How many times do we need to have this "discussion" about Apple focusing on profit margins primarily? Their market share is secondary at best.
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Apple Watch Drops to Just 5% Share of Wearables Market as Basic Fitness Trackers 'Reign Supreme'
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Because nobody cares much about that market. Companies are in dire financial straits, so they wedge Apple's smart watch in to make it relevant. It then becomes click bait with the another headline that Apple is doomed. The "writers" demonstrate that they are just winging this stuff out there by inane comments that Apple's newly introduced product, the Apple Watch, was suffering from an "aging lineup" factor after a year
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This isn't surprising at all. A smartphone functions well with multiple apps because A) the screen is large enough, and B) you can store it almost anywhere. Apple should have focused on fewer user experiences but better. The fact they even called it a 'watch' and the traditional nature of a face > dial > strap proves how unambitious they were. Why not wait until the technology is ready for a snap bracelet-style device?
And the Apple Watch has 99% of profit on all of these devices. Not meant as fact, but that might be the reason that the AW sticks around.
While the Apple Watch remains the world's best selling smartwatch, the latest data from market research firm IDC reveals basic wearables "reign supreme" as consumers gravitate towards simple, dedicated fitness devices--which also typically cost less than the Apple Watch and other smartwatches.
Shipments in millions (Source: IDC)
Basic wearables accounted for 85% of the market and experienced double-digit growth in the third quarter, according to IDC. Fitbit remained the leader with 23% market share, up from 21.4% a year ago, on the strength of its new Charge 2 fitness tracker. Fitbit shipped an estimated 5.3 million wearables in the quarter.
Xiaomi trailed in second as its $14.99 Mi Band is priced well below any competing wearables, allowing the Chinese company to capture 16.5% market share based on an estimated 3.8 million shipments in the quarter. Xiaomi's market share remained virtually unchanged from 16.4% a year ago.
Meanwhile, the Apple Watch captured just a 4.9% share of the broader wearables market in the quarter based on an estimated 1.1 million shipments, according to IDC. Comparatively, in the year-ago quarter, Apple had an estimated 3.9 million Apple Watch shipments for a much higher 17.5% market share.IDC attributed Apple's decline in the third quarter to an "aging lineup" and an "unintuitive user interface." Apple addressed those concerns with Apple Watch Series 2, but the second-generation models launched in mid-September and therefore did not have a full impact on the third quarter.
Apple does not officially disclose Apple Watch sales, instead grouping the device under its "Other Products" category in earnings results.
Article Link: Apple Watch Drops to Just 5% Share of Wearables Market as Basic Fitness Trackers 'Reign Supreme'
Saw a news post that many Fitbit users have given up on their Fitbit because it didn't motivate them enough to keep wearing and if that is all it does, it ends up in the junk drawer. At least they are not out much.
Yeah, the original marketing approach was such a blunder. Celebrities, or anyone else with a lot of money, were never going to favor the Apple Watch over their existing collection of expensive watches and other jewelry. Those had resale value and prestige. An Apple Watch is a gadget that will eventually become obsolete.
LOL!! The Apple Watch is by no means the Ferrari of watches.
Boring design. Amen to that brother! One of the biggest things that kept me away from the Apple Watch. I find it completely uninspired.
As far as the FitBit-like product, the Garmins hit most of those points and they have multiple options available. I loved the design of the Fenix 3 (I like big bulky watches). Week long battery life, always on display, can store health and GPS, syncs data with bluetooth or wifi and other apps like Strava and Nike Plus. It does rock! I went with a refurb at around half the cost because the prices on those things are still very prohibitive.
Anyway, the comparable smart fitness watches to the Apple Watch cost about as much as the Apple Watch. The example was pointless from the get go.
I had a Xiaomi's 15$ Mi Band & now an Apple Watch.
They're actually comparing a Lamborghini to a cute Bicycle. Not that there's something wrong with Mi Band, it's just not in the same league.
Poor sales Performa will likely mean an equally bad first Quadra's earnings report.
What you get when you sell a glorified overpriced notification band with a bad ui. Cheaper options do basically the same thing for a fraction of the cost. One can easily speculate why they kept the first gen around. Lots of leftover inventory they didn't sell.
Everyone seems to believe that Apple is number one in smart watches, what market should they have gone after?
Your username is ironic
I'm interested in knowing whether Apple makes more money with the AirPort, AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule (all rumored to be discontinued) or the Apple Watch. If so, does that also mean Apple will discontinue the Apple Watch since they only seem interested in selling products that make a ton of money, despite how useful they are to their core users?
You can find many reports about the Apple Watch that say exactly the same thing.
That's what happened to my Apple Watch.
The previous owner only wore it for a couple of months then it sat in a drawer for almost a year until I snapped it up for a bargain price.
How do you know how many watches Apple has sold? These are made up WAG's. I suspect they are selling more smart watches than every other SW manufacturer combined, and most "analysts" have said the same thing, but nobody knows. If you were Apple, if sales were very good, would you want your competitors to have that information so they could benefit from knowing how good of a market it is? Especially as you are sorting out the different directions you are sorting through with a new product line and building an ecosystem around the AW, e.g., HealthKit, ResearchKit, iOS, etc.
Samsung and others use Apple's data, e.g., the popularity of the Jet black model, to make decisions.
Fitbit devices are much cheaper than the Apple watch, so it's not surprising there are more of them. I would however prefer Apple to put a bit of those watch development resources back into making a decent computer.... Just a thought.
Ridiculous comparison. May as well see how kitchen step stools sell vs. extension ladders. They're not used for the same things!
Maybe, but since I can't see them ever taking the place of a phone (too small), 99% of the time people will have both devices on their person. I would like a totally autonomous device for going out walking or whatever, though. Not sure that's a big enough market to be the difference from "taking off" or not though.