Tim Cook Says Apple Watch Set New Sales Record in First Holiday Shopping Week

[macduke]

Interesting that he felt the need to comment. I'm surprised that he did since they never release any specifics. Apple pundits like Gruber used to go after other companies for never releasing sales numbers. I don't remember him going after Apple very hard for this.

Cook loves to talk about all the amazing products in the pipeline, but it just sounds like a lot of that stuff is crashing and burning behind the scenes like the car project. The only truly impressive new products that I've seen Apple launch since 2011 when he took over is the retina Macs and the Apple Watch. Even so, the Apple Watch was pretty slow, although it has gotten a little better over time with software updates and the new hardware. Otherwise everything else has gotten incremental updates that haven't added a whole lot. iOS has opened up some more for developers to make widgets and keyboards, but even those implementations feel half-baked. HomeKit has definitely felt half-baked. And after all this time, they finally update the MacBook Pro which is way more expensive and plagued with a range of various issues. At the end of the day, at least my iPhone 7 is pretty solid and not exploding.

 

[Rocko99]

When the statement is not quantitative, it means nothings.

 

[MH01]

truthertech said: ↑
First, record sales of the laptops, and now the Watch. Not fair! Yet another record for Apple is just making us trolls look sillier than ever. Not fair!




Can we take it that you are responding on behalf of said trollers?

Nothing to do with Trollers, its just marketing BS, that any rationale person should see right through.

Its like asking is the pope catholic , of course the first major pre-order of a new macbook pro was going to set a pre-order record......the preorder was 100% going to set a new record....do i need to explain why?

 

[LordQ]

Flop or not, I really love my Apple Watch

 

[MH01]

Incorrect. since before the product was even launched cook said they wouldn't release in order to keep the data of this new market private.

By your logic every product Amazon sells, such as Echo, sucks because they won't say. Samsung too.

sorry thats a major logic fail....

Does Amazon release sales figures for some products?

 

[Boston007]

Flop or not, I really love my Apple Watch

Me too!
Got a nice deal on BF on my Series 1! It replaced my FitBit

 

[LordVic]

Nothing to do with Trollers, its just marketing BS, that any rationale person should see right through.

Its like asking is the pope catholic , of course the first major pre-order of a new macbook pro was going to set a pre-order record......the preorder was 100% going to set a new record....do i need to explain why?

Big Thumbs up.

"Set pre-order records" is buzzword when you consider all the factors involved and is in no way indicative of real sales.

1: the new Laptop, unlike the previous MacBook pro releases was ONLY available via pre-order for the first month after announcement. No Store sales = 100% online pre-orders

2: Pent Up Demand: Lots of users knew that new computers were coming and held off purchasing till the new ones were announced.

3: The "pre order" number was for record number of ONLINE pre-orders. it's now 2016, and never before has the focus been so high on online purchasing. 2 years ago on the last refresh, Apple stores were still the primary place for purchasing. In the last 2 years that has dramatically shifted to online.

so sure, Apple set their own internal record for online pre-orders of the MacBook Pro (all 3 models) compared to their previous laptop launches. Thats all it tells us. Not how it actually sold. Not how good the sell through is. What sort of predictable sales to expect. it doesn't include returns / refunds which always happen to some extent.

So yeah, I very much believe Apple is telling a truth. Just not the whole truth. Just not a relevant truth. Just something that users like Truther (irony in the name?) will repeat to all their friends / family to help encourage more sales and to help dissuade cognitive dissonance.

the only time we'll see the real performance of these sales is the quarterly results and the revenues/profits of the segment.

 

[2IS]

If Apple discontinues the Apple watch, we'll know you were right. Surely Apple wouldn't continue selling it if it weren't making them money.

Making money off a product and declining sales are mutually exclusive, to an extend. You can sell less and still make money, so just because they don't discontinue a product, doesn't mean it's sales numbers haven't declined.

 

[MH01]

Big Thumbs up.

"Set pre-order records" is buzzword when you consider all the factors involved and is in no way indicative of real sales.

1: the new Laptop, unlike the previous MacBook pro releases was ONLY available via pre-order for the first month after announcement. No Store sales = 100% online pre-orders

2: Pent Up Demand: Lots of users knew that new computers were coming and held off purchasing till the new ones were announced.

3: The "pre order" number was for record number of ONLINE pre-orders. it's now 2016, and never before has the focus been so high on online purchasing. 2 years ago on the last refresh, Apple stores were still the primary place for purchasing. In the last 2 years that has dramatically shifted to online.

so sure, Apple set their own internal record for online pre-orders of the MacBook Pro (all 3 models) compared to their previous laptop launches. Thats all it tells us. Not how it actually sold. Not how good the sell through is. What sort of predictable sales to expect. it doesn't include returns / refunds which always happen to some extent.

So yeah, I very much believe Apple is telling a truth. Just not the whole truth. Just not a relevant truth. Just something that users like Truther (irony in the name?) will repeat to all their friends / family to help encourage more sales and to help dissuade cognitive dissonance.

the only time we'll see the real performance of these sales is the quarterly results and the revenues/profits of the segment.

And there is the rationale explanation, thank you.
[doublepost=1481044591][/doublepost]

Flop or not, I really love my Apple Watch

Spot on, same here.

 

[mackinmike]

"Cook"ing up some fake news. it has reached this level now.

 

[manu chao]

Interesting that he felt the need to comment. I'm surprised that he did since they never release any specifics. Apple pundits like Gruber used to go after other companies for never releasing sales numbers. I don't remember him going after Apple very hard for this.

There is a long history of Apple only releasing the sales numbers for their high-volume products. The Apple TV for example only got a handful releases of sales over non-standard intervals (mainly as I much as I remember the total number of Apple TVs sold since its inception). And stuff like displays or Airports never got any sales numbers. By now the iPod sales numbers are also no longer published.

You can still argue that a lot of other companies don't release sales numbers even of their main products, like the Amazon Kindle and Fire (and now Echo). Though you could also argue that the Kindle & Fire aren't the main products of Amazon, they probably make much more money from their general online store.
[doublepost=1481046420][/doublepost]

"Cook"ing up some fake news. it has reached this level now.

There is a difference between fake news and PR-driven news. You can use fake news for PR purposes but you can also use factual news for PR reasons. There is zero indicator that what Cook said isn't true.

 

[jmgregory1]

Regardless of whether Tim Cook was using select facts to tell the story he wants to convey, at least he is stating facts. IDC, their competitors and certainly most financial institutions who publish Apple financial "news" are all guilty of creating their own "facts" that have never been supported by real numbers. And in almost every case, their paid work with Apple competitors (in the case of IDC and their ilk) makes their published "reports" rife with conflicts of interest.

Yet people read these reports as truth, it can and does have a material effect on Apple stock value (people making money shorting Apple), then when proven wrong, Apple stock goes up and the same people who shorted Apple can make money on the upswing. It should be criminal behavior to do this, especially with a company as large as Apple, but that is exactly why it happens, because there is so much money to be had from even tiny swings in value from day to day, or minute to minute.

 

[Bryan Bowler]

Shut up Tim and get your focus back on the Mac!

 

[Constable Odo]

It doesn't matter how high AppleWatch sales are if they're going to be compared to Fitbit wearable sales. It's like comparing Ferrari sales to Toyota sales. Toyota sales will always look better than Ferrari sales on a market share percentage chart and that's the only type of chart that's ever shown.

 

[Naraxus]

So I guess Microsoft and Amazon's words are meaningless because they don't release hardware sales figures either? When's the last time Samsung told us how many Galaxy phones they've sold? Has Google given us any sales data for the Pixel or any of the Nexus phones? Are their words empty and meaningless too?

That goes for anybody. You can say whatever you want but unless you have the numbers to back it up everything is just a guess. Cook can say the Watch sold in record numbers but without stating those numbers we have no way of knowing whether or not they're true and considering the way Apple obfuscates Watch numbers by lumping them in the "Other" category, I'd wager they're not.

Apple's "Other" category is akin to a politician's "Rainy Day Fund" - everything gets thrown in there to hide ulterior motives

 

[doelcm82]

Making money off a product and declining sales are mutually exclusive, to an extend. You can sell less and still make money, so just because they don't discontinue a product, doesn't mean it's sales numbers haven't declined.

No, it doesn't mean sales numbers haven't declined.

But I'm putting more stock in the word of someone who is in a position to know than I am in a "fake news" source or a random comment from a stranger who for all I know is a German Shepherd.

 

[wol]

Who knows how well this market will look in the future, but comments on the watch (since it was introduced) mirror those of the original iPod. If Tim is telling the truth, and sales are continuing to go up, this product may be on a similar path.

...

Well, at least all iPods had a headphone jack ...

 

[mikecorp]

i was going to buy them in Miami beach. but the apple store was so crappy I just could not believe it. I decided not to buy anything at the end. I will wait for the 3d generation.

 

[Wowereit]

Sales figures can't be that impressive otherwise Apple would be releasing the numbers.

Tim: Apple Watch is doing great
Rep: Come on, Timmy. Give me some sales numbers.
Tim: They are enormous! Truly magical!
Rep: That's great, but how many of them were sold?
Tim: Like lots of.
Rep: Okay, I got it, but how many exactly?
Tim: We are doing absolutely phenomenal!

 

[69650]

If sales are that good Mr Cook release the numbers and prove it.

 

[62tele]

You seem to be misremembering history. iPod was not an instant success because it was tied to the Mac. iPod software for windows was released with the second gen iPod.

Shows it wasn't an overnight success, but took off in 2005, 4 years after debut.

Regarding MacBook Pro: Wait a year. Price will come down, more accessories will support USB-C, there will be a version with more RAM.

No I remember that it didn't become an iconic product overnight. I waited about two years before I finally got one and I was a Mac user. However, Apple Watch will never be cross platform like the iPod was. It may slowly gain users but it's still an accessory and non-essential. I stopped wearing mine. It sits in it's box and has for 5 months. I was an early adopter as well.
The MacBook Pro will have to drop drastically in price for me to consider it a value. $1299 may be okay for the non-touchbar and $1499 may be okay for the 13" base TB. Anything beyond that is gouging IMO. Same with the MacBook Retina. If it is going to replace the MBA, it has to drop in price. The MBA was successful in getting a lot of folks to enter the Mac market because it was affordable. I can't believe folks will pay $1300 for a 1.1 GHz 12" computer. Those price points make no sense compared to the base MBP (non TB).
I'm just hoping that the iMac refresh doesn't come at a similar pricing premium.

 

[Sandybox]

No, it makes Cook a smart businessman. Why in the world would any sane CEO release sales numbers on a specific product, giving valuable insight to competitors, especially in a relatively new market, allowing them to better understand market potential, and, how Apple is performing in that market.

Does Samsung and other tech companies release sales numbers for specific products? Why not? Does it make their CEOs look weak and trustworthy? If not, why not?

You need to read their earnings reports. They issue figures for iphone, ipad and mac units sold. They lump watches into "other" because it suits them to. It is daft to think that the other companies don't work hard to understand the market, they don't need to rely on Apple for insight.

 

[Neodym]

I can't believe folks will pay $1300 for a 1.1 GHz 12" computer. Those price points make no sense compared to the base MBP (non TB).

I can't testify for the (current) 13" MBP, but the 12" MB in itself is a very nice machine! Very small and portable, yet powerful enough for most everyday tasks, with a surprisingly full sound and a gorgeous screen. Even the polarizing keyboard has its merits. I'd still consider it a viable alternative to the 13 inchers, depending on use case.

I'm with you, though, in that if it is supposed to take the entry level position from the MBA, the price needs to go down eventually. But I'm confident that will happen. The first incarnation of the MBA was also one expensive beast and far from being snappy, even with SSD. The second version was much better already.

As the 2016 rMB was merely an update, I'd expect the 2017 version to shine significantly more in the update department.

 

[citysnaps]

You need to read their earnings reports. They issue figures for iphone, ipad and mac units sold. They lump watches into "other" because it suits them to. It is daft to think that the other companies don't work hard to understand the market, they don't need to rely on Apple for insight.

I do read their quarterly reports. Still, you need to read what I wrote. Particularly about the Watch being a product for a new market.

Of course it suits Apple to lump Watches into "other." Sorry you're not able to understand that and the reasoning behind it.

And... nice deflection and straw man suggesting I don't think other companies work hard for market insight.

 

[Pentium]

It's a small update, they did practically nothing to the old generation....