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Apple Watch Loses Market Share as Android Wear Grows in Popularity
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I am warning already since months that Apple is getting itself in deep sh*t and even if macrumors is apple fanboy heaven, folks need to start acknowledge the realities!
In nearly all product categories Apple is showing sales declines (ipad, iphone and apple watch) and even their financial data is reflecting this trend. I said before multiple times, that Apple has peaked in the broadest sense (sales, innovation, novality, brand, image etc).
Looking back at Apple's last keynote its a total reflection of Apple's current state and if they don't deliver big time this year on software at WWDC and hardware, they will lose a lot of (loyal) customers this year... Including me!
By the way, please stop defending Apple's lack of "awesomeness" lately... There is no reason that the Mac Pro, MBP and iMac (incl Mac mini) cannot be updated more aggressively and faster and looking at the competition, the latest smartphones coming from LG/HTC/Samsung are simply put great products and ahead of the iphone!
Looking what Microsoft is doing in the past 12 months with windows 10 and the whole Surface product line, we are seeing good innovation at the competition... Not at Apple! Releasing a product with upgraded specs and a new color is NOT innovation!
In nearly all product categories Apple is showing sales declines (ipad, iphone and apple watch) and even their financial data is reflecting this trend. I said before multiple times, that Apple has peaked in the broadest sense (sales, innovation, novality, brand, image etc).
Looking back at Apple's last keynote its a total reflection of Apple's current state and if they don't deliver big time this year on software at WWDC and hardware, they will lose a lot of (loyal) customers this year... Including me!
By the way, please stop defending Apple's lack of "awesomeness" lately... There is no reason that the Mac Pro, MBP and iMac (incl Mac mini) cannot be updated more aggressively and faster and looking at the competition, the latest smartphones coming from LG/HTC/Samsung are simply put great products and ahead of the iphone!
Looking what Microsoft is doing in the past 12 months with windows 10 and the whole Surface product line, we are seeing good innovation at the competition... Not at Apple! Releasing a product with upgraded specs and a new color is NOT innovation!
Correct. For all the obsessing over market share, it does not result in growing profit. Increasing units sold and the margins on those units sold results in growing profit. If any company on the face of the planet has proven the importance of growing unit sales and healthy margins over chasing market share, it's Apple.
Breaking News: Watch sales for the Christmas quarter exceed sales for the quarter that followed.
Nobody cares about these creepy watches, when are the new MBPs coming is what matters !!
I like the Apple Watch a lot, but I agree with your assessment of Tim's leadership. One of the things Steve Jobs did fairly consistently (although it always seemed to surprise) was to make even the low-end products delight in their particular ways. Thus, there was plenty of magic to the iMac (and the iBooks, etc.) even though those on paper were lesser computers than some of the higher-end offerings. And on several occasions, he surprised by making certain products much more affordable than what people expected. The best example of that was probably the first-gen iPad, which nearly everyone had projected to be >$1000 and which ultimately started at about half that price. I feel like Tim would have seen the buzz surrounding that rumored product and sought to extract as much money for it as he could. Steve, on the other hand, wanted to get them into people's hands and avoid the perception that it was only a high-end device. The company that gave us "the computer for the rest of us" doesn't seem to be a part of Tim's Apple.
Great, you just killed this "Apple Watch is doomed" thread with your common sense. Hope you're proud of yourself
Remember back in the 1990s Apple had a whole bunch of computer models and the company almost went bankrupt? I do. It's not about the number of X provided. It's about the quality AND quantity of choice desired by the end user/customer. Apple has become too focused on it's own self image and not on the vision of putting out future technologies with incredibly seductive UI/UX. History repeats itself.
You should definitely pair your iPhone with a watch that has a fraction of the functionality that you'd get with the AW to spite Apple. That'll show em!
I had an OG pebble it broke with in one month. I decided to get an Apple Watch little out of my budget. Saw a sale for $249. Pretty cheap. Well worth it. Answer calls everything. Pebble is known for screen tears. I didn't bother send it in and get it replaced. The new pebble is the same price as the Apple watch just few bucks more.
The excuses Apple/TC sycophants (note: this is only a small subset of all Apple fans) barf out of late is unbelievable. It's logo love rather than tech love. Anyone who doesn't covet some of the designs and features of Apple product competitors is either lying to themselves or is a lobotomy victim.
I'm far from the point of switching away from my mostly all-Apple stable but it's deeply frustrating to me how Apple is 1) so slow to adapt to the marketplace and available tech, 2) making it's products unnecessarily complicated or unintuitive -- the AW's buttons are a good example, 3) and continuing to under-spec while overpricing or worse overpricing w/o a CTO option.
From afar it looks like TC only sees $. Schiller thinks he can sell air conditioners to Eskimos at a 40% premium. Ives thinks every single one of his designs is useful and brilliant. Ahrendts thinks selling tech is no different from Burberry fashion. And Cue and Federighi, well, judging from iTunes and iOS 9.3.1, I don't know what they are thinking. There was a serious vacuum created when Jobs passed and no longer was everyone forced to work in sync... or else. I think TC is either too chummy with his former VP colleagues or too afraid his prima donna staff will abandon him if he acts like true leader and corrals these talents with a short leash into making top notch product again.
iWatch sales, phone sales all heading south as people get the message that Apple is greedy and no longer cool or cutting edge. When the backlash sets in in earnest it will be a monster.
The latest data from research firm Strategy Analytics reveals that Apple Watch sales totaled an estimated 2.2 million in the first quarter.
Apple Watch remains the most popular smartwatch, but its market share declined to 52.4-percent compared to 63-percent in the previous quarter.
Strategy Analytics cites increasing competition from Android Wear rivals such as LG and Motorola as one reason for the Apple Watch ceding market share:Nevertheless, Apple still maintains a comfortable lead in the smartwatch market, with its wrist-worn sales outpacing all other competitors combined. Samsung trailed in second place with only 600,000 shipments, for instance, while all other vendors shipped a combined 1.4 million units in the quarter.
Global smartwatch shipments grew 223-percent annually to reach 4.2 million units in the first quarter of 2016, up from 1.3 million in the year-ago quarter, according to Strategy Analytics. Growth was driven by demand for Apple, Android Wear, and Tizen models across North America, Western Europe, and Asia.
Apple does not disclose Watch sales in its quarterly earning results, instead grouping the device under its Other Products category alongside iPods, Apple TVs, Beats Electronics, and accessories. Strategy Analytics estimates, however, place total Apple Watch sales at nearly 16 million since its April 2015 launch.
Strategy Analytics estimated that Apple Watch sales totaled 4 million during its launch quarter, allowing it to capture an impressive 75.5-percent market share, followed by estimated sales of 4.5 million in the third quarter. By the fourth quarter, encompassing the busy holiday shopping season, the firm said Apple Watch market share had dropped to 63-percent based on 5.1 million sales.
On April 24, the Apple Watch celebrated its one-year anniversary in the U.S. and other first wave launch countries. Many consumers are now anxiously anticipating the Apple Watch 2, which is expected to debut in the second half of 2016 and could feature a FaceTime camera, expanded Wi-Fi abilities, and cellular connectivity. New bands, finishes, and models are always a possibility as well.
Article Link: Apple Watch Loses Market Share as Android Wear Grows in Popularity
Apple must get back to its real talent of making the best computers around. This is what Jobs founded the company on and about which Cook hasn't got a clue.
Agree, throw in GPS also Apple should look closely at Garmin especially if they want a serious foot in the fitness market.
This is why I haven't purchased one:
It's a 1.0 product, I'll wait for a 2.0 or higher.
Price
Battery Life
Needs to be more autonomous
It's a 1.0 product, I'll wait for a 2.0 or higher.
Price
Battery Life
Needs to be more autonomous
Apple was never been good at first gen product ,like iphone ipad ,macbook air etc. Yes just make the future obvious where all are going but it was not perfect
I mean maxbook air vs gen 2
Ipad vs ipad 2
Iphone vs iphone 3g
Etc
So apple just show to the world where are we headed but second gen wll be the perfect one
I mean maxbook air vs gen 2
Ipad vs ipad 2
Iphone vs iphone 3g
Etc
So apple just show to the world where are we headed but second gen wll be the perfect one
I usually don't get into discussions with people that classify anyone who disagrees with them as fanboy.
That word almost triggers a anti-racism-like response from me and shows hugely disrespectful attitude from the start.
Same fallacy, more pretentious wording.
The market is maturing. The early majority is coming up, and that makes the market share decline. It was to be expected and will always be this way in a new market. They don't need market share dominance: the need a market and found out the early adopters are a good and profitable market.
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I suspect it has something to do with the fact Apple Watch is nearing the 1 year anniversary so, following the Christmas rush, people are waiting for version 2. Not withstanding, it is largely an accessory to iPhone - therefore it is to be expected that Apple users would prefer an Apple Watch whilst Android users would stay in their same ecosystem. Given Android is installed on more devices than iOS, this is to be expected. Notwithstanding, I'll bet that the Apple Watch vs Android shall follow a similar trajectory in terms of *profitability* within the market place. Finally, I would expect Apple to retain a relatively healthier market share with Apple Watch over Android on the basis that Apple users tend to be both more image conscious than Android users, as well as have greater economic resources to purchase what is perceived as a luxury rather than essential item (Watch vs. Telephone)
You know a decline in marketshare doesn't even have to mean they're selling less, right?
Also, computers are on their way out. Slowly, but steadily.
As someone that looks at the watch, I agree with the poster that wants new (and 3rd party) faces. Apple doesn't own all of the imagination in the world, and others will bring new and improved faces, with things that we (or Apple) haven't thought of yet.
Do you consider the iPhone a niche product? Apple sold more first-generation AWs than first-generation iPhones (as well as iPads) in the first 6 months after debut.