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It's Time To Admit Apple Watch Is a Success (imore.com)
At company's quarterly earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the holiday period was the company's "best quarter ever" for Apple Watch -- both units and revenues -- "with holiday demand so strong that we couldn't make enough." He added: Apple Watch is the best-selling smartwatch in the world, and also the most-loved, with the highest customer satisfaction in its category by a wide margin. Apple Watch is the ultimate device for a healthy life, and it's the gold standard for smartwatches. We couldn't be more excited about Apple Watch. Long time Apple commentator Rene Ritchie writes: There's a strange narrative in the tech community concerning Apple Watch being a flop, a failure, or in some way, shape, or form, a disappointment. It's particularly bizarre given Apple Watch, as part of the wearable market, is doing record numbers. It could be that there is no real "Smartwatch market", just an Apple Watch market. Much like there's no real "tablet market", just an iPad market. Since it's such a new product category and most of the existing products are still bound to phones, it could also simply be too soon to tell.John Gruber adds: I think we should stop talking about "smartwatches" and just consider Apple Watch a "watch", period. In September, Apple claimed watch revenues second only to Rolex. How can it not be considered a hit at this point?
I feel like it's just a matter of perspective. The watch market as whole has never really been as significant as the phone or PC market, thus comparing the apples watch compared to iPhone or Mac sales makes it look like a failure, but within it's sector it is a strong competitor. It certainly hasn't take then world by storm the way that the iPad and iPhone have been able to, but at least hast been a strong contender for watches. So I'd say the watch has been a viable product, but no great success.
I've seen more Rolexes than Apple Watches. Microsoft also did this with Windows Phone when they talked about 'revenue' rather than any hard sales figures. The reality everyone else knew finally dawned.
> Much like there's no real "tablet market", just an iPad market.
Nonsense, Android sold more units. Just like the phone market is really an Android market.
You know what I see EVERYWHERE? iPhones
You know what I see NOWHERE? Apple Watches
I look around the train on the way to/from work every day and I see almost nobody wearing an Apple Watch. Garmin's and FitBits seem pretty popular though.
My eyes reflect the stars and a smile lights up my face.
And worse, it's been proven that smartwatches and fitness trackers in general don't result in better health for users. Calling it the "ultimate device for a healthy lifestyle" is about as stupid as buying a rowing machine and sticking it in the corner to gather dust. It's just marketing. Yet another reason why actual numbers aren't released.
"Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
Nobody I know voted for Trump, yet he won with almost 50% of the vote. What's your point?
Outside your comfort bubble, people do different things. Intelligent people acknowledge this instead of screaming like a madman.
Totally absurd.
Apple has sold millions of watches. They don't release numbers, but estimates were 12 million in the first year. So there are like at least 20 million watches, probably. Apple sells like 50-80 million iPhones a year, so by that standard, they are a failure. And as you say, you probably know plenty of people with an iPhone, and only a few (or even none) with an Apple Watch.
The thing is, the Apple Watch NEVER had to match or even approach the iPhone in order to be a success. The iPhone is a such a success story it is a goddamned joke. The iPhone is close to half of Apple in most years, and this is for a company that nominally will sell you a server or monitor, actually will sell you a notebook, a laptop, a tablet, a goofy gameboy desktop, a variety of mice, the aforementioned watch, a bunch of almost entirely profit accessories (now with more dongles!), a music subscription service, and takes a cut off of everything they have a hand in selling, and not a small cut either.
The 8 bit Nintendo sold like 60 million units total. You probably knew someone with one of those, but for different reasons. There are entire companies with less units shipped than Apple Watch, and that will remain the case indefinitely. If your standard for success is "everyone in the civilized world will either own one of these or feel its absence day by day", then the Apple Watch is a failure. But if it is anything sane, it is not. It is clear that the Apple Watch, as a project, is quite profitable for Apple. Each Watch costs Apple much less to make than it sells for, and they sell millions.
No, you and your friends won't feel obligated to own and operate an Apple Watch. That doesn't make it a failure, any more than an Xbone or PS4 is a failure just because most people own neither.
Outside your comfort bubble, people do different things. Intelligent people acknowledge this instead of screaming like a madman.
I think that is helpful for understanding things, particularly when reading /.
This is an extremely niche group of people who are not typical consumers.
This is also a group of people with rooting interests for and against certain companies/products which are so strong that they'd back the average european soccer fan blush for the partiality.
We should acknowledge the role that price drops and other promotional considerations have had, but really... Apple owns this entire market. Nobody has a credible competitor that's carved out a slice. It's another case of them, for all their faults, still eating people's lunches and leaving /.ers hand-wringing.
Maybe companies like Samsung and LG and Alphabet should ask themselves why they keep being late to parties and taking cues from Apple and improving their products instead of fragmenting their own platform?
An iWatch - 5 years from now, it will be removed from the drawer where it's been gathering dust and given to some infant as a chew toy because it no longer works with the latest phones, and it no longer gets updates anyway.
"Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
If it's a success, nobody is required to admit, we'll see it everywhere and in the press, like iPods (in the past) or iPhones today.
Anyone selling watches is a fashion company. If the computer revolution had happened before President Kennedy, everyone would have smart hats. It's a profitable division of Apple that gets to reuse aspects of their tech side, and interface with their role as a technology company. But it is absolutely a fashion accessory, because that is what watches are. If you need a functional watch, you can get one for a few dollars, or probably just get a used one for free or almost free.
The Apple Watch is only a "flop" in the sense that people don't need them the same way they need a smartphone. Compared to any other wearable, it's a runaway success, but people don't think about it in those terms, because it is an Apple product.
Personally, I love my Apple Watch, but I'm old enough to be part of a generation that wore watches. I'll still put on my Rolex for dress-up occasions, but my Apple Watch is my go-to daily wearable.
For people who didn't grow up wearing watches, the Apple Watch may elicit nothing but "meh" from them. So be it ... it is not a device for everyone, but it is an excellent device for people who want to wear a watch that does more than tell the time.
Apple is not a tech company?
Only on /. :)
I come here for news, not for people wanking over completely insignificant statics.
And that's what they are, the Apple watch is by far the best and most popular of a product category that the overwhelming majority of people couldn't care less about. I think I've seen like 2 of these things, both of them worn by people who work in IT.
The fact that they sold more than they could make is positive marketing speak for "even we thought it wouldn't sell".
Trying to call the Apple Watch a failure is wishful thinking for those who hate it.
I see quite a few Apple watches as I walk around my city going to/from work. I'm seeing more Apple Watches, in fact, than any other single brand of watch. It's reached the point where I'm seeing more Apple Watches than other fitness trackers (though that's due more to a decline in fitness tracker use than Apple's success).
I don't know any of those owner's use case for the Apple Watch, and they sure as hell have no obligation to justify their consumer choice to me or anyone else.
So at the end of the day, I have to go with the reality I see, instead of falling back to "alternative facts" that support the narrative I like. I'm seeing a decent number of Apple Watches, and it's effectively the only smartwatch I see.
There's certainly nothing approaching the kind of penetration we see with smartphones, but as far as I can see, the Apple Watch is effectively the only smartwatch people buy.
Let's face it, this article is effectively /. clickbait - it'll generate a lot of comments (of which I'm guilty). There's a sizable portion of the /. readership who will instantly start frothing at the mouth at the merest hint of any Apple story.
Given the cancellation of a few anticipated Android cousins, we become all the more rabid should the Apple Watch be mentioned.
A story about the Apple Watch being successful? Just post it and watch the clicks roll in.
-- Sometimes you have to turn the lights off in order to see.
Apple owns this entire market. Nobody has a credible competitor that's carved out a slice. It's another case of them, for all their faults, still eating people's lunches and leaving /.ers hand-wringing.
It's not a massive market. It's nothing like the original iPhone or iPod markets.
The reason people call the Apple Watch a failure is NOT because Apple is doing poorly in the market. The reason they are calling it a failure is because the Apple Watch has failed to make smart watches something everyone wants.
Personal theory: Most people, consciously or subconsciously, want to be LESS connected to their phones, not more connected.
The Daddy casts sleep on the Baby. The Baby resists!
And worse, it's been proven that smartwatches and fitness trackers in general don't result in better health for users.
Anecdotally, I actually get up from my desk and walk around at least once an hour to keep it happy. That doesn't suddenly make me a triathlete, but plenty of studies do show that me getting off my ass from time to time helps me not die.
I can't speak for everyone, but I have lost weight from trying to meet my daily calorie burning goals. Maybe that's not the common case, but I'm happy with the result.
Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
Of course, an on-topic and thought out response involving neither ad hominem attacks or alternative truths drew out the downmods.
You could have just as easily have said "You have very aptly demonstrated all of the intelligence and thoughtfulness the majority of voting Americans perceive in supporters of Hillary Clinton and/or haters of Donald Trump" and it would have been just as true. The arrogance from either side seems perfectly formulated to totally tick off the other camp.
But I would suspect that the mods who downvoted you are getting a little sick of Donald Trump arguments being drawn into EVERY SINGLE TOPIC, political or otherwise.
Turn-by-turn directions while driving are really pleasant--just a tap on your wrist before each turn and the prompt on your watch.
Quick checking of text messages or emails while in a meeting or walking (and thus not wanting to pull the phone out of my pocket). Also includes quick (one word or emoticon) responses to text messages from the wife.
Music: viewing current song, previous/next song, controlling volume
Apple Pay: quick & convenient from the watch
Quick glance at my work calendar, prompts before meetings.
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Agreed, there's no one thing, just lots of little things you get used to.