Apple Watch Remains Nearly Three Times as Popular as Samsung Smartwatches

[magicschoolbus]

Health bands and smartwatches are converging. Smartwatches in some form have a future.

Issue with AppleWatch and others - they try to do too much.

I agree- I just got a Fitbit HR - I could not justify purchasing the Apple Watch due to the price and I felt like (no offense to some people - they look a little pretentious in my opinion). The fitbit does everything I want it to minus text alerts. It's perfect for me.

Apple watch just does not seemed like a product thats "focused"

 

[Jakexb]

Honestly surprised it's not more. Samsung's numbers are probably including promos like "buy a phone, get a watch free"

 

[djcerla]

If I were Apple, I would visit the offices of whoever is in charge of Pokémon Go and offer them buckets of money to make a Pokémon Go app for Apple Watch. Notifies you of nearby Pokemons w/o having to have your phone out 24/7. Maybe some other fancy stuff.

Then Tim Cook can sit back, watch Apple Watch sales explode, and cackle maniacally as he takes over Earth.

They're not doing that on purpose, as they're selling their own gizmo.

However, you're absolutely right: geolocation games are perfect for wearables, potential killer apps, and the category is set to explode.

 

[thermodynamic]

Not really surprising. Smart watches are gimmick devices. It's no wonder more Apple fans buy into this sort of thing. I say this as a AW wearer.

Money grab. Especially for such environmentally wasteful devices. Al Gore would not be proud.
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They're not doing that on purpose, as they're selling their own gizmo.

However, you're absolutely right: geolocation games are perfect for wearables, potential killer apps, and the category is set to explode.

Until they are more than extensions of smartphones and less expensive since they're more likely going to break...

Don't humans remember the days when society got along fine without this disposable junk? Why go outside unless it's to capture imaginary creatures? The DSM-V makers must be having a field day...

 

[Boatboy24]

Health bands and smartwatches are converging. Smartwatches in some form have a future.

Issue with AppleWatch and others - they try to do too much.

It may be a little less spectacular in the 'Wow' factor, but the Apple Watch is doing the same thing with watches (something many, many people use) and fitness bands (something a growing number of people use), that the iPhone did with cell phones (something many, many people used) and MP3 players (something a growing number of people were using). It took the two basic functions and put them into one device, while adding other functionality not really thought of for either of the legacy devices.

For years prior to getting my first iPhone, I had a cell phone (which also took pictures), and an iPod and didn't like having to carry two devices - I wished for someone to make a device that would cover both functions. The iPhone did just that and more. Late last year, I was in the market for a new watch, and was also interested in a fitness band. But I didn't want to wear two devices. I splurged and got the Apple Watch. It combines the basic functions of both devices, and adds other functionality. Some of which I don't care about, but some that I find useful. Overall though, I'm very happy with the decision and my use of the watch is growing.

I agree with you - smart watches in some form have a future. I don't think it will be as huge as smart phones, but I see a lot of potential.

 

[JF Martin]

Expectations on Apple Watch 2 are already out of hand! No FaceTime camera. No cellular. Just S2 onboard upgrade. New materials. New bands. watchOS 3. Enough to warrant an update.

 

[bladerunner2000]

And three times as ugly.

 

[69Mustang]

Why are the Samsung smartwatches all circular?

The only reason to make your watch a circle is because it's an analog device... my digital watches have a much more rectangular shape, closer to that of an Apple Watch. There's nothing about your wrist that makes a circle a better usage of space.

My wife told me two days ago that she's thinking about getting an Apple Watch for the fitness features. I'm the nerd. Not her. She's more interested in it than I am. Which suggests that Apple is probably doing something right.

There's nothing about your wrist that makes a square a better usage of space either. Honestly, I'm not really sure what you were trying to say here. Either way the argument falls flat.

Samsung has round, rectangular, and band style watches. Not quite sure how you figure they're all round.

Round watches are the choice of a lot of people because of aesthetics and personal use cases. Proponents of the square shaped watches always trot out the tire trope of usage of space, disregarding the fact that everything presented on the watch face doesn't always present better on a square. Text, yeah... but not always. Funny thing, a quick google search for AW images pulls up a crap ton of circular graphical elements that would look a heckuva lot better on a circular face. Does the same usage of space argument work here as well?

Neither shape is hard to view and both can provide the same information easily. It's just a matter of preference.

Personal opinion: IF the smartwatch category doesn't die on the vine, I think Apple will have a round watch within the next 3 years. Most likely the AW3 will offer both shapes; caveat being the category survival. That survival is not something I see clearly.

 

[2457282]

I personally have not seen one person with a smartwatch. Not even in the gym.
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My personal count hasn't changed one bit over the last months. I still have one colleague in Germany with a Sony smart watch and one colleague in the UK with an Apple Watch. I never see anyone with a smart watch on the ICE or in the streets. "Real" watches, and by that I mean expensive ones, I see way more often than those useless smart watch gadgets.

I wear an Apple watch. So does my wife. So do 6 coworkers in my local office (that I know of and have spoke to). So do 5 in the home office (again that I know and have spoken to). So do 4 of my friends. So that is 17 watches belonging to people I can name. I take public transportation and see people wearing an apple watch almost every day. I have actually been served at restaurants on a few occasions by wait staff wear the watch. In my world I see them all the time.

 

[dannyyankou]

I personally have not seen one person with a smartwatch. Not even in the gym.

Maybe it's a regional thing, but I literally seen a lot of them every day.

 

[69Mustang]

They're not doing that on purpose, as they're selling their own gizmo.

However, you're absolutely right: geolocation games are perfect for wearables, potential killer apps, and the category is set to explode.

Battery must be better on wearables for this to happen. Otherwise, people are going to crap all over the smartwatch manufacturer. GPS would be helpful too. But that circles back to a better battery. Specifically regarding an app... no GPS and current battery would make the AW a glorified tethered accessory. Not an ideal sell.

 

[deusx]

It took the two basic functions and put them into one device, while adding other functionality not really thought of for either of the legacy devices.

End result: So that you can use neither function without having both a) an apple id & wallet linked to them and b) a computer with itunes, whatever that means.

 

[delegagtor]

These sales numbers are about as useful as the cloud computing companies who see their revenue jump 250% in a quarter. Market dominance in a tiny segment, or huge growth from nearly nonexistence, is meaningless.

 

[cas-t-away]

This is a (as it is mostly) not an easy comparison. How many iPhone users have bought and AppleWatch? How many Samsung phone owners have bought a Samsung Smartwatch. That is also a relevant comparison. It's about potential market and what has been "claimed" already. Other interesting question: who actually made money on the sales of their smartwatches? And is this profitable on the watch sales alone or has it increased the total amount of customers for the brand. Varies angles that you need to consider. Never trust a statistic that you did not create yourself ...

 

[newdeal]

This is what happens when you release the device before its ready for primetime and it people view it negatively. They really need to release Apple Watch 2 but I hope that they take their time to get it right this time (thinner and with GPS would be a great start)
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Expectations on Apple Watch 2 are already out of hand! No FaceTime camera. No cellular. Just S2 onboard upgrade. New materials. New bands. watchOS 3. Enough to warrant an update.

They need to put some tech into the bands imo. Facetime camera is not something that should ever be on a watch but there are a bunch of other things they may be able to build into the bands (especially at the prices they charge there is a lot of room in the margin to improve things)

 

[Stella]

Nice post Boatboy24!

Smartphone made sense - combination of MP3, PDA and cell phone.

I really like the concept of smartwatches - I used to have a Pebble, which I liked. Then I bought a Garmin fitness tracker.. which displayed the time, and also received notifications from the phone. I didn't install many apps on the Pebble. So, I had duplicate functionality - and gave up the Pebble.

The fitness band was smaller and easier to wear 24x7. If I'm going to track my steps, HR etc 24x7, I'm not wearing a watch - its too bulky. Plus the battery life on the fitness trackers are better.

I like the Vivoactive - can track different types of exercises etc - but again, duplicate functionality with fitness tracker. :-(

Don't see the point in wearing a fitness tracker and a watch, especially when they both display the times and receive phone notifications, which I absolutely find useful.

So for me, the opposite of the convergence of Smartphone from PDA / Cell phone / MP3 etc!

It may be a little less spectacular in the 'Wow' factor, but the Apple Watch is doing the same thing with watches (something many, many people use) and fitness bands (something a growing number of people use), that the iPhone did with cell phones (something many, many people used) and MP3 players (something a growing number of people were using). It took the two basic functions and put them into one device, while adding other functionality not really thought of for either of the legacy devices.

For years prior to getting my first iPhone, I had a cell phone (which also took pictures), and an iPod and didn't like having to carry two devices - I wished for someone to make a device that would cover both functions. The iPhone did just that and more. Late last year, I was in the market for a new watch, and was also interested in a fitness band. But I didn't want to wear two devices. I splurged and got the Apple Watch. It combines the basic functions of both devices, and adds other functionality. Some of which I don't care about, but some that I find useful. Overall though, I'm very happy with the decision and my use of the watch is growing.

I agree with you - smart watches in some form have a future. I don't think it will be as huge as smart phones, but I see a lot of potential.

 

[2457282]

There's nothing about your wrist that makes a square a better usage of space either. Honestly, I'm not really sure what you were trying to say here. Either way the argument falls flat.

Samsung has round, rectangular, and band style watches. Not quite sure how you figure they're all round.

Round watches are the choice of a lot of people because of aesthetics and personal use cases. Proponents of the square shaped watches always trot out the tire trope of usage of space, disregarding the fact that everything presented on the watch face doesn't always present better on a square. Text, yeah... but not always. Funny thing, a quick google search for AW images pulls up a crap ton of circular graphical elements that would look a heckuva lot better on a circular face. Does the same usage of space argument work here as well?

Neither shape is hard to view and both can provide the same information easily. It's just a matter of preference.

Personal opinion: IF the smartwatch category doesn't die on the vine, I think Apple will have a round watch within the next 3 years. Most likely the AW3 will offer both shapes; caveat being the category survival. That survival is not something I see clearly.

Well I hate to say it, but we agree (mostly ). I can certainly see Apple capitulating like they did with the bigger iphones and coming out with a round watch in the future. The problem there will be how they manage app interfaces to work both on round and square. Probably not super hard, but some thought and work will be needed. I do think that smartwatches are a real category and will survive.

You know my rants from the past. In the next 5 years, most (not all) will opt for a tablet over a laptop. Or maybe the Phablet. And I believe as we continue to focus on mobility and as technology pushes forward, you will be able to do a lot with something that is essentially attached to your body (including checking the time). But as many have stated, this is still a product in search of a market, one that they are being careful to cultivate slowly and methodically.

For example, the best thing they did was not put a camera on the watch. I just can't see that working, ever. More health sensors and apps on the other hand I think will continue to drive the watch forward.

 

[Keane16]

Woohoo, they dominate a market segment nobody cares about.

Clearly at least you do, with your facts and figures on the market for smartwatches.

Most smart watches besides Apple are round. Since the initial hype is over and those watches account for over 53% of the entire smart watch market, I'd say Apple had better keep its options open. Function isn't the sole consideration for a product people wear. Never has been.

 

[ka-spot]

omg. and all this without even selling them to Bulgaria officially! can you image how popular will the watch be if they sell it officially in Bulgaria?

p.s. the glasses of the blue thing above are ray-ban wayfarer (the classic folding model, a.k.a. RB4105) !

 

[EricTheHalfBee]

Oh no, Apple has almost 1/2 the entire smartwatch market. How is this possible for a "failed" product? What does that say about all the other smartwatches out there?

 

[gorbag42]

Basic difference: Apple sells watches, while Samsung mostly gives them away with TVs, smartphones and dish washers.

That's funny. I've heard they should give away calendars with their dishwashers...

 

[thisisnotmyname]

I personally have not seen one person with a smartwatch. Not even in the gym.

"Move out of the sticks, gentlemen" - The Wolf (Pulp Fiction)

 

[MH01]

It's the best smart watch. Though they are more rare than Windows phones...by a large margin

 

[5105973]

Considering I see Apple Watches on celebrities and people on the street and very very rarely see other smart watches (not counting Pebble/fitbit), this is not surprising at all.

The thing with the competing Smart watches is that a lot of them went overboard making them look like regular watches, so they may be around but you don't notice them. I saw some guy wearing a round smart watch but I thought it was a regular watch until he got some sort of text on it. Apple Watches are very noticeable. You can't help but see them.

 

[deijmaster]

Interesting but... I often see these types of articles and comments on tech blogs when reviewing sales, figures, market share and similar information … “unfair”, “unexpected”, “not really fair” and so on.

In business, numbers are numbers.

Saying things are unfair or not viewed with the right perspective isn’t making anything better. Clearly the person writing this has never been in a high level business meeting. They are rough and tough.

When you have 72% of a market one year and 47% the year after - things are bad; or at least not going well. There’s no excuse, the number went down plain and simple and your competitors are right there at the door working to beat you.

Far from being a Samsung or simply a Android fan, I really think many tech blogs have a hard time finding real innovation and thus fall prey to repetitive and boring articles and similar affirmations and comments…

Stick to technology, talk about the people, real news and innovation. Let business people manage business.