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Year-Over-Year Smartwatch Sales Jumped By 61% In the US Last Year (bgr.com)

New research from The NPD Group reveals that the smartwatch market overall is growing at an impressive rate and that the Apple Watch remains the best-selling wearable on the market. "Specifically, year-over-year smartwatch unit sales in the U.S. jumped by 61% while revenue jumped by 51%," reports BGR. "As for specific revenue figures, the report relays that smartwatch revenue from November of 2017 through November of 2018 checked in at $5 billion. One particularly interesting data point is that 88% of all smartwatch sales can be attributed to Apple, Samsung, and Fitbit." From the report: "Over the last 18 months smartwatch sales gained strong momentum, proving the naysayers, who didn't think the category could achieve mainstream acceptance, had potentially judged too soon," NPD analyst Weston Henderek said in a press release. "The ability to be truly connected via built-in LTE without the need to have a smartphone nearby proved to be a tipping point for consumers, as they now recognize the value in being able to complete a wide range of tasks on the device including receiving notifications, messaging, accessing smart home controls, and more."

Indeed, Apple executives have pointed to the inclusion of LTE connectivity on the Apple Watch Series 3 as a huge selling point. Notably, Apple Watch sales during the 2017 holiday quarter were record-breaking. More recently, Tim Cook said that revenue from Apple wearables line jumped by 50% "thanks to strong sales of both Apple Watch and AirPods."

13 of 37 comments (clear)

  1. Twice nothing is still nothing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Lies, damn lies, and statistics. When the numbers are so low it is easy to show large increases.

    1. Re:Twice nothing is still nothing by Xenx · · Score: 1

      I dunno. 16% of adults(23% for 18-34) in the US doesn't seem like an insignificant number of users.

    2. Re:Twice nothing is still nothing by AbrasiveCat · · Score: 1

      I dunno. 16% of adults(23% for 18-34) in the US doesn't seem like an insignificant number of users.

      Or in about 5 years the sales fall off a cliff because they have gotten good enough and everyone who wants one has one.

  2. At this rate... by 110010001000 · · Score: 3, Funny

    ....4586% of all people will have smartwatches by 2025! Think of the money!

    1. Re:At this rate... by WhoBeDaPlaya · · Score: 1

      Obligatory XKCD : https://xkcd.com/605/

    2. Re:At this rate... by Freischutz · · Score: 1

      We've seen how accurate you are snowflake "Trump is going to lose by a landslide and nothing you can do will stop that." https://slashdot.org/comments.... you lose idiot sore loser.

      Sure he will ... November 3, 2020 ... I'm pretty sure that the time up until then is way more than enough for him to mess up positively everything else that can be messed up.

  3. My initial read... by QRDeNameland · · Score: 3, Funny

    At first I read the headline as "Year-Over-Year Sammich Sales Jumped By 61% In the US Last Year ". Too close to dinner time, I guess.

    --
    Momentarily, the need for the construction of new light will no longer exist.
    1. Re:My initial read... by Hentai007 · · Score: 1

      yeah i read that too, mmm Sammich...

  4. Re: Lazy ass millenials by tigersha · · Score: 1

    Maybe so, but most smartwatches I see around here are on older people. Especially at the gym. I get the feeling that people begin to like the idea that you can do 90% of the useful things on a watch without 90% of the distracting crap like InyourFacebook. Fitnesss tracking is much better too.

    --
    The dangers of excessive individualism are nothing compared to the oppressiveness of excessive collectivism
  5. Re: Lazy ass millenials by tigersha · · Score: 1

    And i have seen a lot more in the last year. Maybe the hardware is finally fast enough to be useful

    --
    The dangers of excessive individualism are nothing compared to the oppressiveness of excessive collectivism
  6. Re: Lazy ass millenials by gl4ss · · Score: 2

    it's fitness tracking.
    that's the "application" for them.

    Anyhow, apple execs are insane if they think that having lte on the watch matters anything. sure, having a data connection is useful so you can leave your phone at home, but not that it is lte.

    also, well. these are nearing the last years where you can sell 800bucks phones. they're running out of things to add to them. you can literally place 150 bucks phones next to 800 dollar phones on a table and if you don't know beforehand you can't say which is the expensive one - even if you're shown people using them for typical tasks.

    the sub 100 bucks smartphone market in emerging markets is especially important as for those people that is the only digital connected device they have ever had.

    --
    world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
  7. I've had one for about 6 months by p51d007 · · Score: 1

    Ok, NOW I get it. Not having to pull my phone out of the belt clip-case 3,403 times to see who is calling, texting, emailing is definitely worth it! The nice addition to having it show the heart rate, sleep pattern is just a bonus.

  8. An iWatch with LTE... by SlideWRX · · Score: 1

    Is an iPhone Mini. Proof that not everyone wants a big phone.