to the iPhone, much like a BT earpiece.

Mark my words, the Apple Watch will evolve into some other type of wearable, like a touch sensitive projector on the back of your hand or forearm, like this:


ah yep.. that's what i want.

We all called the Apple Watch "the next big thing" well, some of us did.... right up until we see this plummet by statistics. Then it all changes to "oh crap.... its going down."

Guess like like everything, but i would have thought more people would have known from the start such an accessory to a iPhone to make it any type of being useful, would be a downer....... Is there any smart watch, (since they must have their respective paired phone to work fully), that is a "high note" to speak off ?

I guess you can use the Apple watch without pairing, but u must first pair to use it... If you don't have a iPhone, well whats the use?
 
This is a stupid report meant to grab headlines. It's a first gen device with no real third party apps yet. Obviously the momentum would slow down dramatically after the launch weekend, 10000-20,000 a day in the US until the device has been out for 1 year, plus the fact it's sold 3-4 million already means that if you say 15,000 a day for the next year, that's around 10-11 million alone in the US. Add in the rest of the world and markets it isn't even available in yet and you're looking at 20+ million for the rest of the year. In anybody else book thats a success for a product that is in quite a niche market anyway...
 
If you think a decline in demand from 200'000 units per day to 3000 units a day is 'normal to observe', you must be joking. And sales in other countries are way more pathetic.
First there is no confirmation for this information from Apple so these are just speculation based on thin air or on some doubtful sources of this self proclaimed agency. Second, calling Apple sells outside the US pathetic only shows how ignorant (intentionally or not) you are towards the actual truth from their financial results during the last few years, especially in mainland China and Europe which are 2 bilion people markets. Third, as every new category, consumers need time to get to know the product before purchasing it, so its perfectly normal to have a substantial decline of the demand especially if your point of reference is the first day when the product is available which always is anormally high due to Apple loyal customers. Forth, Apple already sold more apple watches than any other company, even if we include smart bands in the equation which are not exactly that "smart". Apple Watch is great product and with a great price (except for some bands and the edition model) and it will definetly have a bright future selling hundred of milions units in the next few years. How do I know it? Because I have it and love it!
 
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Its still good to speculate.

Apple would have sold more anyway, because their Apple. A decline is expected, as long as it rises again after.
 
You should not associate supply for demand.

You can just walk into an Apple Store and pick one up.
Wait, I thought people were pissed because they couldn't buy them in store. Now it shows the Watch is a failure because you can walk into a store and get one? Shouldn't that be a good thing? You can't sell something that isn't available. But my point still stands - iPhone ships in 1-2 business days, Apple Watch is 5-7.
 
Mac sales have been increasing though, I suspect Apple watch sales have dived. Will be interesting to see how it performs moving forward but as I said, their is no real market for smart watches.
You suspect sales have dived; there is no real market for smart watches. And your sources for this (besides just being your opinion) are?

Below are the cumulative sales of iPod, iPhone and iPad. As you can see iPad is the only one that was hugely successful from day one. iPod took quite a while to take off and didn't happen until iTunes came to Windows. Thankfully Apple leadership plays the long game.

cumulative-shipments-months-since-launch-ipad-iphone-ipod_chartbuilder.png
 
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Not sure where you got that latter number.

Even anti-everyone-except-Apple fansite AI quoted 6.8 million smartwatches sold in 2014.

You are right. I am wrong. (bet you you never thought you would see that on the internet!) I was looking at 2013 data.

But your link pushed me along to here... http://appleinsider.com/articles/15...lly-shows-apple-is-crushing-smartwatch-sector - Which goes to show data can be viewed in many ways.

There is also the fact that during the summer months. People don't actually buy much tech. It's all about vacations.
 
Medical innovations..
If they can innovate a new technology that has a real medical function, it could be huge.
I'm not sure what..

How about they discover a way of NON-INVASIVE real-time monitoring of blood glucose levels.
No more finger-pricking and meter reading for the millions of people with diabetes.
Wow. Those glucose testing strips cost a fortune.. so an Apple Watch would be cheaper, as well as no more finger-pricking with a sharp lancet.. plus constant monitoring linked to alerts.. wow.. that would transform diabetes management.

100% agree. There is virtually 0 incentive the for the current manufacturers in the glucose monitoring business to innovate their business (more strips = more money spent). And the companies that have shown some innovation such as having the "constant" glucose monitoring have such high price barriers and proprietary bluetooth devices that have no reason to exist other than being a money maker.

For instant there is a 24hr glucose monitoring device that sends a bluetooth signal to their proprietary receiver. This receiver runs off a battery. That battery can not be replaced. It costs hundreds of dollars to replace the battery. And it runs out multiple times a year. There is 0 reason why the bluetooth signal cannot be sent straight to an iphone/android phone, other than the fact the company will lose income on the battery replacement.

If the apple watch had glucose monitoring, I wouldn't buy the sports edition, I'd be splashing out on the $1500 apple watch.....

But right now, I have 0 incentive to buy the apple watch....So i'll keep dreaming of a stripless glucose monitoring solution which is affordable...
 
Wait, I thought people were pissed because they couldn't buy them in store. Now it shows the Watch is a failure because you can walk into a store and get one? Shouldn't that be a good thing? You can't sell something that isn't available. But my point still stands - iPhone ships in 1-2 business days, Apple Watch is 5-7.

I just checked the U.S. Store , a lot of the watches are 1 business day! Look at more than one model/band choice ....
 
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I just checked the U.S. Store , a lot of the watches are 1 business day! Look at more than one model/band choice ....
I did. I looked at sport, SS with sport band, SS with milanese loop, SS with link bracelet. All 5-7 business days with the exception of the 42mm space black link which is 1-2 weeks. It looks like the colored sport and some of the 38mm models are 1 business day.

Btw, Ben Bajarin says his data has Watch tracking higher than iPad's first quarter and he thinks it will beat both iPhone and iPad in their respective launch quarters.

http://techpinions.discoursehosting.net/t/thoughts-on-the-slice-apple-watch-data/31/2
 

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But your link pushed me along to here... http://appleinsider.com/articles/15...lly-shows-apple-is-crushing-smartwatch-sector - Which goes to show data can be viewed in many ways.

Is the Apple Watch selling better than any other individual smartwatch? Probably so. After all, it's the only one that Apple allows deep access to iOS services. (Open that up to other makers, and a lot of iPhone owners would jump on less expensive and/or round competing models.)

But the article in this thread isn't about comparing sales with other makers, as that AI post does. The article is only about relative Apple Watch sales.

It's like comparing Samsung phone sales. Numerically, they stomp many other makers. But nobody cares about that; instead many articles compare Samsung's sales to last year or last month.

The same thing applies here. The article is only about Apple Watch sales relative to itself.
 
Color me shocked. I eventually gave in and bought one because I work in UX and figured it would be worthwhile to at least understand how it's used should I need to design something for it someday. I wore it for a week on purpose, but wanted to take it off after a day or two. Not only did I find it to be nearly useless (I say nearly, because I did like being able to look at text message quicker than pulling out my phone, especially while biking), but I would say that it's grossly overpriced. $250 for sport, $350 for SS with sport bands, $500 for SS with a link bracelet. THEN it might be not so bad. As it is, it's sitting on my floor somewhere, after I took it off one night and never put it back on again. I can see how wearables might serve some great use in the future when battery tech is better than it is now, and the sensors are able to achieve far more than they currently do, but honestly, I'm shocked Apple even released this to the market. Feels rushed, unfinished, and not needed.
 
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Regarding 1) Apple said back in October that they weren't going to release sales figures and report it in "Other." You don't report sales of a major product category in "Other." Why is everyone surprised that they are sticking to their word?

My guess is that they know it isn't going to be a barn burner, but that they plan to stick with it over the long term (or at least a few generations) since they see potential in the category. It's an accessory, not a primary device. Do we judge a department store based on how many bracelets they sell? Specifically, it is an iPhone accessory for now. Therefore don't be surprised to see future launches tied to the iPhone release. We are in the 3 month "lull" before the new iPhone launch, which will bring millions of people into Apple Stores, followed by the holiday rush. I would not be surprised at all to see some more band options before the end of the year, along with a renewed marketing push this October. It probably won't sell in the stratospheric predictions that analysts were predicting (that you'll notice I said were unrealistic all along), but it will still bring in more revenue than the Apple TV and other accessories.

Again, I understand what they said but Apple is a very public company by market cap and revenue. For it to say its not going to announce #s on a product it gave a full court press on (a pre-introduction, high level publicity, etc) and then hedge by say... oh but we aren't going to announce sales numbers because even though we are spending a billion dollars on R&D and marketing on it it's more like a "hobby" like the first AppleTV which we kept in a lonely corner in our stores is nothing less than a cop out. It's like a kid going into the 9th grade telling his parents he isn't going to announce his mid-term grades.

I've written in posts here many times that the AW is a good product, but it's not a great one yet. My criticism of AW is mostly with the way Apple itself puffed it up with all the things it could do out of the box, tried to sell it in expensive high profile models for cheap PR then had very limited stock at launch and the watch was very much a Gen 1. I'd argue a Gen .5.

What Apple should have done if they knew it wasn't going to be a barn burner as you put it is sell the first gen as only the lower cost Sport model and rely on organic sales only, not high end marketing. Then when the 2nd gen is out, and presumable quicker and smoother running with better tuned apps raise its profile. But as-is, you have a lot of early adopters (I'm in that category) that like it but not confident enough about it to recommend to their non-geek friends to spend $350+ on it. So the momentum is like a once huge balloon slowly leaking air.

As I've also said, hopefully WatchOS 2.0 will fix some of the interworking issues and also by Sep devs will have had enough time with the AW to understand how to design an AW app that is useful. A lot of devs are tacking on AW capability just to say it's AW capable. But actual use of said app is quite painful and often pointless.
 
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Almost EVERYONE you see has an apple phone. Almost NO ONE has an apple watch. THAT is the disconnect.

Apple took ALL their customers and couldn't sell them on the watch concept - even with their marketing genius.
 
I'm sure this has been posted but not reading 27 pages.

Nothing but a click bait story. Apple sold 10 million iPhone 6 when it was introduced in one weekend or 3.3 million phones per day. During earnings call, APpl eannounced it sold 74.5 million phones or 828,000 per day. OH MY GOD, IPHONE SALES TANKED 75%!!!!1!!!
 
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