Apple Watch recently passed an important milestone. There are now 100 million of them in active use according to a market analysis firm. And more than 50 million Americans have one.
The user base is one of the most important measurements of a product’s success. It shows how many people are actively using a device, as opposed to buying one, disliking it, then dumping it in a drawer.
These figures come from the analysts at Counterpoint Research. “Apple Watch’s user base crossed the 100-million mark for the first time during the quarter ended June, capturing the lion’s share of the smartwatch user base globally,” said Senior Analyst Sujeong Lim.
And Lim says more than half of Apple’s smartwatches are being used in the U.S.
Apple Watch is a hit
Photo: Counterpoint Research
Tim Cook officially took over from Steve Jobs as Apple CEO ten years ago this week. Apple Watch is one of the most significant new hardware products of Cook’s tenure, and 100 million active users is proof that Apple isn’t just coasting on Jobs’ ideas.
Not that the wearable is anywhere close to the success of iPhone. Apple says the install base for iOS handsets passed 1 billion users in late 2020. And the install base for iPad was estimated to be about 400 million in 2020.
Following a premium path
Currently, much of the growth in smartwatches is in the sub-$100 category, according to Counterpoint Research. These are less advanced than Apple’s product but offer similar health-related features like heart rate monitoring.
At $279, the Apple Watch SE is the cheapest in the lineup so the company is missing out on the budget market. But Apple has done well for many years offering premium products at premium prices — the iPhone with the lowest cost is $399, for example.
