Apple Watch Sales Falling Continuously Amid Lack of New Models

[BelgianChoklit]

This kinda stuns me. I own the Series 10 which I got to replace my Series 7 and I find it a great upgrade.

- Double Tap is simply amazing, especially when cooking because your hands are dirty.
- you also notice it's thinner
- the increased peak brightness is really handy outdoors
- the built in speakers also work with podcasts now, great for 2-3 mins of listening but not too long
- it measures my body temp
- it measures water depth when swimming
- the double storage is great as I download music and podcasts to it along with offline Wikiloc trails
- the fast charging is truly ridiculously fast, faster than the Series 7 fast charging which was already fast

For me the Series 10 has been a wonderful upgrade.

 

[Abazigal]

It feels to me that this is simply an issue of longer upgrade cycles. People don’t see the need to keep replacing their Apple Watch every few years, and that’s fine. What is important is that people continue to use Apple Watches, and are not actively ditching them for other brands. Not least because it keeps users in the Apple ecosystem and buying iPhones (or at least, keep using them).

I upgraded to a series 10 last year after wearing a series 5 for 5 years. I don’t really feel like I need any new features, but I do like the utility, and I continue to see myself wearing one for the near foreseeable future. 🙂

 

[lofin]

Battery life desperately needs increasing.

 

[FSMBP]

I won’t be buying one till they bring back blood oxygen monitoring. Buying anything now would be a downgrade feature-wise.

I was in the same camp but decided to get a 10 series...I'm hoping once the lawsuit goes away, Apple will reenable the blood ox on it (assuming it as the hardware and is just disabled). If not, oh well...

 

[dbc34]

I still have an AW Series 7 and I haven't seen a single meaningful reason to upgrade. The jump from the Series 3 to 7 was huge.

I made the jump from 7 to 10(and the 4 to 7) and I enjoy the thinner watch and the faster charging. Outside of those two upgrades, there isn't much difference.

 

[derbyshire2013]

I currently have the Series 9 (for use at work) and UW2 (for use at home).

Both offer more than enough for my usage… and I suspect that’s perhaps the same for a lot of people, even with older models?

 

[WilliApple]

The moment Apple Watches by default have a better battery and L5 GPS, I will upgrade right away!

 

[dbc34]

I was in the same camp but decided to get a 10 series...I'm hoping once the lawsuit goes away, Apple will reenable the blood ox on it (assuming it as the hardware and is just disabled). If not, oh well...

It's still an app on the series 10, so I tend to believe it's a disabled feature. And I like it too. They need to pay to license the thing or something because I want to be able to combine as many health features as possible for an overall picture.

 

[caliguy]

All models (except maybe SE) should have sapphire crystal instead of Ion-X glass.

 

[TechRunner]

Same. I'm a very active person with a slim frame, and tough on my watches...but the Ultra is just too big for me; I don't like big chunky watches.

I could have written this myself. A smaller Ultra would get serious consideration from me, but my small wrists can't handle the bulk of the current AWU.

 

[ELman]

One of my favorite Apple products that I tend to upgrade quite often. Unfortunate, the average user hardly uses any of the features and as long as it tells the time and gives them a few notifications they are fine with what they have. I'm looking forward to seeing this years Ultra. Apple should just pay up and bring back the O2 sensor. I holding onto my series 9 because of this.

 

[Andres Cantu]

I used to be an Apple Watch wearer for close to 10 years, but I got tired of having to buy yet another device every couple of years that isn’t cheap (stainless steel model for the scratch-resistant screen), and having to charge yet another device.

Gave it up around a year ago and haven’t looked back. Was using it mostly for notifications, anyway.

 

[iZac]

There will be a super cycle when Apple finally gets non invasive blood glucose monitoring to work.

Back when it was launched they Apple gave it to the public to see what they wanted to do with it and the overwhelming consensus was - it was only useful as an activity tracker that happens to display the time.

I still have a Series 5 which does nearly everything the current one does and had a great battery until some watchOS update annihilated it.

 

[Felix01]

I won’t upgrade from my Gen I Ultra until they bring back blood oxygen monitoring and come up with a way to monitor diabetes blood sugar levels.

 

[cjsuk]

Yeah I'm selling mine and not buying another one. It's mostly pointless or a negative. Can't be bothered with it any more.

 

[RSmith2023]

If your current AW works, there hasn’t been a compelling reason in the past few years to upgrade. I started to upgrade my AWU last year to get the black one, but my sensibility overruled my childish desire and stopped me from pulling the trigger.

I hope they aren’t wasting development cycles on actually cramming a camera into these things as I have seen on the rumor mill. I am really having a hard time thinking of a solid use-case for going “Dick Tracy” on the AW..

 

[128KMac]

Apple is going to have to add new health features like BP monitoring if they hope to spur sales. Some of these are difficult to do well, but it's hard to understand why they haven't at least brought back oxygen measurements by coming to an agreement with Masimo.

This would matter to me, for sure - more associated with my specific reasons (high altitude bicycle riding) but probably also very useful to folks with COPD, asthma and other chronic lung conditions

 

[RSmith2023]

I won’t upgrade from my Gen I Ultra until they bring back blood oxygen monitoring and come up with a way to monitor diabetes blood sugar levels.

Another reason I didn’t upgrade last cycle. I have a gen 2 AWU and the gen 3 really didn’t offer a compelling reason to upgrade

 

[DMinTX]

How does this decline timeline coincide with losing blood oxygen monitoring?

 

[rymc02]

I'm still rocking a Series 4 as a daily driver. It's been great and can't complain. Still has enough battery to get me through an hour workout and the rest of the day. I'll be sad when it finally comes time to say good bye.

 

[Deine Mudda]

Apple's global smartwatch shipments declined by 19% year-over-year in 2024, marking the company's second consecutive annual drop and the fifth straight quarter of falling sales, according to new data from Counterpoint Research.

According to Counterpoint's Global Smartwatch Shipment Tracker for the fourth quarter of 2024, Apple experienced shipment declines in all major regions except India. The most significant drop occurred in North America, which accounts for more than half of Apple Watch shipments globally.

The report identifies multiple contributing factors behind the sustained downturn. Chief among them is the absence of a new Apple Watch SE model, which has historically served as Apple's most popular smartwatch in terms of volume during post-launch periods. The last SE model came out in the third quarter of 2022 and its continued absence throughout 2024 is cited as a key driver of weakened shipment growth.

The Apple Watch Series 10 was released in 2024, offering "fewer substantial upgrades" over its predecessor, which reduced consumer incentive to upgrade. The model was affected by ongoing legal issues in the United States, where Apple was required to remove the blood oxygen sensor feature from affected units due to patent litigation.

The lack of an Apple Watch Ultra 3 model in 2024 is also a contributing factor. The Apple Watch Ultra line had previously accounted for over 10% of Apple Watch shipments globally, but its share dropped to under 8% in the fourth quarter of 2024 in the absence of a new model. Counterpoint noted that this decline contributed measurably to Apple's overall shipment losses in the advanced smartwatch category, where Apple's market share fell by 8% points year-over-year.

Despite the contraction in shipments, Apple continues to dominate the advanced smartwatch segment by unit volume. However, the recent declines mark a reversal from earlier years of growth. According to previous Counterpoint data, Apple Watch shipments increased by 27% in 2021. In 2022, growth stalled and the company reported zero percent year-over-year change. This was followed by a 10% decline in 2023, which nearly doubled in scale in 2024.

The downturn coincides with stronger performance from rival smartwatch manufacturers. While Apple's global shipments contracted, all other major vendors in the advanced smartwatch category saw year-over-year growth, according to the report.

Rumors suggest that Apple is preparing to release a third-generation Apple Watch SE with a revamped design and potentially a lower price point, an Apple Watch Series 11 with new health monitoring capabilities and 5G connectivity, and an Apple Watch Ultra 3 with satellite connectivity. The new models should launch in the fall, likely alongside the iPhone 17 lineup.

Article Link: Apple Watch Sales Falling Continuously Amid Lack of New Models

The S10 is wonderful, I replaced my Ultra 1 with it but this’ll be my last Apple Watch. Smart Watches are niche and will always be obsolete after some years.
Next one will be a real and good mechanical watch.

 

[smaffei]

Here's an innovative idea Apple… Settle the Blood Oxygen sensor patent lawsuit so that we can get back the feature some of us paid for.

 

[ghanwani]

Even everyone that didn't want the watch has already received 5 of them as Christmas presents. There's no one left to buy, especially since it needs an iPhone.

 

[Rogifan]

These watches last and there’s not much feature wise to get people to upgrade.

 

[thecivilengineer]

I’ve had 2 Apple Watches. It’s my least favorite Apple device.

Battery life sucks and having to charge a device everyday that I pretty much only use for the gym makes me stop wearing it a lot.

Sleep tracking is cool, but I find it uncomfortable to sleep in. And it’s also the ideal time to charge it.