It’s been about five years since the Apple Watch was first introduced to the public. After an initial sales boom, sales figures dropped drastically. But Apple quickly overcame the crisis. The vendor worried about the drop in purchases and pondered what customers actually want from the Apple Watch. Apple now presents its new product.
The Apple Watch in modern editions
Over the years, the iPhone group has managed to smartwatch with a successful mix of technical developments, price reductions, and the common sense of current lifestyle trends. The group has not only convinced millions of satisfied customers.
In addition to billions in income, the efforts have been rewarded with a key position in the technology industry.
Finally, the question of a device even more revolutionary than the smartphone is currently stronger than ever.
Strong interest after the introduction of the Apple Watch
The hope of commercial success in the spring of 2015 was stifled from the start. Until now, no manufacturer had managed to celebrate success with a mass-market computer watch. Until then, sports watches from suppliers such as Polar or fitness bracelets from FitBit were getting on the nerves of some buyers.
But the big and lasting success didn’t materialize – just like with Motorola’s smartwatches.
This is why specialists were under pressure before the introduction of the new computer clock from Apple. For the first time, the group attempted to introduce a new product category after the iPhone in 2007 and the iPad in 2010. When the Apple Watch first hit the counter on April 24, 2015, a huge queue formed in front of the Berlin fashion store “The Corner”. This store was just one of six stores worldwide where customers could purchase the device without having to order it online first. By the end of the second quarter of 2015, approximately 3.6 million users had purchased an Apple Watch.
From bestseller to flop
However, the high interest was not an indication that all customers are happy with the new computer clock. Criticisms quickly arose that apps start very slowly and a connection to the iPhone is required.
The $20,000 gold Apple Watch was supposed to be a bestseller. But this variant turned out to be a slow seller.
According to market research, around 1.6 million Apple Watches were sold in the second quarter of 2016. Of course, these sales numbers were enough to extend or at least maintain Swatch’s market lead. But still, those numbers leave no doubt that the old Apple Watch was a flop. Therefore, the action was needed at Apple.
New generations, new functions
The manufacturer has focused on possible usage scenarios ranging from notifications to navigational suitability. For example, a vibrating alarm has been integrated into the watch so that you don’t miss any emails or messages. The navigation systems indicated via the map application where the searched paths were.
The second generation of the watch not only measures heart rate and distance. In addition, the second generation had a faster processor on board and integrated a GPS chip for location in the case. Over time, one generation of Apple Watch followed the next. The fifth generation presented in 2019 even had a small screen that was always on. Along with these upgrades, the manufacturer reduced the prices of older models. The Series 3 is now available for a good 200 euros.
Top rankings in an international comparison
This commercial policy has borne fruit. Because in 2019 alone, Apple sold – after Strategy Analytics market research calculations – approximately 30 million watches. The sales figures even exceed all exports of the whole Swiss watch industry around the world. Nevertheless, the Swiss are superior in direct competition, since the average prices of watches made in the Alpine Republic are much higher.
Nevertheless, Apple managed to turn the smartwatch from a flop into a bestseller.
So-called wearables sales also helped the company offset any drop in iPhone sales. Unlike Apple, Android phone makers haven’t been able to boost their business with the platform’s approach in a few years. Although Google’s operating system leads smartphone sales and many fashion watch vendors offer Android models, according to IDC calculations, Apple again took the top spot in 2019 with a share market share of around 29%.
