Apple Watch Demand Slides Significantly in June as Launch Momentum Wanes

[Reason077]

I ordered an Apple Watch Sport on launch day, then saw how much they were going for on eBay and flogged mine, unopened, for a great profit. Haven't got around to ordering another one yet, and will probably wait for the 2nd gen.

Still very interested in the tech, however. I think it'll be a success, eventually.

 

[peterdevries]

Thank you Apple for botching your launch day. I woke up at 3am to order but you failed me. And thus I cancelled my order. Haven't looked back since.

In the future when launching a new, questionable product, make enough for launch, put it in stores and do not botch the order process.

So you got up at 3am to order a 'questionable product'.

 

[sully54]

Biggest problem of the apple watch is price. It was the same issue with the first gen iPhone.

 

[alexanderasher]

Really, while I know Apple will never want to do this, I feel like they could potentially increase sales by allowing watch to go with Android devices. Oh god I can't wait for people to yell at me.

That being said, I also feel the apple watch has it's place with certain consumers, and some just aren't them. Me personally? I bought one because I carry a bag with me because my jean pockets are small due to the style I wear, and I want a 6S+ when that comes out. So I can throw my phone in the bag and not have to worry about missing any important notifications.

The Watch is a niche device that won't appeal to everyone, that's simply how it is. Not everyone wears a watch even now. I both enjoy fashion and see the convenience in it, so I'll pick it up.

I just wish it had custom watchfaces. I wanted to replace a watch of mine that broke a while ago with it by using a custom watchface but I guess I can't do that now can I? grumble grumble

 

[Zzzoom]

Wow. As the figure uses a log scale, the slowdown is actually quite more dramatic.

 

[bunnicula]

I like my Apple Watch. It does exactly what Apple said it would do.

I think it's done very well for a smart watch. If you look at every other smart watch ever sold, it's easy to see that this device has roundly beat all of them.

It'll pick back up closer to the holidays.

 

[kis]

Apple's biggest fail since the Newton. Like the Newton, it's a device that shouldn't have been released for another year or two - until the quirks have been worked out.

It's slow, doesn't do much, it's a battery hog, it's not officially waterproof (which would have been an incentive) and unlike other apple products, using it isn't intuitive.

 

[nikaru]

What a pathetic survey...

Apple Watch is not even available in most countries, while in the US it is avilable for months so its normal to observe a decline in demand.

20.000 a day only in the states may seems low but in the recent year Apple sales in the states are less than the half of their total sales worldwide. If the watch seels 50.000 units per day worldwide, this mean 1.5 milion a month or 18 milion units per year. This is ****ing huge number even for smartphone or laptop category, and a ****ing insane number for a competly new category.

 

[robbyx]

I do tend to agree with this sentiment regarding focus, however, in regards to brilliance in new products. As you said, time will tell eventually, but I fail to see where things can go from here. I'm not an engineer or scientist by any stretch of the imagination but I believe we may have reached a technology peak. Samsung is suffering the same thing, the lower S6 sales being blamed on lack of innovative new ideas, products, and designs.

Peaks and plateaus. We're definitely in a plateau. Much like we were before multitouch arrived. The thing is, pre-Internet there wasn't this ridiculous, foolish craving for something new and amazing every year, something revolutionary. It's going to be years, maybe a decade or more, before we see another leap. Natural language processing and voice driven systems like Siri will be huge one day, once they gain the ability to "think" a bit. No doubt we'll see some interesting display tech too and eventually we'll stop talking about the next (not) big thing called wearables and jump right to embedables. Enjoy the plateau. We're going to be here for a while.

 

[usarioclave]

Slice only checks email. If people have moved to in-store buying email receipt #s would have dropped off tremendously.

The Apple Store may email you a receipt, and it's unclear how many people do that for in-store purchases. Interesting data point, but take it with another salt grain.

 

[Iconoclysm]

You don't say? Predicted with certainty at announcement, was told it was 'crazy talk'.

Hmm, I'm going to bet you predicted it wouldn't sell any more than any other smartwatch.

 

[Wahlstrm]

Well, when you advertise something so hard when people can't get it and you wait until the rumors of gen2 has come out before you start to ship then you might end up with a bit lower demand when you finally have the product available..

This is standard behavior for almost all other tech companies.
They always leak/show of the next thing coming and when it finally comes the market is already tired of it..

Apple almost never do this.
They usually let you buy it when the hype is at it´s peak, and try to not show it to you before.

This time they tried the industry standard way and waited for the hype to die before they delivered..

 

[Reason077]

Slice only checks email. If people have moved to in-store buying email receipt #s would have dropped off tremendously.

The Apple Store may email you a receipt, and it's unclear how many people do that for in-store purchases. Interesting data point, but take it with another salt grain.

Doesn't the Apple store always email you a receipt? It happens automatically if you have your CC on file with them already, for iTunes purchases or whatever. And if they don't have a record of your CC already, they'll ask for your email.

 

[makingdots]

Apple's biggest fail since the Newton.

Apple product that launched without Steve can't really be considered as Apple product. So forget those products that has been released after the first Macintosh and before the iPod. There's no genius that drives the company's soul so it's no wonder all of those products before him are fail.

 

[TallManNY]

I like my watch. Upgrade in functionality once third party Apps can go native is pretty obvious. That is second shoe to drop for me. Wish it was a bit thinner though. Appearance is beginning to drag on me a bit. Certainly it feels like a visual downgrade from my Hamilton Automatic. But functionality are useful and health features are proving to have a motivation impact on me.

 

[DakotaGuy]

Really, while I know Apple will never want to do this, I feel like they could potentially increase sales by allowing watch to go with Android devices. Oh god I can't wait for people to yell at me.

I would assume for this to happen Apple would probably have to make a deal with Google to allow Android Wear in the iOS App Store. Never say never though since Apple Music is supposed to be coming to Android and Apple allows the Google Music app on iOS. If Apple feels they would actually have more to gain then lose by selling Apple Watches to Android customers I could see them making that deal.

 

[happydude]

If your days are that long, you might want to check out some another job...

yeah, but given how quickly the iPhone battery loses it's ability to hold charge, after a year, a 48 hour batter would still be good for a day. part sarcasm, part reality. 24 hours is fine out of the box today. i don't think everyone is going to be excited to pay $79 or whatever for a new battery or have to deal with charging it mid-day once the performance starts to decline. a 48 hour starting charge ability would keep the watch "alive" longer...

 

[mac4good84]

I've had the watch since May 15 and I've used it all the time. The biggest thing for me has been Activity and Fitness tracking and it's worked gloriously for me and my wife. The only problem I've had with it has been bluetooth connectivity. For whatever reason, I've had issues connecting wireless headsets and it has disconnected many times. Apple is taking care of it though so I will be without a watch for a few days but better to get it fixed. Other than that, I've used this alot more than I thought I would. It's great at work so I don't have to touch my phone if need be and I've been meaning to have a watch on again for quite some time.

 

[TMRJIJ]

No surprise here. A number of rabid fanboys jumped all over me, accusing me of being an Apple hater (despite buying Apple products for over 30 years and never owning a PC...yeah, Apple hater for sure!) for saying that I thought initial sales would be strong before they fell off a cliff. And guess what? The watch is flop. As many of us predicted. This really should come as no surprise. Only the most diehard Kool Aid drinker believed it would be a hit. Battery life and design issues aside, the real problem is that it doesn't really solve a problem. It's a decent iPhone add-on, but it doesn't really enhance the iPhone experience. Fitness tracking is weak compared to other products. There's tangible love for the iPhone all around, on the web, in blogs, on the news, when you meet people and they talk about how much they love the iPhone, how it has changed their lives...but I have yet to encounter anything beyond an "it's ok" sentiment from watch owners. Now I just hope Tim and Jony can go back to focusing on products people actually want to buy and stop trying to prove to all of us that they can invent the "next big thing" without Steve.

the iPhone had years to get where it is. The innovations made it such a successful product. This is first generation news for the Apple Watch. I said basically the same thing about the iPad and come to find out that I was wrong. The only thing wrong with the iPad is that they didn't take advantage of the bigger screen. You see one article about sales and completely jump on top of it just to prove you're right instead of just waiting and watching.

 

[gsmornot]

To me, the primary disadvantage is battery life dependency. I'm used to watches with 5-year lithium batteries.
The second disadvantage may be durability. If it's not a G-Shock, it may not last long on my wrist.

I would rather get a new iPhone or iPad instead. Maybe in the future, if I have some money to waste, I may get an Apple Watch.

Well, maybe is good enough I guess. Some here simply said won't get one. Ha.

 

[Reason077]

Apple's biggest fail since the Newton.

Even at these "slow" levels, Apple is selling more Apple Watches every week in the US than they ever sold Newtons, worldwide, during the entire history of that product.

Is that really a failure?

 

[Planey28]

Reading this thread, a lot of people on these forums need a reality check and a life.

How uneventful and dull is your life that you talk absolute **** about how right you were that a product is 'failing' and 'will never be a hit' (despite all evidence to the contrary).

You really do see it all online.

 

[CmdrLaForge]

As I said from the beginning. It will be interesting to watch this space. I bought the SS BSB at launch and got it April 24th if I recall correctly. I still like mine a lot. But when asked by someone else if he or she should be the watch I always say:
1) First - it is mainly a watch so are you a watch person?
2) Second - do you like the design?
3) Third - do you want a new watch right now?

If all 3 are answered yes that - sure consider the Apple Watch. But there are plenty of other great watches...

 

[iBug2]

If this is true, then why isn't Apple launching in the rest of the countries? They must have some unsold watches.

 

[kis]

What a pathetic survey...

Apple Watch is not even available in most countries, while in the US it is avilable for months so its normal to observe a decline in demand.

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.