Posted on 08/09/2015 8:05:16 PM PDT by Swordmaker
The Apple Watch is either a hit or a failure, depending on who you ask, but one thing's for certain: June was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad month for the US traditional watch industry.
As reported by Bloomberg, data from market research firm NPD Group shows that traditional watch sales in the United States dropped by 14 percent in the month of June, as compared to June 2014. According to Bloomberg, that represents the biggest year-over-year drop in watch sales since 2008.
Watches in the $100-$149.99 price range took the biggest hit, NPD's data shows: Sales of timepieces in that range fell by 24 percent. In general, the sub-$1000 watch market declined in June, Bloomberg notes.
Why this matters:The Apple Watch is either a hit or a failure, depending on who you ask, but one thing's for certain: June was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad month for the US traditional watch industry.
Such a dropoff in traditional watch sales may suggest that the Apple Watch is starting to affect the traditional watch market. In Apple's last quarterly earnings call, CEO Tim Cook stated that Apple Watch sales increased in June, contrary to media reports: Such an increase in sales may have contributed to sluggish sales of traditional watches.
Other factors in play?
Just the same, plenty of other factors may be coming into play here. As Bloomberg notes, NPD cites market saturation of "lower-priced fashion brands" as another factor contributing to the sales decline.
On the other hand, comments from Apple's suppliers suggest that Apple Watch sales may not be as great as hoped. Also, Apple refuses to provide sales numbers for the Apple Watch, which means that sales estimates are, at best, educated guesses.
Either way, it's too hard to draw conclusions based on one month's worth of sales data. If sales bounce back, June's dropoff was probably a blip on the radar. But if the declines continue, well, maybe there's something to this Apple Watch thing.
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1. What kind of dumbass buys a watch that is dependent on an iffy battery and wifi access?
2. What kind of dumbass is going to allow AAPL to tell them what time it is?
I buy 25 buck watches and toss them when the battery runs out or the band breaks, usually once every 3 years or so.
Can’t remember the last time I wore a watch. Just looking around the room, I have 9 devices that tell time.
I wear one out of habit, feel sort of naked without one. Seldom look at it for the time, though.
I know that someone is spreading a rumor that Apple is not selling many watches. I was in the Apple store today and was told that they are selling a ton of them. So, I don’t know.
What sort of drugs are the writers of this crap on?
I don’t use a watch anymore because I carry a cell phone.
I don’t use a watch anymore because I carry a cell phone.
Does anybody really know what time it is?
Within a few years, the "feature handset" was virtually extinct in the First World, sold only to the elderly or the very young.
I think traditional wristwatches are going the same way. Once the smartwatch has two or three generations behind it, the functionality and utility of a smartwatch will make choosing it over a traditional watch a no-brainer.
Sure, people are still going to wear their high end traditional watches that they alread own - nobody is going to jam a $10,000 Rolex into a sock drawer and forget about it. But anybody buying a new high end watch is likely going to opt for a smartwatch.
Battery replacements cost a buck if you buy them on eBay.
I love my large face timex watches.....I feel very powerful when someone asks me what time it is and I can simply look at my wrist...
The iPhone came out in 1998 (about 6 years after I first worked with OSX). Apple effectively stole the trademark in 2007 for a different product.
None of which effects your point, I just hate to see companies like Apple and Microsoft get away with the crap they do.
I understand that completely but for many watches are the only sort of jewelry men will wear.
The same problem affecting watches in terms of curb appeal is the same thing affecting shoes, clothes, etc.: mutton dressed as lamb. Budget restrictions have limited R&D and memorable/iconic designs are rare now that margins are slim.
Plus this crappy watch is water resistant to only 3 meters. wtf???? There’s a sucker born every minute. Cheap Casios are rated at 50 meters
The gold CRApple watch is $10,000. I sure hope that one is more water proof
oh! Mr Moneybags
I paid $2.50 for mine at a discount store. Keeps time to <2 seconds a week.
(OK the hour hand no longer works, but that's no reason to discard a good watch)
That FUD was being spread based on a report from the Financial conference call of one of the companies called AES that assembles the primary logic board of the Apple Watch saying they were not quite able to meet the goal of assembling the two million logic boards per month that represented their break-even point of the three million per month total capacity of their assembly plant during the quarter in which the Apple Watch was released. The pundits claimed that indicated that the Apple Watch was, and was going to be, a flop.
However, turn those numbers from that assembler around and see what the implications actually are for the Apple Watch sales. Apple stated that they were selling every Apple Watch they could make to fulfill the initial pre-orders and continuing online sales, and were working to fill all of the pre-orders and on-line orders and FINALLY had sufficient inventory to sufficiently stock and start selling the Apple Watches for immediate delivery in their 306 US and about 50 other brick-and-mortar retail stores in countries where the Watch had been released on June 26th, the day before the end of that Quarter (it ends at 5PM on the last Saturday of June)! On that date, Apple also released the Apple Watch in an additional TEN nations and markets.
There is only one primary logic board per Apple Watch and AES was assembling slightly under TWO MILLION per month in the April through June quarter of the Apple Watch's release. That means that slightly under SIX MILLION Apple Watches were made in that one quarter. . . and then two million more were being made every month thereafter, assuming the company did not increase their production as Apple also stated that they had MORE sales in June and increased sales thereafter!
Independent estimates show up to 5.5 million Apple Watches were sold in that quarter. Apple's CEO stated in Apple's Financial Statement that the Apple Watch outsold the Apple iPad's initial introduction which sold 3.1 million units in it's first 90 days in 2010 and was, up until the release of the Watch, the best selling product introduction of all time.
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