Apple Watch makers expecting ‘surge in orders’ for second half of 2015

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Is Apple Watch demand waning?
Apple Watch supply has finally caught up with demand.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

People working on the Apple Watch supply chain are said to be expecting a “possible surge in orders” for the second half of 2015, as Apple’s debut wearable device continues to gain momentum in the marketplace.

According to a new report, this growth is linked to the fact that Apple Watch yield rates have significantly improved since manufacturing began, meaning that Apple is finally able to get hold of units of the device in the kind of quantities it would hope for.

One company reporting that shipments have been “growing significantly” since the second quarter is Quanta Computer, which is heavily involved with assembling the Apple Watch and is therefore in a good position to comment on accurate figures. Quanta’s revenue in May grew 14.1 percent on year to reach $2.49 billion — largely thanks to its work on the Apple Watch.

Not everyone is being quite so optimistic, however. A separate report also published today claims that sales of the Apple Watch have thus far been disappointing — with only around 3 million sold since the device first went on sale.

The contrasting report notes that:

“Apple has tried to position the watch partly as jewelry with its selection of bands and gold plating options, but while the value of a high-end timepieces may increase over time, the Apple Watch will decline because it is fundamentally a technology product. Marketing the Apple Watch devices as fine watches seems unworkable.

Wearable devices launched by other vendors including Fitbit, Jawbone and Xiaomi Technology are simpler, have clear product positioning, and support both iOS and Android, which has made them highly attractive to consumers.”

Personally, I’d be more inclined to put stock in the former report. Don’t get me wrong, the Apple Watch has a long way to go until it becomes a “must have” device, but many of the measures naysayers are using to write it off as a failure (lack of interest in Google Trends, for example) are flawed metrics. Even if the 3 million sales number is correct, that doesn’t tell the whole story either, since it discounts the numerous other ways Apple can profit from the Apple Watch.

Companies like Jawbone are bound to get increased interest since Apple has, in some ways, “legitimized” the wearables field, but let’s also not forget that the Apple Watch sold more in its first 24 hours than every other Android Wear device ever.

Source: Digitimes

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