The Apple Watch has met the expectation that it will lead its category and is now by far the most popular wearable on the market, according to research firm Canalys, which estimates Apple has shipped seven million devices in six months.
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Since it was first launched, Apple’s smartwatch has managed to sell more than 7 million units.
A stunning stat when you consider Apple Watch has only been available for two quarters, with Canalys noting that in Q3, Apple was the only smart watch vendor to shop more than 300,000 units.
The company’s smartwatch sales leave Samsung and Pebble in the dust, and sets a high bar for other watch makers planning on getting into the market.
Its closest rival, Pebble, saw shipments reach 200,000 in the third quarter, thanks to the launch of its Time Steel smartwatch, made from stainless steel with a colour e-paper display. Just prior to the release of the Apple Watch, Pebble did it again leveraging the user base and marketing might of Kickstarter to launch its next version. For example, both Fossil and Tag Heuer will be launching their first smart watches before the end of the year’. Analysts reckon it’s sold between 2.5 million and 6 million Apple Watches in the third quarter.
Canalys analysts expect Apple to continue its momentum with Watch through the holiday season, having ironed outs its supply-constraint issues, expanded its global channel distribution network, and released watchOS 2.
Canalys analyst Daniel Matte said that all eyes would be on Apple Watch sales during the run up to Christmas, as a barometer of the strength of the nascent smartwatch market.
For the moment, fitness bands outsell smartwatches, with Fitbit and Xiaomi holding the lead. Xiaomi’s Michigan Band exceeded 10 million overall shipments in this quarter, and it even exceeded predicted sales in China due to sustained promotions and affordable pricing policies.
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Apple still has work to do to generate demand for its smartwatch.
