It's Time To Admit Apple Watch Is a Success (imore.com) 406
At company's quarterly earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the holiday period was the company's "best quarter ever" for Apple Watch -- both units and revenues -- "with holiday demand so strong that we couldn't make enough." He added: Apple Watch is the best-selling smartwatch in the world, and also the most-loved, with the highest customer satisfaction in its category by a wide margin. Apple Watch is the ultimate device for a healthy life, and it's the gold standard for smartwatches. We couldn't be more excited about Apple Watch. Long time Apple commentator Rene Ritchie writes: There's a strange narrative in the tech community concerning Apple Watch being a flop, a failure, or in some way, shape, or form, a disappointment. It's particularly bizarre given Apple Watch, as part of the wearable market, is doing record numbers. It could be that there is no real "Smartwatch market", just an Apple Watch market. Much like there's no real "tablet market", just an iPad market. Since it's such a new product category and most of the existing products are still bound to phones, it could also simply be too soon to tell.John Gruber adds: I think we should stop talking about "smartwatches" and just consider Apple Watch a "watch", period. In September, Apple claimed watch revenues second only to Rolex. How can it not be considered a hit at this point?
Perspective. (Score:5, Interesting)
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Apple seems to be laying it on thick today.
It's the most popular, best selling smart watch... Well, yeah, it's also pretty much the only choice for iOS users, where as Android users have a wide variety to choose from and thus sales of individual models are diluted. Apple only does one model per year too, because even with the various straps and colours they all count as "Apple Watch 1" sales.
It has the most satisfaction... I'd be interested to know how they know that, but again it's hardly surprising when i
I don't care (Score:2)
It doesn't matter if it's a hit, because Apple Watch will never work adequately with non-Apple devices. I have more confidence that an Android Wear or even Tizen based watch will not have as much lock-in.
My DZ09 (Score:3)
My smartwatch was $35 including shipping. It has SD and SIMM card slots, and is a fully functional smart phone complete with camera.
My only complaint, no health sensors beyond accelerometer apps.
Why is the Apple Watch (and the rest of its competitors) so expensive? Are red and green LEDs that much more expensive?
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What's the battery life on that thing?
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Googled that. They're DOA half the time, constant connection issues, and "Battery life when connected to Bluetooth is approximately Four Hours."
Yeah, thanks but no thanks. That's like saying the iphone is too expensive because you can get a shitty $35 android phone made in Brazil.
Sorry, But No (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Sorry, But No (Score:5, Insightful)
I've seen more Rolexes than Apple Watches.
That's not surprising. By most estimates Apple has sold about 20 million iWatches. According to the fine folks at rolexforums.com [rolexforums.com], Rolex has produced at least 50 million wristwatches, and those wristwatches will stay in circulation for decades.
heh heh (Score:3)
That's not a bad thing.
If your Apple Watch battery goes dead and you don't replace it out of frustration, Apple still has the money you spent on that first watch, even if it didn't last 20 years like the Rolex might. Apple doesn't have a "problem" there. What they have, is a second chance to sell you a watch.
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Not making enough success (Score:2)
Not making enough can mean many things and given how CEO statements can have an impact on the stock market, call me suspicious but the statement is ambiguous. Were they unable to make enough because they were running three shifts at a factory designed to run two shifts? Or have they been scaling back production to meet lukewarm demands?
I have only met one person – not know —met one person who has an iWatch. I'm just a bit suspicious of these statements.
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I find it weird that there's all these rules requiring public companies to disclose all sorts of things, but basic information about how much of product X was sold for Y is a corporate secret.
There was no problem (Score:2)
Very true (Score:2)
The funny thing about people claiming the AppleWatch was not succeeding, was they always ignored sales and customer satisfaction.
There have been other products that people really liked that got axed as well, but not that sold in the volume the AppleWatch did. If any other company but Apple had been selling the AppleWatch, it would have been considered a breakaway hit...
Especially after the WatchOS 3 update, the Apple Watch has been really useful, and apparently the newer models (series 2) have multi-day ba
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and charge fast enough you can wear them while you sleep and just charge them while you are in the shower to get a full charge.
So, your life can revolve around charging the thing? Seems more like those little egg gizmos that tweeners used to try to hatch a couple of years ago. Who the hell is in charge here? (So to speak.)
Opposite (Score:2)
The whole point is that your life does not revolve around charging the watch. You just do so when convenient. Even with the older watch I sometimes don't put it on a charger when I go to sleep, I just charge it for fifteen minutes or so and it's good for the rest of the day.
With the newer watch you can just charge it whenever, and go for a few days without.
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Especially after the WatchOS 3 update, the Apple Watch has been really useful, and apparently the newer models (series 2) have multi-day battery life and
Battery life of barely a day was the primary reason why I considered Apple Watch to be a joke. If they've fixed that issue, maybe it'll be worth a second look. Especially now that Pebble/Fitbit has royally screwed the pooch.
Seems unlikely (Score:2)
I face the public at work every day and I can count on one hand how many people that have had one on.
That's a pretty amazing feat given that in fall and winter most people have long sleeve shirts or jackets. To they mind much when you pat down their arms?
Remember also that for the Apple Watch to have ben a pretty big success, it doesn't mean EVERYONE is wearing one. Just a few million or so, spread across the U.S. - if there are that many you would not see them that often.
No spin, just liking a product that works (Score:3)
get all the useful functions I'd want on my watch--time, date, a stop watch (the last I virtually never use), and a light--with ZERO worry about charging/losing it/breaking it.
I want to thank you for giving me a reason to point out why the AppleWatch is more useful than a normal watch.
None of the things you list were enough reason for me to continue using a watch decades ago, when I stopped wearing watches. The Apple Watch finally lured me back into wearing a watch. Things like the time are OK but I could
I'll add some... (Score:4, Informative)
Turn-by-turn directions while driving are really pleasant--just a tap on your wrist before each turn and the prompt on your watch.
Quick checking of text messages or emails while in a meeting or walking (and thus not wanting to pull the phone out of my pocket). Also includes quick (one word or emoticon) responses to text messages from the wife.
Music: viewing current song, previous/next song, controlling volume
Apple Pay: quick & convenient from the watch
Quick glance at my work calendar, prompts before meetings.
---
Agreed, there's no one thing, just lots of little things you get used to.
Not the same thing (Score:2)
With all due respect (i.e. none) it doesn't matter how long a useless watch maintains power.
Come back when you can match the ACTUAL capability for things people would use a watch for. The market certainly knows what things those are, even if you do not.
Marketshare? (Score:5, Insightful)
> Much like there's no real "tablet market", just an iPad market.
Nonsense, Android sold more units. Just like the phone market is really an Android market.
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I think johanw's point is that restricting the universe of discourse to "end users in the United States" and "priced above 200 USD" creates an overly narrow superlative [allthetropes.org].
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I'll agree...and not. It depends on what you're saying.
I'll agree wholeheartedly that profitability is important--née vital--for a business. So if I were to say, "Apple is dooooooooomed because the Apple Watch isn't selling tons of units," I would be an idiot. As long as Apple is making money off of them, they are not "dooooooooomed."
So from this standpoint, as long as the Apple Watch isn't losing money, it's a "success." And this standpoint is perfectly reasonable, if you're a stockholder or con
It is? (Score:2)
I have an iPhone, iPad, iMac, Macbook Air, Apple TV, Apple Airport Extreme, iPod Nano(for the car) etc etc. and yet, when I have been in the mood for new gadgets, I simply haven't been able to come up with an excuse that could convince myself why I would want the Apple watch.
But I guess it helps if you are a part of the social media users? Maybe in my younger days, I thought it would have been cool to get ICQ or messenger notifications on my wrist. These days I will read messages to me when I feel like it n
It's time... (Score:3)
...that Slashdot admitted they're just fucking Apple shills. The money is too great for such a BUSINESS NO LONGER RUN BY AN INDIVIDUAL.
Prove otherwise, Whipslash.
The spike was after a sharp decline. (Score:2, Informative)
But hey, a 51.6% year over year drop can't be meaningful. https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS41875116 [idc.com]
Comparing it to a Rolex? (Score:5, Insightful)
An iWatch - 5 years from now, it will be removed from the drawer where it's been gathering dust and given to some infant as a chew toy because it no longer works with the latest phones, and it no longer gets updates anyway.
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Indeed. Or if we're talking simply numbers manufactured then success as defined by the number of digital watches Casio has sold over the decades makes Apples effort look like a cottage industry.
Re:Comparing it to a Rolex? (Score:5, Insightful)
I have to admit a certain amount of ignorance here, but is it possible to get a Rolex for $400?
I suspect that's where your argument falls down; it's as ridiculous as comparing a Bic Cristal to a Pelikan Souveraen [pelikan.com], or a Vietnamese Moped to a Maybach.
In other words, you're comparing a mass-market product with an heirloom product. They're not even close to equivalent.
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$400 (or more) is what you'll pay just to have your Rolex cleaned and serviced every few years. Buy the cheapest Apple Watch, buy a good third-party band instead of buying Apple's overpriced band, and your total cost of ownership will be comparable to the cost of maintaining your Rolex, assuming you upgrade your Apple Watch every two or three generations.
Rolexes and Apple Watches are apples and oranges. I own th
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Oh, how quickly people forget Apple's failed attempt to sell a gold iWatch [cultofmac.com] for $10,000 - $17,000. Or the $115,000 iWatch [idigitaltimes.com]?
And as another poster pointed out, you're a sucker to take it in for maintenance every year. It doesn't need it.
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I have to admit a certain amount of ignorance here, but is it possible to get a Rolex for $400?
Yep, that's standard price in most dark alleys.
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If it's a sucess, nobody is required to admit (Score:5, Insightful)
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If it's a success, nobody is required to admit, we'll see it everywhere and in the press, like iPods (in the past) or iPhones today.
Fair enough, but the claim comes from their Q1 quarterly earnings call. I'd say they would be remiss in NOT admitting it were a success, given the target audience is investors.
It's a great watch, if a watch is what you want (Score:4, Interesting)
The Apple Watch is only a "flop" in the sense that people don't need them the same way they need a smartphone. Compared to any other wearable, it's a runaway success, but people don't think about it in those terms, because it is an Apple product.
Personally, I love my Apple Watch, but I'm old enough to be part of a generation that wore watches. I'll still put on my Rolex for dress-up occasions, but my Apple Watch is my go-to daily wearable.
For people who didn't grow up wearing watches, the Apple Watch may elicit nothing but "meh" from them. So be it ... it is not a device for everyone, but it is an excellent device for people who want to wear a watch that does more than tell the time.
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Compared to any other wearable, it's a runaway success, but people don't think about it in those terms, because it is an Apple product.
Actually, it's NOT a "runaway success" "compared to any other wearable," which should be part of the metric. In particular, compared to a fitness tracker like FitBit, Apple's sales are a LOT smaller. (And, notably, Cook didn't reveal sales numbers here, but the Apple Watch has been trailing FAR behind FitBit sales last year.) Now, you might say, "That's a flawed comparison -- the FitBit is a lot cheaper and it's not a full-blown 'smart device.'"
And that's true. But when the Apple Watch premiered, Tim
It's ugly (Score:3)
Most of the kids I work with have an Apple Watch to go along with their iPhones. I have an iPhone and love it but I can't bring myself to replace my current watch, which is a 28 year old Rolex, with an ugly Apple Watch. I bought my Rolex in the 80s and made payments on it for a couple of years. I wear it nearly every day so from a value standpoint, if I did an ROI on it and tried to compare it's value to tech that will probably only last a couple of years, I am sure the Apple watch is not a good investment. Call me a snob but maybe if they can figure out how to put the Apple Watch guts in an Oyster case, I may be more interested.
The ultimate device for a healthy life? (Score:2)
What does it do, prick you if you don't exercise?
Can we call this Slashxxx (Score:5, Insightful)
I come here for news, not for people wanking over completely insignificant statics.
And that's what they are, the Apple watch is by far the best and most popular of a product category that the overwhelming majority of people couldn't care less about. I think I've seen like 2 of these things, both of them worn by people who work in IT.
The fact that they sold more than they could make is positive marketing speak for "even we thought it wouldn't sell".
That's odd (Score:3)
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sometimes the faceless internet asks us questions and we answer back with clicks.
When a hit, is not. (Score:2)
"Apple claimed watch revenues second only to Rolex. How can it not be considered a hit at this point?"
How you ask?
When you have to game the revenue statistics so hard that you are forced to compare a single product from a tech company against an entire brand that pretty much manufactures one fucking thing that only 0.1% of humans can afford, it tends to bring into question any other claims related to "success".
In short, you're reaching here. A lot. Let's also see how well this fad pans out in the coming years, as I doubt even the iLemmings are going to be able to help Apple hold that revenue claim.
Even if it's selling well, doesn't mean it's good. (Score:2)
" there's no real tablet market" (???) (Score:2)
"Long time Apple commentator Rene Ritchie writes: ...Much like there's no real "tablet market"
I'll have to be blunt, but I'm guessing the reality distortion field didn't quite die with it's creator. The fact that Apple has more revenue than competition, as it happens with the iPhone, doesn't mean there is a market or that the market is profitable (it might for the iPhone, and probably also for the iPad, but definitely not for any smartwatch, including the iWatch). In the case of the iPhone, it's factual the
I see Apple watches being worn in public places (Score:5, Insightful)
Trying to call the Apple Watch a failure is wishful thinking for those who hate it.
I see quite a few Apple watches as I walk around my city going to/from work. I'm seeing more Apple Watches, in fact, than any other single brand of watch. It's reached the point where I'm seeing more Apple Watches than other fitness trackers (though that's due more to a decline in fitness tracker use than Apple's success).
I don't know any of those owner's use case for the Apple Watch, and they sure as hell have no obligation to justify their consumer choice to me or anyone else.
So at the end of the day, I have to go with the reality I see, instead of falling back to "alternative facts" that support the narrative I like. I'm seeing a decent number of Apple Watches, and it's effectively the only smartwatch I see.
There's certainly nothing approaching the kind of penetration we see with smartphones, but as far as I can see, the Apple Watch is effectively the only smartwatch people buy.
Let's face it, this article is effectively /. clickbait - it'll generate a lot of comments (of which I'm guilty). There's a sizable portion of the /. readership who will instantly start frothing at the mouth at the merest hint of any Apple story.
Given the cancellation of a few anticipated Android cousins, we become all the more rabid should the Apple Watch be mentioned.
A story about the Apple Watch being successful? Just post it and watch the clicks roll in.
Naturally... and (Score:2)
My Pillow is the #1 pillow recommended by the National Sleep Foundation.
Apple Watch is the ultimate device for a healthy l (Score:2)
Its true, just thinking about the watch makes my heart rate go up which has caused me to get rid of my elliptical and I no longer go hiking or trail running. Just thinking about the Apple watch give me all the cardio I need.
Also time to admit nobody gives a shit (Score:2)
Re:Apple fans will buy anything, news at 11 (Score:4, Interesting)
You know what I see EVERYWHERE? iPhones
You know what I see NOWHERE? Apple Watches
I look around the train on the way to/from work every day and I see almost nobody wearing an Apple Watch. Garmin's and FitBits seem pretty popular though.
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Not trying to extrapolate to the world. Just trying to say that, from where I sit, the iPhone is clearly a success. Conversely, from the same vantage point Apple Watch is clearly not on the same level.
I could be in an Apple hate zone, but I don't think that is the case due to the number if iPhones I see.
Also, an Apple Watch has a distinctive square face with rounded corners. I don't look at the bands.
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> Conversely, from the same vantage point Apple Watch is clearly not on the same level.
Not same level != not success
Come on. Ferrari has been around for most of the history of cars, yet by your measure they're a raging failure compared to Cherry.
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The train and the bus system in general are my window into the real world. In my estimation, there is enough of a cross section of social and economic strata to make some valuable observations.
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Nope. I don't even live in California.
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If the apple watch eliminated my phone - by being able to make calls on its own, I'd not need an iPhone.
Which is probably why they aren't including the most obviously missing feature.
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I was at a party the first weekend I had it, and I realized I hadn't touched my phone in three hours.
It's almost as if you don't know that not looking at the phone is an option.
If only I could leave my phone at home.
You actually can!
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I was at a party the first weekend I had it, and I realized I hadn't touched my phone in three hours.
and still stay connected
If only I could leave my phone at home.
and still stay connected
The bigger issue is why I am responding to a Slashdot comment
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How do you know, by looking at your watch vs your phone, that the unknown phone calling you is not the hospital emergency room calling you because a loved one was just in an accident?
But if the phone is showing you an unknown number, how does that help you vs. seeing an unknown number on your watch?
Most newer car stereo systems have Bluetooth connectivity to your phone so you can see who is calling you and even answer the phone hands-free without ever touching your phone.
But that solution would require carrying a car stereo system to parties. Wearing a watch is less hassle.
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> Is there one or a few "killer apps" that are driving people ot them or is it a big mix?
It's jewelry, dude. It also has a computer inside.
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Is there one or a few "killer apps" that are driving people ot them or is it a big mix?
Fitness. That's it.
Re:Apple has ONE PRODUCT (Score:5, Informative)
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Re:Apple has ONE PRODUCT (Score:4, Interesting)
And worse, it's been proven that smartwatches and fitness trackers in general don't result in better health for users.
Anecdotally, I actually get up from my desk and walk around at least once an hour to keep it happy. That doesn't suddenly make me a triathlete, but plenty of studies do show that me getting off my ass from time to time helps me not die.
I can't speak for everyone, but I have lost weight from trying to meet my daily calorie burning goals. Maybe that's not the common case, but I'm happy with the result.
Re:You couldn't make enough (Score:5, Insightful)
Nobody I know voted for Trump, yet he won with almost 50% of the vote. What's your point?
Outside your comfort bubble, people do different things. Intelligent people acknowledge this instead of screaming like a madman.
Re:You couldn't make enough (Score:5, Insightful)
Outside your comfort bubble, people do different things. Intelligent people acknowledge this instead of screaming like a madman.
I think that is helpful for understanding things, particularly when reading /.
This is an extremely niche group of people who are not typical consumers.
This is also a group of people with rooting interests for and against certain companies/products which are so strong that they'd back the average european soccer fan blush for the partiality.
We should acknowledge the role that price drops and other promotional considerations have had, but really... Apple owns this entire market. Nobody has a credible competitor that's carved out a slice. It's another case of them, for all their faults, still eating people's lunches and leaving /.ers hand-wringing.
Maybe companies like Samsung and LG and Alphabet should ask themselves why they keep being late to parties and taking cues from Apple and improving their products instead of fragmenting their own platform?
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Pairs with, sure. But it's no where on the same level as what you get when paired with an Android phone.
Re:You couldn't make enough (Score:4, Insightful)
Apple owns this entire market. Nobody has a credible competitor that's carved out a slice. It's another case of them, for all their faults, still eating people's lunches and leaving /.ers hand-wringing.
It's not a massive market. It's nothing like the original iPhone or iPod markets.
The reason people call the Apple Watch a failure is NOT because Apple is doing poorly in the market. The reason they are calling it a failure is because the Apple Watch has failed to make smart watches something everyone wants.
Personal theory: Most people, consciously or subconsciously, want to be LESS connected to their phones, not more connected.
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It was ambiguous, but "this" in the GP post probably referred to Slashdot denizens. Which is an extremely niche group of people who are not typical consumers.
Or, at least, it used to be.
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I'm not one to throw stones, but you might consider getting some help with that anger of yours. This topic is not worth the amount of emotion and vitriol you are investing it with.
Cheers.
Re:Too easy! (Score:4, Insightful)
Of course, an on-topic and thought out response involving neither ad hominem attacks or alternative truths drew out the downmods.
You could have just as easily have said "You have very aptly demonstrated all of the intelligence and thoughtfulness the majority of voting Americans perceive in supporters of Hillary Clinton and/or haters of Donald Trump" and it would have been just as true. The arrogance from either side seems perfectly formulated to totally tick off the other camp.
But I would suspect that the mods who downvoted you are getting a little sick of Donald Trump arguments being drawn into EVERY SINGLE TOPIC, political or otherwise.
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I think of all the statements made, they all apply to the apple watch. there is an underlying tribal mentality, where some people love apple and some people hate it. With the iphone specifically, I think some people are entranced by android because it is perceived as "open" while iphone is a "walled garden". I'm not agreeing or disagreeing with any tribal viewpoints, just acknowledging that they are present.
WRT apple watch, just according to the sales numbers it is beating the pants off any other smart watc
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"Nobody I know voted for Trump, yet he won with almost 50% of the vote."
Trump got less than 46%, while Hillary got 48%
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Why should they be remorseful?
He's doing exactly what he said he would do during the election...especially the supreme court nomination.
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Posts Anonymous Coward, how is that admitting anything?
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Apple watch ? Shove it up your faggot ass, Tim Cook. And don't forget to set the vibrate mode and have all your faggot buddies call you.
What an unpleasant person you are. Are you a closeted gay person? They're the ones that most often obsess about openly-gay peoples' sexuality and bring it up all the time for no reason, usually with.. colorful expressions of gay sex acts that you claim to find disgusting.
Re:You couldn't make enough (Score:5, Insightful)
Totally absurd.
Apple has sold millions of watches. They don't release numbers, but estimates were 12 million in the first year. So there are like at least 20 million watches, probably. Apple sells like 50-80 million iPhones a year, so by that standard, they are a failure. And as you say, you probably know plenty of people with an iPhone, and only a few (or even none) with an Apple Watch.
The thing is, the Apple Watch NEVER had to match or even approach the iPhone in order to be a success. The iPhone is a such a success story it is a goddamned joke. The iPhone is close to half of Apple in most years, and this is for a company that nominally will sell you a server or monitor, actually will sell you a notebook, a laptop, a tablet, a goofy gameboy desktop, a variety of mice, the aforementioned watch, a bunch of almost entirely profit accessories (now with more dongles!), a music subscription service, and takes a cut off of everything they have a hand in selling, and not a small cut either.
The 8 bit Nintendo sold like 60 million units total. You probably knew someone with one of those, but for different reasons. There are entire companies with less units shipped than Apple Watch, and that will remain the case indefinitely. If your standard for success is "everyone in the civilized world will either own one of these or feel its absence day by day", then the Apple Watch is a failure. But if it is anything sane, it is not. It is clear that the Apple Watch, as a project, is quite profitable for Apple. Each Watch costs Apple much less to make than it sells for, and they sell millions.
No, you and your friends won't feel obligated to own and operate an Apple Watch. That doesn't make it a failure, any more than an Xbone or PS4 is a failure just because most people own neither.
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There is one use-case for these things and that's fitness. That's it. There's absolutely bugger-all here that tells us the Apple Watch, or any other 'smart' watch that anyone else makes, is the runaway success they are claiming. However, Apple has become a
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It is clear that the Apple Watch, as a project, is quite profitable for Apple. Each Watch costs Apple much less to make than it sells for, and they sell millions.
Actually the metric would be more along the lines of:
Total costs
Investment costs of designing/creating the watch
Cost of software adaptation
Ongoing costs in both categories
Cost of manufacturing
taxes, and other varied expenses.
versus
Total revenues
Sales
App sales
Supplemental ad-ons (bands, etc. etc.)
Whether it's "quite profitable" is a fun topic to explore, but let's treat it as a real topic and not assume "it costs less to make the 50,000th watch than it sold for" is in any way a valid metric of "profitable".
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Smartwatches are primo (Score:2)
I like my gear watch just fine. Very, very useful. Phone can stay in pocket. a lot more.
iWatch... done buying Apple stuff, pretty much, after watching them intentionally obsolete perfectly good hardware time and time again. Although if they'd push out a nice tower Mac Pro again I'd probably bite. My late 2009 12/24 core tells me they can make good hardware when they want to. The trashcan tells me they don't want to.
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Strangely, I know no-one with an Apple watch but I know many people with Garmin watches and I'm personally eagerly awaiting the launch of the new Garmin Fenix 5. Of course, my friends are not representative of the world's population. My experience doesn't mean that no-one buys Apple watches or that Garmin is about to take over the world, but it does suggest that there is a strong market for non-Apple devices in certain niches and the claim that there is no Smartwatch segment, just an Apple Watch segment, is
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I know lots of people with a fitbit. I know several people with an Apple watch.
The difference is the people with the Apple watch work for Apple.
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Nobody I know has an Apple Watch.
When a salesman says "record quarter" he might mean he sold three instead of two.
Re:So, basically,Apple is in the fashion industry (Score:4, Insightful)
Anyone selling watches is a fashion company. If the computer revolution had happened before President Kennedy, everyone would have smart hats. It's a profitable division of Apple that gets to reuse aspects of their tech side, and interface with their role as a technology company. But it is absolutely a fashion accessory, because that is what watches are. If you need a functional watch, you can get one for a few dollars, or probably just get a used one for free or almost free.
Re:So, basically,Apple is in the fashion industry (Score:5, Funny)
Apple is not a tech company?
Only on /. :)
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Keep telling yourself that. My TCO is way lower on my mac laptop and iPhone while my productivity is higher then on my android phone and windows computer because it doesn't die in flames regularly.
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Their Services division is larger than Facebook now, by revenue.
Does that make them a services company?
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Had the same reaction. "There is no tablet market, just an ipad market" ... in which world do they live ?
I know a couple of person who have an Apple watch ... they all work for Apple.
So maybe it is working well in some places of the world, but I'd be interested in knowing which ones.
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"millions" is a quite subjective measure.
I mean, the 3DO system sold 2 million units, but can it be considered a success?
Probably the real question is: did it paid for the R&D that apple put into the watch?