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?

Comments

Question

[lucm]

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?

I'll answer the question.

[NotQuiteReal]

No.

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

So, fitbit falling down?

[Anonymous Coward]

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.

Status symbol?

[Gravis Zero]

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.

Re: Status symbol?

[CapS]

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.

Re:Status symbol?

[Distortions]

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.

Who buys this crap?

[Ritz_Just_Ritz]

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.

Re:Sheep!

[jcr]

Apple is falling behind

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

-jcr

Re:Sheep!

[mjwx]

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.