A show of hands: how many of us actually own a smartwatch?Yes, I figured not much of you do.
The small smartwatch market has been a tricky one for manufacturers for years. The demand for such devices has not been so large as to satisfy investors, or small enough to completely ignore and quit investment into the technology. Apple, though late to the smartwatch game, has a noticeable lion’s share of the wearable market (though that does not say much).
Thanks to a new report from the IDC, we now know that Apple Watch sales have slumped since last year. Only 1.1 million devices have been sold in the third quarter of 2016; that is down by a massive 71% compared to last year. Of course Apple’s CEO Tim Cook had to put a spin on the situation; in an interview with Reuters he mentioned how the number of watches that actually reached customers were high.
“Sales growth is off the charts…in fact, during the first week of holiday shopping, our sell-through of Apple Watch was greater than any week in the product’s history. And as we expected, we’re on track for the best quarter ever for Apple Watch,” Cook said.
Apple themselves are expecting the holiday season to be a big boost for Watch sales, however that is to be expected; many devices are on discount so a jump in sales is not that surprising.
Apple released the 2nd iteration of the watch earlier this year to lukewarm reception. The watch had improvements such as the implementation of its onboard GPS and swim-tracking features. It is, however, worth noting that for many the price was just too damn high for a fitness tracker.
The smartwatch market on a whole needs a massive overhaul, because it is clear that in its present state it’s not doing much to gain consumers interest.
