Apple Watch Sales Comprised Half of Smartwatch Market in 2018

[DNichter]

It's easily the best smart watch out there. Coupled with AirPods, Apple has a leg up when it comes to wearables. I see them both all the time and have tons of family members, friends, and colleagues who want them. I see wearables as a much more important part of the tech future, as I anticipate society moving away from bigger screens.

 

[antonrg]

Still enjoying my first generation (‘series 0’) Apple Watch here - used since delivery on launch day.

It’s really quite slow now with the latest watchOS available for it (4.3.2) but it wasn’t so bad back with the first few versions of watchOS. However, battery life still admirably good for its age, and Apple Pay on your wrist is marvellous.

I was hoping to upgrade to a series 4, but now may have to wait until series 5.

It’s been an interesting journey seeing how Apple have readjusted their focus for the Watch, and they do seem to be on a great trajectory with health & fitness features. I hope they work on filling out other uses, too - to expand the capabilities of this little companion computer.

Still using series 0 since 2015. I will continue using this thing until it stops working as it does whatever I would like it to do. No need to upgrade anytime soon for me.

 

[HacKage]

I love my S3. My S0 I couldn't wait to get rid of quick enough, the battery life was poor, the apps were slow and laggy and it was no better than having my phone to hand.

That being said, how can they have dropped 16% marketshare in a year?! If that was any other product or company there would be a massive wtf. Samsung has always had options, as have Fitbit and Garmin. Are they really that good to have Apple drop 16% in a year?

 

[tridley68]

The only complaint i have with my series 4 is that it did not come in a ceramic version the new larger size is great and looking forward to the series 5.

 

[Heineken]

It's easily the best smart watch out there. Coupled with AirPods, Apple has a leg up when it comes to wearables. I see them both all the time and have tons of family members, friends, and colleagues who want them. I see wearables as a much more important part of the tech future, as I anticipate society moving away from bigger screens.

Series 4 is really good.

 

[DNichter]

Series 4 is really good.

Yea I have the Series 3 and it is still great. I have been tempted with the 4 because I have a bunch of credit card points that I could use to get the 4 for free, but I think I am just going to wait it out until the 5 comes out. Infiniti makes an app to remote start your car and this morning at the gym, I could just tap on my wrist when I was finishing up to start my car. It's that kind of stuff that is pretty amazing to me, just the fact how easy/advanced we have it today when it comes to this stuff.

 

[Marcus PM]

I jumped onboard with the Series 4. With all of its improvements and new features, it was finally about more than time.

 

[Heineken]

Yea I have the Series 3 and it is still great. I have been tempted with the 4 because I have a bunch of credit card points that I could use to get the 4 for free, but I think I am just going to wait it out until the 5 comes out. Infiniti makes an app to remote start your car and this morning at the gym, I could just tap on my wrist when I was finishing up to start my car. It's that kind of stuff that is pretty amazing to me, just the fact how easy/advanced we have it today when it comes to this stuff.

The only reason I didn't buy S3 or earlier is the rectangular display. Other than that they all are functional and useful. S4 is almost perfect.

 

[barmann]

I Actually know of people that the Apple Watch saved their life, and you’re telling others in this thread that health features are a ‘Gimmick’? [There are documented stories on the health features the Apple Watch has saved lives.] It’s hard to take your post any thing as credible.

Could you eleborate ?
Who are those people you claim to know who's lifes were saved by an Apple watch, and what where the circumstances ?

 

[DNichter]

The only reason I didn't buy S3 or earlier is the rectangular display. Other than that they all are functional and useful. S4 is almost perfect.

Yea I would really only be upgrading for the screen, so I feel like I can wait until the series 5. Love my Apple Watch though.

 

[Kabeyun]

well deserved as he is a fool

How, exactly?

 

[barmann]

Anyone know does this list include sales for basic fitness trackers from Fitbit etc? Because if so Samsung is gonna keep closing it’s market share on apple as it has a bigger line up with far cheaper entry level trackers. It’s the same with their phones and it makes their market share look huge but in reality it’s not comparing like with like.

Good question .
What exactly is considered a smartwatch in that particular statistic ?

 

[repoman016]

Still enjoying my first generation (‘series 0’) Apple Watch here - used since delivery on launch day.

It’s really quite slow now with the latest watchOS available for it (4.3.2) but it wasn’t so bad back with the first few versions of watchOS. However, battery life still admirably good for its age, and Apple Pay on your wrist is marvellous.

I was hoping to upgrade to a series 4, but now may have to wait until series 5.

It’s been an interesting journey seeing how Apple have readjusted their focus for the Watch, and they do seem to be on a great trajectory with health & fitness features. I hope they work on filling out other uses, too - to expand the capabilities of this little companion computer.

I agree with everything you said. I am still on the series 1 which seems to do fine for most every day things. At times there is lag when first starting a workout, or when you interact with some different features, but its not unusable by any means. I like the EKG feature but feel cellular is not for me which is why I haven't felt the need to upgrade. Excited to see what the next watch will bring to the table.

 

[lkrupp]

It’s crazy how many people thought the Apple Watch wouldn’t do well. Now, you see these things everywhere.

Well, thats how it works on tech blog forums. Just know that tech blog forums have nothing to do with the actual market. Apple products are generally accepted and desired by the actual market.

 

[anonymous13579]

I saved at least one life too, and am not a watch. Your argument misses the point. The iPhone saved many life’s too and it’s not a health tool.

I am talking about the bigger picture, not about when and if watch helped someone, as I said saving lives is not so hard as someone might guess.

The watch has helped many people so I don’t see your Point, just because you don’t think it can help you, doesn’t mean it can’t help others. What happened when there’s is no one around and you fall and can’t get up, the watch can detect that and automatically call emergency services. Not saying it will happen but when it does you’re covered... It’s also a smart watch not just a health device, use it for calls texts notifications time, whatever you want.

 

[deckard666]

Always nice to see reality enter the MacRumours forums - total success from Apple in this product line and it’s a shame all the competition is still so awful (and awful sales)

 

[wigby]

Good job Apple! The Apple Watch is well done and should be a model to others.

So munch negative comments for Tim (well deserved as he is a fool) but will give him credit where credit is due.

Only problem is that most of the world doesn’t use iOS or iMessages. Just in Asian, no one uses it. Line, wechat dominate, so utility of the Apple Watch is reduced (Walkie talkie) as most of the world has andriod (Apple fan boys please look up world stats before denying it)

What Apple fanboy has ever claimed marketshare as Apple's biggest asset or desire? In the U.S., iPhone marketshare is huge but still not even 50% last time I checked.
[doublepost=1551365747][/doublepost]

This is where Apple should pull an iPod and deploy the Watch on Android and just consume the market. Guessing they won't, but the opportunity is there.

The Watch still relies too much on the smartphone component which means Apple wouldn't be able to assure a good user experience. Look at all those cheap Android phones out there that would kill to be able to connect to an Apple Watch. Their garbage hardware, unsecured OS and malware-ridden apps would ruin the Apple Watch experience for all of those people and only make Apple look bad.

 

[iConnected]

Could you eleborate ?
Who are those people you claim to know who's lifes were saved by an Apple watch, and what where the circumstances ?

 

[UltimaKilo]

And yet there is still a lot of growth potential in the Apple Watch. If Apple is able to increase health sensors and truest figure out how to check blood glucose levels, sales could really take off.

 

[trillionaire]

Apple Watch maintained pole position in the smartwatch market over last year's fourth quarter as global smartwatch shipments continued to grow, according to the latest research from Strategy Analytics.

​

Apple shipped 9.2 million Apple Watch units during Q4 2018, according to the report, rising 18 percent from 7.8 million units in Q4 2017. Global smartwatch shipments meanwhile grew 56 percent annually to reach a record 18 million units in the same quarter.

Apple's global smartwatch marketshare actually slipped to 51 percent this quarter, down from 67 percent a year ago, but Apple held on to first position with a 51 percent global smartwatch marketshare, while Samsung jumped to second place, overtaking Fitbit and Garmin.

The research corroborates an earlier report from consumer research firm The NPD Group that Apple Watch is the "clear market leader" in the U.S. smartwatch market, but it also underlines the growing threat of rivals like Samsung, which continues to invest heavily in wearables that are compatible with both Android devices and iPhones.
Apple doesn't reveal Apple Watch unit sales from its overall earnings. But in a recent earnings call for the first quarter of the 2019 fiscal year, CEO Tim Cook said the company's wearables revenue was being driven by the "amazing popularity" of Apple Watch and AirPods, and that the category was "approaching the size of a Fortune 200 company."

Article Link: Apple Watch Sales Comprised Half of Smartwatch Market in 2018

The interesting thing is how much of the actual watch market smart watches are taking. It's definitely affecting major watch brands as I remember seeing in another thread that people are switching out their Rolex and the like for an iWatch.

I realize watches are no longer a big market but it's still interesting to see how luxury/standard watch makers are impacted by the smart watch revolution.

 

[torana355]

I don't like sqaure watches but the Apple watches functionality is one thing I'm envious of being an Android user. Definitely one of Apples best products!

 

[Ryth]

wow.
if Apple has 51% market share in units, then its market share in terms sales dollars must be much higher than that, and, then its market share in terms of profits must be even greater than that.

They have way more then 51%. This article is more BS misleading conjecture using 'shipped units'.

The only company you can believe SOLD that many units as they SHIPPED is Apple. Never believe ANY article that lists 'shipments' and then says Samsung is gaining. Remember...the HP Touchpad...they shipped a million of those things...2 months later those 900,000+ excess tables were firesaled because no one was buying them.

I mean do you believe this statement at all?

"Apple's global smartwatch marketshare slipped to 51 percent this quarter, down from 67 percent a year ago," said Neil Mawston, executive director at Strategy Analytics. "Apple Watch is losing marketshare to Samsung and Fitbit, whose rival smartwatch portfolios and retail presence have improved significantly in the past year."
​

Apple shipped & sold more watches then ever last quarter. Do you really think Apple is losing marketshare to Fitbit or Samsung.

These guys at Strategy Analytics are all BS...their clients are Samsung, Microsoft, etc...it's more BS reporting meant to try to effect Apple stock.

 

[gnasher729]

9 million in a quarter, 36 million a year - I wonder if that makes Apple the worlds largest watch manufacturer.

The Swatch group had net sales of 7.533 billion Swiss Franks in 2016. They sell a mixture of cheaper and more expensive (up to VERY expensive) watches, so I suppose they _may_ be a bit ahead of Apple in revenue, and nobody knows their unit sales numbers.

 

[jpn]

They have way more then 51%. This article is more BS misleading conjecture using 'shipped units'.

The only company you can believe SOLD that many units as they SHIPPED is Apple. Never believe ANY article that lists 'shipments' and then says Samsung is gaining. Remember...the HP Touchpad...they shipped a million of those things...2 months later those 900,000+ excess tables were firesaled because no one was buying them.

I mean do you believe this statement at all?

"Apple's global smartwatch marketshare slipped to 51 percent this quarter, down from 67 percent a year ago," said Neil Mawston, executive director at Strategy Analytics. "Apple Watch is losing marketshare to Samsung and Fitbit, whose rival smartwatch portfolios and retail presence have improved significantly in the past year."
​

Apple shipped & sold more watches then ever last quarter. Do you really think Apple is losing marketshare to Fitbit or Samsung.

These guys at Strategy Analytics are all BS...their clients are Samsung, Microsoft, etc...it's more BS reporting meant to try to effect Apple stock.

i think your scepticism of the data is correct. i share it.

but, that was not my point.

you see, 51% may appear to you not so good, given that they claim market share in terms of units has fallen.
but to me, no matter if the true market share is 51% or 60% or 70%, you can use the article's data to actually show that it is a "wow" moment:
apple has successfully done exactly what it did with iPhone in the period of 2010-2015, which was to sell a decreasing share of devices, and still take in way more sales dollar volume, and profitability, leaving all competitors to fight over a meager sliver of profit.

this is the point.
i see tremendous investor news value in this.

 

[gnasher729]

The only complaint i have with my series 4 is that it did not come in a ceramic version the new larger size is great and looking forward to the series 5.

My only complaint about the series 4 is that it is impossible to find a list of all features. You can find a list of features added since series 3, but if you are new to it you want a list of _everything_ it does.