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The Apple Watch Outsold Every Other Wearable Last Quarter (engadget.com)

According to Strategy Analytics, Apple has shipped 3.5 million wearables in the first quarter of 2017, which is 59 percent higher than the 2.2 million devices it did in the same period last year. Engadget reports: Cupertino captured 16 percent of the global marketshare and stole the wearables crown from Fitbit, which had a much less stellar quarter. Fitbit only shipped 2.9 million devices in Q1, 36 percent less than the 4.5 million units it moved in the first quarter of 2016. Even Xiaomi sold more devices, putting the beleaguered wearables-maker in third place. Those results are consistent with Apple's latest earnings report. The company said its Watch and TV sales jumped up 31 percent year-over-year, and head honcho Tim Cook said Watch sales have nearly doubled since last year. Neil Mawston, Strategy Analytics executive director, said Apple's Watch Series 2 has been selling well "due to enhanced styling, intensive marketing and a good retail presence." Were you one of the 3.5 million customers who purchased an Apple Watch in the first quarter of 2017? If so, how do you like Apple's approach to wearables?

19 of 109 comments (clear)

  1. Question by lucm · · Score: 5, Funny

    Were you one of the 3.5 million customers who purchased an Apple Watch in the first quarter of 2017? If so, how do you like Apple's approach to wearables?

    Do we get a $25 iTunes gift card if we answer your marketing survey?

    --
    lucm, indeed.
  2. Booyeah! by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 3, Informative
    Friday night, Slashdotters are getting their drink on, and a story about Apple.

    Popcorn for all!

    --
    The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
  3. I'll answer the question. by NotQuiteReal · · Score: 4, Insightful

    No.

    And with billions of people in the world, almost nobody did.

    --
    This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
    1. Re:I'll answer the question. by SvnLyrBrto · · Score: 2

      It's the standard slashbot line though. To people like the GP, if Apple were to invent a device that transmutes cancerous tumors into 24-carat gold, but it had no wireless and less space than a Nomad, it would be lame.

      --
      Imagine all the people...
  4. So, fitbit falling down? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Apparently they managed to turn themselves toxic by swallowing, then discontinuing, pebble.

    Something something nokia, who invented and even owned the smartphone market, then managing to kill themselves over it, by inviting themselves to be taken over by that other toxic maker of smartphones.

    1. Re:So, fitbit falling down? by Gr8Apes · · Score: 2

      Nah, the writing was on the wall well before that.

      It certainly was. Their major issue was hiring new MBA types that didn't stick to the company's core values but instead started practicing their myopic next quarter numbers racket. Nokia quickly disintegrated after that as their best people started leaving and their product lines quit moving forward. Then apple came around and drove a stake through its heart. Nokia no longer had the talent nor will to answer to the iphone, and they quickly spiraled down the drain.

      --
      The cesspool just got a check and balance.
  5. Who wants to charge their watch daily? by GodfatherofSoul · · Score: 2

    Get a Garmin, better features. Yeah, you lose out on the TV screen on your wrist but I'll take that sacrifice.

    --
    I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
  6. Status symbol? by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It seems like Apple products have been moving from useful products more toward just being status symbols. Seriously, the Apple Watches provide you with near zero useful functionality and have really shitty battery-life.

    --
    Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
    1. Re: Status symbol? by CapS · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I've had the Apple Watch for quite awhile, and it has some convenient features. Using it for payments is faster than credit card chips, heart rate monitor is excellent, it can unlock my computer, reading quick texts/notifications is nice, I like looking quickly to see my next meeting location, outside temperature at a glance is a help, and GPS directions at a glance with taps is often better than looking at the phone (when I'm driving a car that doesn't have a phone mount). I used to take my phone out of my pocket probably 100-200 times a day. Now it's more like once or twice an hour.

      The battery has never run out on me. If I've forgotten to charge it overnight I put it on the charger for about 20 minutes while I'm getting ready in the morning and that's enough for the day.

      As far as a status symbol, I don't think that's the case. The people I know who have one wear it for the features, not the status. In fact I'd rather not have the that kind of attention.

    2. Re:Status symbol? by Distortions · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I bought an apple watch a few months after release in 2015.
      Despite the claims of bad battery life... i never have the battery run out on me, even if i have very long day.
      Yes, if you sit there and screw with apps, because you expect it to be a smartphone with a tiny screen... you will drain the battery.

      I've flown well over a hundred flights since i bought it, and smacked/scraped the watch too many times to count. It's been in the shower, sinks, snow / ice / rain / sun hundreds of times... Its been on top of mountains and at the sea-shore many times. it has really held up to the abuse.
      Other than a few tiny micro-scratches on the wristband ( didn't even make it through the anodizing )... it looks like the day i bought it.

      It works great for siri, and speakerphone ( hold mic near mouth, lets siri work in noisy environments like the car, or even in the shower with water running ).
      Silent notifications ( life saver, when we are rolling audio all day ), and the haptic feedback also does a great job of notifying you in noisy environments... No more missing what the GPS said, or missing that text tone and vibration walking around at a convention...

      I can make a small gesture with my wrist and see the time/date, weather, sunrise/sunset (useful for photography, and being in different timezones / latitudes all the time.), appointments, alarms, notifications... I get weather alerts of rain/snow or extreme weather that is happening soon... I use passbook to select flights and then shake wrist at gate... QR code pops up and scans. I can ping my phone if i leave it somewhere, i can ping tracking devices ( tile ) on my car keys, or even my suitcase, backpack... or the expensive software dongle I use for work.

      It might be expensive for what it does, but that doesn't invalidate its usefulness.

      --
      Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see.
  7. Who buys this crap? by Ritz_Just_Ritz · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Seriously....a watch that goes toes up if you don't charge it daily? I know you've got the contingent of folks that buy stuff because "it's cool," but a watch that can't go a couple of days without charging it?

    Pass.

    1. Re:Who buys this crap? by Yaztromo · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I inherited a watch from my grandfather after her passed away. He wore it for decades. I'm pretty sure the band isn't original -- it seems much newer than the watch itself.

      But get this -- to use it you have to wind it up -- every day! Can you imagine such a thing? This man, and many others like him for decades started their day having to wind their watch, because you couldn't go a couple of days without winding it.

      And somehow, perhaps miraculously, his generation won WWII. He himself served in the Canadian Forces, attaining the rank of Sergeant. And yet every day he had to wind his watch.

      Yaz

    2. Re:Who buys this crap? by swillden · · Score: 2

      Seriously....a watch that goes toes up if you don't charge it daily? I know you've got the contingent of folks that buy stuff because "it's cool," but a watch that can't go a couple of days without charging it?

      Go through slashdot comments of a few years ago, and you'll find large numbers of people saying the same thing about phones.

      I don't mind putting my watch on its charger at night. I don't like wearing it while I sleep anyway. I'd rather not have to charge it every night but it's really not that much of a hardship -- and well worth it for the functionality of the watch.

      IMO, a normal timepiece isn't worth the effort of strapping onto my wrist every morning, but a smartwatch is. Especially since mine (LG Sport Watch) has LTE, so I occasionally don't even bother to carry my phone. I can receive and respond to text messages, check my calendar, get navigation directions, play music (via bluetooth), make NFC purchases, track my bike rides/runs, and much more, all without my phone. I can't make calls because I have a data-only SIM in the watch, plus it's weird and uncomfortable talking to your wrist (I tried it), but I don't make many phone calls anyway. The phone does most of those things better of course, but it's not always convenient to carry it, and even when I have it it's not always convenient to pull it out of my pocket.

      IMO, a smartwatch does enough more than a watch to justify charging it nightly, just like a smartphone does enough more than a phone to justify charging it nightly.

      --
      Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
  8. Re:So I own an Apple Watch by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 2

    Yeah, it is useful in a few cases. But in order for me to be motivated to keep it charged, it'll have to be a little bit better. And in order for me to strap it to my wrist every morning, it'll have to look a bit better. I don't mind spending around €1000 for a smart watch that looks good, i.e. has a well made metal case and a good metal or leather strap, but I don't want to spend that much on something that looks good but will be obsolete in a couple of years. If they can commit to a certain form factor for like a decade and offer an upgrade program where they'll swap out the guts for a reasonable fee, then they'll have a winner in my book.

    --
    If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
  9. Replaced my Pebble Watch... by sillivalley · · Score: 2

    ...With an Apple Watch 2 -- I liked the pebble, but it's been abandoned (and mine is getting flakey).

  10. Re:Sheep! by jcr · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Apple is falling behind

    Apple is the most valuable private company in the world. You're delusional.

    -jcr

    --
    The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
  11. Re:Sheep! by mjwx · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Apple is falling behind

    Apple is the most valuable private company in the world. You're delusional.

    -jcr

    And that makes them magically protected from screwing up or falling behind... How?

    At one point, IBM was the worlds most valuable company. Hell, we even said things like "You'll never be fired for buying IBM" and "What does IBM stand for, 'Immense Buckets of Money'". Ahh the 90's, good times. The warning goes without saying: Pride goeth before a fall.

    I think we've already passed peak Apple and they're going to start to descend into being just another device. Apple have managed to evade this being noticeable by expanding into other markets like China and India, but now they've got nowhere left to expand into and their decline in popularity is going to be noticeable. Apples problem here is that their competitors are just as good, if not better than they are. Sure Apple will be around for a while but their power is waning, just like IBM in the 2000's.

    --
    Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
  12. You are partly right, but mostly wrong by SuperKendall · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Garmin is an arbitrary computational device. Read up on ConnectIQ sometime.

    Have to admit I did not know that existed, and I did read up on it.

    But how does that matter any more than the PebbleAPI? Which was also quite good and expansive.

    Charging the device nightly means you're not getting sleep and resting heart rate analysis on a consistent basis.

    If you read everything you'd see I also said you can charge while it's in the shower.

    Garmin watch will last 10+ days on a charge if you don't do any workouts. If you do workouts it lasts 6-7.

    So it's still off of your person sometime. That is not that huge a leap from the Series 2, and what happens next year when Apple is within a day of Garmin's figure?

    Quite frankly you'd have to be some epic level of moron to purchase an Apple Watch of either generation considering just how far behind Garmin they are in just about every category that matters, including price.

    See posts below about people purchasing the Apple Watch for Swimming, because it was 1/2 the price of the Garmin that could do the same thing...

    Furthermore while I'll admit the app support is more impressive than I thought, in what world do you really think Garmin is ahead of Apple on this? If *you* read the AppleWatch API you'd find it's quite a lot more capable than the Garmin API, and there are a ton more Apple Watch apps now than there are Garmin apps.

    So how are you not some kind of Epic Moron to claim Garmin is ahead in any way that matters - including price?

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  13. Bought a 2nd hand one by seoras · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I've been wearing an automatic Swiss watch for years now. It's needing a service though, when I take it off before bed it's dead in the morning.
    I write Apps and I thought I'd buy a 2nd hand Apple Watch to try it out and see if I could do anything with my own Apps on it.
    Wasn't convinced when it first came out but now that you can pick up a series 1 for 1/4 of it's price new it's not too risky to try, i could punt it on again.
    So I got a stainless steel 42mm S1 for under $200
    The battery on this used watch lasts a whole day easily, I take it off and put it on the charger when I go to bed. Better than the Swiss watch.
    The health monitoring is neat, I like that it reminds you stand up, take a breath and move my ass if I've been sitting coding too long.
    I feel like I can leave the phone and I don't carry it around as much. Phone calls aren't missed, I like that I can answer them on my wrist.
    It's the little things about it that I've come to appreciate that my very nice Swiss automatic doesn't do.
    Cooking dinner, I set a timer so I can leave the kitchen and that tap on the wrist when I need to return is really handy.
    Logging into PayPal, which I do a lot for work, I have 2 step verification and the Symantec VIP app on the watch is so much quicker than using the phone.
    The smart watch isn't a smart phone and never will be.
    It's probably not for everyone but anyone who hasn't tried it probably shouldn't critique it until they've tried it.
    It's one of those things that until you've tried it and had one for at least a month you probably won't get the point of it.
    I just can't see myself going back to the Swiss automatic.