Apple Watch on pace to beat iPhone’s first-year sales

By

The Apple Watch
Apple Watch sales are holding steady.
Photo: QZ

Apple Watch orders are currently coming in at a rate of around 30,000 units per day — according to analytics provided by Slice Intelligence, which combed through the e-receipts of around 14,000 online shoppers who used Slice’s services.

Although there was, unsurprisingly, a big drop-off from launch day, numbers appear to have been pretty consistent since then. So far, Apple has sold upwards of 2.5 million Apple Watches — more than the iPod, iPhone, or iPad sold during the same period of time in their first year.

It should, of course, be noted that Slice’s numbers are in no way official. E-receipts based on a subsection of customers in one country isn’t going to offer an accurate view of overall Apple Watch sales, and obviously doesn’t take into account places like China where the Apple Watch is proving popular.

The steady interest does indicate that early word-of-mouth hasn’t put people off buying the Apple Watch, however, although it similarly shows that the device has a long way to go before it becomes a must-have wearable.

Interestingly, KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo recently cut his 2015 expectations for Apple Watch sales from 30 million to 15 million after research indicated that the device appeals to mostly men.  Discounting the 1 million orders reported for the first day of Apple Watch sales, this would mean 38,000 devices selling per day for the first year.

At the end of the day, given that the iPhone sold 6 million units in its first year, and now sells around 10 million+ in the first weekend new models are on sale, I’d expect this number to pick up substantially in future.

But the early figures are nothing to be ashamed of!

Source: Quartz

Newsletters

Daily round-ups or a weekly refresher, straight from Cult of Mac to your inbox.

  • The Weekender

    The week's best Apple news, reviews and how-tos from Cult of Mac, every Saturday morning. Our readers say: "Thank you guys for always posting cool stuff" -- Vaughn Nevins. "Very informative" -- Kenly Xavier.