Apple's Wearables Shipments Increasing, but Losing Market Share to Smaller Competitors

[bwayne]

Waiting to see what happens in September. I’m still on Watch 2, nearly bought Watch 6 Edition, but figured I’d wait for September release. I’m not impressed with the designs supposedly leaked thus far though - too boxy and edgy. If there’s no enticing feature then I’ll get a discounted 6 Edition.

 

[iSayuSay]

Well not everyone can splurge $300 - $400 for a wristwatch that is essentially disposable and has no retained value. It's a computer you wear on your wrist, which happens to also work as a time-keeper.

But I must concur, if you own an iPhone, there's nothing better that works beside Apple Watch. Anything else would be half-baked, half-working solution. Either get a $30 tracker like Mi Band (super cheap you wouldn't feel gutted in case it's not working with iPhone anymore), or going all out for Apple Watch. Don't waste your money for something like Samsung or Huawei Watch. Not. Going. To. Work.

 

[MacsRgr8]

I had 2 Apple Watches.
Loved them for their being the perfect iPhone-extension on my wrist. But did not love the (square-) design.
I used to have nice "classic" watches on my wrist, which also were sort of jewellery (eh, not the real expensive stuff..!) which not everyone were wearing.
I have been at parties where 75% of the people there were wearing the same square mini-iPads on their wrist, looked so nerdy.... I know the same can be said for their phones, but these are not visibly worn constantly.

FWIW here, I now wear (the same) Gamin watch for 2 years. Classic style, the necessary smartwatch features, and pretty rare. Love it!

 

[fhall1]

Do you own an AW? I have for over 5 years and I’d rather be charging every night than having to think about when to charge…
But, you’re entitled to you opinion

Just because it has a weeklong battery life doesn’t mean you can’t charge it every night if you want to. There - no more thinking required.

 

[Shanghaichica]

Competition is always good. Though whenever I'm out, I always see a ton of people wearing AW's. I still see some FitBit's out in the wild, but very rarely do I see Samsung wearables or others on people's wrist.

I do see a fair few Samsung watches. There's two people at work with Samsung watches. However Apple watches are everywhere!

 

[DjanSeriyAnaplian]

I know this may be an unpopular opinion, but i'd love an Apple watch that can also function as a full-fledged iPod - i.e. it can store ALL my music locally which can can then be used during a workout. Can anyone tell me why this hasn't been done? It seems like a no-brainer.

 

[iSayuSay]

Do you own an AW? I have for over 5 years and I’d rather be charging every night than having to think about when to charge…
But, you’re entitled to you opinion

LOL wut? I mean an all-week battery life is always better than an all-day one.

You can always charge it every now and then, depends on % remained, but it also helps when your watch can standby for 4-7 days in average. Gives you assurance that it’s okay to miss a nightly charge if you’re too busy or tired.

 

[honglong1976]

An Apple Watch and a fitness tracker are two vastly different things. An Apple Watch has a shorter battery life because it tracks fitness among the many things it does (notifications, emails, texts, apps, etc) while a fitness tracker... is just a fitness tracker (which is why it has a longer battery life). However, if you're only interested in tracking fitness then yes, a fitness tracker from Fitbit is probably more suited to your needs than an Apple Watch.

Interesting. I have an Apple Watch Series 4, which lasts about 1 day. I also have a Garmin Vivomove 3. It monitors HR 24/7 continuously (unlike the AW). It tracks oxygen during sleep, it automatically detects run, walk or cycle, it has notifications, vibration, physical clock hands that move, it tracks respiration, and on a Weds when I cycle to work, I use it to send the HR to my Garmin cycle computer.

It also knows when it is not on your wrist and the battery doesn't drain (unlike the AW).

Battery life is about 4-5 days.

To this day, I have no idea why the AW drains the battery as much as it does. Is it the screen? The HR sensor? CPU/GPU? Something is killing the battery.

 

[nattK]

Interesting. I have an Apple Watch Series 4, which lasts about 1 day. I also have a Garmin Vivomove 3. It monitors HR 24/7 continuously (unlike the AW). It tracks oxygen during sleep, it automatically detects run, walk or cycle, it has notifications, vibration, physical clock hands that move, it tracks respiration, and on a Weds when I cycle to work, I use it to send the HR to my Garmin cycle computer.

It also knows when it is not on your wrist and the battery doesn't drain (unlike the AW).

Battery life is about 4-5 days.

To this day, I have no idea why the AW drains the battery as much as it does. Is it the screen? The HR sensor? CPU/GPU? Something is killing the battery.

The Gamin Vivomove 3 is mostly a fitness tracker with some smartwatch capabilities. Unlike the Apple Watch, the Vivomove 3's monochrome display is tiny and barely interact-able i.e. you can't respond to a notification on a Vivomove the way you do with an Apple Watch. Fitness tracking aside, you can't send a text message or email from the Vivomove and neither can you answer or make a call from your watch when you're separated from your phone.

The Series 4 is basically a tiny wrist computer with a 1000 nits color display, a 64-bit processor, ECG sensor, and lots of connectivity (Bluetooth, Wi-Fi 5.0, and LTE if you have a cellar model). It lets your store your flight tickets, pay for food, and ride public transit. It also has complications that update periodically through the day. You could probably get 2-3 days out of your Apple Watch's battery by disabling most of those features, but that would no longer make your Apple Watch an Apple Watch.

 

[1258186]

If the rumored style and features of series 7 are true, we are looking at a super cycle upgrade period.

I wish I had a dollar for every time someone mentions a super cycle upgrade.

 

[1258186]

This. I have a Series 6 and I only probably wear it 2-3 times a week at this point. My life is too busy and it provides such little utility to me most days that it's rarely worth charging every single day.

Agreed. That’s why I haven’t bothered with the Apple Watch.

 

[TTTedP]

The Gamin Vivomove 3 is mostly a fitness tracker with some smartwatch capabilities. Unlike the Apple Watch, the Vivomove 3's monochrome display is tiny and barely interact-able i.e. you can't respond to a notification on a Vivomove the way you do with an Apple Watch. Fitness tracking aside, you can't send a text message or email from the Vivomove and neither can you answer or make a call from your watch when you're separated from your phone.

The Series 4 is basically a tiny wrist computer with a 1000 nits color display, a 64-bit processor, ECG sensor, and lots of connectivity (Bluetooth, Wi-Fi 5.0, and LTE if you have a cellar model). It lets your store your flight tickets, pay for food, and ride public transit. It also has complications that update periodically through the day. You could probably get 2-3 days out of your Apple Watch's battery by disabling most of those features, but that would no longer make your Apple Watch an Apple Watch.

yeah but he makes the case how an *extension* of your iPhone (not a replacement) with less smart watch features & only health centric tracking would be beneficial for people who want to stay in the ecosystem and get 4-5 days battery. It could be done but probably won't. I'm glad Garmin still offers the Vivomove. It's a great concept.

 

[jonnysods]

My thoughts are other companies may get some marketshare, but sometimes you pay for a cheap thing twice, or a quality thing once. They may become Apple customers at some point. I know a few FitBit owners that made the switch because of that.

 

[Yokon54]

This. I have a Series 6 and I only probably wear it 2-3 times a week at this point. My life is too busy and it provides such little utility to me most days that it's rarely worth charging every single day.

It charges fully in less than an hour and easily has over a day battery life. You can’t charge at night?

Other smart watches aren’t even the same product as Apple Watch, so stop comparing them. You don’t need the features of Apple Watch, good for you, but it’s not like others match it with better battery life.

 

[bgraham]

It charges fully in less than an hour and easily has over a day battery life. You can’t charge at night?

Other smart watches aren’t even the same product as Apple Watch, so stop comparing them. You don’t need the features of Apple Watch, good for you, but it’s not like others match it with better battery life.

Of course the Apple Watch is the best smartwatch, but smartwatch as a category is far less useful than a smartphone.

 

[arvinsim]

It charges fully in less than an hour and easily has over a day battery life. You can’t charge at night?

Other smart watches aren’t even the same product as Apple Watch, so stop comparing them. You don’t need the features of Apple Watch, good for you, but it’s not like others match it with better battery life.

What about those people who want sleep tracking and use their watch all day?

 

[Abazigal]

LOL wut? I mean an all-week battery life is always better than an all-day one.

You can always charge it every now and then, depends on % remained, but it also helps when your watch can standby for 4-7 days in average. Gives you assurance that it’s okay to miss a nightly charge if you’re too busy or tired.

I guess the right term to use here would be "indifferent".

Yes, all other things equal, longer battery life would be preferable to less, but given that many people should be able to charge their devices every night, I will say that battery life simply isn't a dealbreaker for them.

 

[Michael Scrip]

Yes, all other things equal, longer battery life would be preferable to less, but given that many people should be able to charge their devices every night, I will say that battery life simply isn't a dealbreaker for them.

Exactly.

We're what... six years into Apple Watch? And none of them have had what would be considered incredible battery life.

But battery life must not be that big of a problem... as people keep buying Apple Watch. I see them on people's wrists constantly.

 

[Abazigal]

Exactly.

We're what... six years into Apple Watch? And none of them have had what would be considered incredible battery life.

But battery life must not be that big of a problem... as people keep buying Apple Watch. I see them on people's wrists constantly.

For me, it's basically one more device to charger overnight, in addition to my phone and tablet. Hardly an inconvenience when multi-port are increasingly commonplace these days.

 

[iSayuSay]

For me, it's basically one more device to charger overnight, in addition to my phone and tablet. Hardly an inconvenience when multi-port are increasingly commonplace these days.

Well I guess I can agree to that. Unless we live in a remote area where it's difficult to find electricity to charge our devices, there's only so many reason to complain about all-day battery life. But then Apple could've eliminate some of minor headaches with a more consistent charging port.

Lightning for iPhone, USB-C for iPad, bigger USB-C for Macbook, the puck for Watch, and let's not forget Apple Pencil and the complexity of iPhone charging (Magsafe or Qi and its charging brick compatibility). It's pretty hard to eliminate some of those charging ports no matter how hard we try to be efficient. I mean Apple has too many charging variations for its devices.

 

[Yokon54]

What about those people who want sleep tracking and use their watch all day?

Apple Watch can be used all day and does have some sleep functionality. A “sleep tracker” won’t do the other things Apple Watch can do, so it’s a trade off. Apple Watch is the most capable smart watch there is. Not close.

 

[arvinsim]

Apple Watch can be used all day and does have some sleep functionality. A “sleep tracker” won’t do the other things Apple Watch can do, so it’s a trade off. Apple Watch is the most capable smart watch there is. Not close.

Why does it have to be a trade off?

 

[Yokon54]

Why does it have to be a trade off?

Because we live in reality. Your smart watch also can’t teleport you to the beach.

 

[arvinsim]

Because we live in reality. Your smart watch also can’t teleport you to the beach.

The reality I live in is Apple that is a 2 trillion-dollar company.

You mean to tell me that this company with its resources and talent can't do what lesser companies can?

 

[Abazigal]

The reality I live in is Apple that is a 2 trillion-dollar company.

You mean to tell me that this company with its resources and talent can't do what lesser companies can?

More like Apple chose not to. I think at this point, Apple has more or less settled on 18-hour battery life as the magic threshold for the Apple Watch. Any excess battery life beyond this point will be considered "fair game" for powering additional features (like always-on display) or shrinking the battery to enable a thinner form factor (possibly from more efficient components).

if you want to do sleep tracking, I am sure there are pockets of intervals throughout the day when you are not wearing your watch (like when you wash up in the morning) that you can use the charge the watch. Maybe not ideal, but it's doable.