Apple Watch may not be ticking with customers (APPLE Watch Sales Plunge 90%)

Market Watch ^ | 07/07/15 | Brett Arends

[Enlightened1]

Sales of the new Apple Watch have plunged by 90% since the opening week, according to a new market research report.

Apple AAPL, -1.27% has been selling fewer than 20,000 watches a day in the U.S. since the initial surge in April, and on some days fewer than 10,000, according to data from Slice Intelligence, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based market research company.

That is a sharp decline from week of the April 10 launch, when Apple sold about 1.5 million watches, or an average of about 200,000 a day, Slice estimates.

Furthermore, two-thirds of the watches sold so far have been the lower-profit “Sport” version, whose prices start at $349, according to Slice, rather than the costlier and more advanced models that start at $549.

In an ambitious bid for the luxury market, Apple also unveiled a gold “Edition” model priced at $10,000 or more. So far fewer than 2,000 of them have sold in the U.S., Slice contends.

Slice bases its research on electronic receipts sent to millions of email addresses following purchases. The company conducts market research on behalf of consumer goods companies, among others, many of them in the Fortune 500.

Wall Street has been desperately trying to work out how well the new watch has been selling, but Apple has been refusing to say. The company, which in the past has updated Wall Street on the sales of new products soon after the launch, has yet to release any numbers about the watch.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

[dennisw]

And that is why I have avoided Apple like the plague. Who needs these headaches? The only people still sucked in by the Apple watch are the hardcore, the die hard fanbois.

[dennisw]

Gadget crazed Asians were always the biggest buyers (suckers) for these Apple watches. With the Chinese stock market collapsing this buying will be cut way back. Those $10,000 gold Apple watches will be stashed away somewhere in Cupertino and given away to winners of the gay wet T-shirt night contests

[ProtectOurFreedom]

I ditched my watch in college when I figured out I could always count on the guy or gal I was with to answer the question “What time is it?”

[Paladin2]

All that Apple stuff of the last decade seems to last about 4 years.

[Swordmaker]

It was a joke, for crying out loud. /facepalm

I know that. . .

[Swordmaker]

All that Apple stuff of the last decade seems to last about 4 years.

You have it wrong. Most Apple stuff lasts far longer than 4 years. That's the average age of Mac computers in my office. Among my friends and clients, it's five years.

[House Atreides]

“...This iteration of the watch is going to die in peoples dresser drawers.”
*****************************************************************************************************
I can’t imaging folks wanting to put their arms in their dresser drawers.

[MoochPooch]

Probably the Apple Watch is good for soldiers or law-enforcement types (Dick Tracy or Man from Glad) who need a free hand to hold a gun & the other to . . . well, tell time, I guess. Maybe get incoming calls or instructions.

I don’t own any Apple products anyway, so I was never in a rush to buy this.

[1Old Pro]

To use the iWatch, I guess you would need the next new product from Apple... iGlasses.

LOL

[TheBattman]

Nice pessimistic and unfounded assumption. Might bear a bit of research to see what you comment before actually posting it...

Oh - and by the way - they have never advertised 22 carat gold. It is 18 carat... and here is a bit about how its made:

http://www.apple.com/watch/apple-watch-edition/

[TheBattman]

I always find it humorous how we measure things in existential terms - our own experience, feelings, and preferences. We wonder why our world seems so pragmatic.

I recall when Apple released the original iPhone. I thought it ridiculous and useless, with really no desire for it (and I have long been an Apple fan with a string of Apple computers in my stable). I had stepped up to a Samsung Blackjack II and that was almost more “smart” than any phone I thought was even usable.

I’m now on my 4th iPhone - an iPhone 6+. It is now hard to imagine doing all that I do without such a device.

I still wear a watch, and feel lost without one. I actually am not opposed to the idea of an Apple Watch - but have a lot of the same concerns as others have posted - the price vs. long-term usefulness. It would be little more than a fancy accessory to my iPhone. I just cannot justify the price for something that will be, as everything else in the tech world becomes - obsolete in short order. If I’m going to pay $350+ for a watch, I had better have the same, fully-functional watch 5 years, 10 years down the road. Even if were no longer fashionable/in style, I would still have a working and nice timepiece. What happens to that Apple Watch, regardless of price? It becomes nothing useful at all.

But there are plenty who find these little devices with their tiny screen and relatively limited functionality (though arguably a LOT more function than competing models from other makers) - and folks who just cannot wait to fork over a bunch of money for them. A few million so far.

By the way - the reason I have the iPhone 6+, after just upgrading to a 6 on opening day of sales? Bigger screen is easier on my eyes... so I understand that part of your post.

[TheBattman]

Interesting - I just clicked the link - and nearly every one of those Apple Watches on that Craigslist page were being listed at HIGHER than retail price directly from Apple... Hmmm...

[TheBattman]

Well - the crystal on the Watch and above models are sapphire (thought I know that isn’t what you were referring too ....LOL)

[dennisw]

Yet the buy/sell price arrived at is hundreds less. You want a great deal on an Apple watch go buy one at your local Craigs in the $200-$250 range