Depending on who you speak to, the Apple Watch has either been a massive success or a horribly failed experiment. It’s fair to say that the series of Apple Watches which have been released so far have been top quality smart watches and have sold well. But it’s also fair to say that the Apple Watch has not quite been the roaring instant success that the iPhone was.
While the iPhone very quickly became the most desired smartphone on the market upon its release, the Apple Watch has perhaps not reached those heights. However some reports this week claim that the Apple Watch has maybe been more of a success than has been previously reported. The question is, are the reports true – is Apple the biggest watchmaker in the world?
The Biggest Watchmaker in the World?
Apple have proclaimed themselves the biggest watchmaker in the world in the past. Tim Cook made this claim himself during the launch of the latest incarnation of the device. Such grandiose claims are hardly surprising during these kind of events – and must usually be taken with a pinch of salt. However, estimates from a research firm by the name of Asymco suggest that this claim should treated with respect. They claim that Apple may just be the biggest watchmaker in the world right now.
It is possibly unfair for people to compare the success of the Apple Watch to the success of the iPod and iPhone. The world of smart watches is incredibly different than that of the smartphone world Apple took by storm 10 years ago. The Apple Phone was light years ahead of any of the competition and, to be honest, there wasn’t much competition about to begin with! The Nokia N95, Blackberry 8300 and Motorola RAZR2 seemed like relics from a bygone era when the iPhone was released rather than genuine contemporaries of the device. In the years since, the competition has caught up – and some may say surpassed the iPhone but the Apple Watch didn’t have the luxury of being miles ahead to begin with.
The Apple Watch joined the party a little too late to enjoy a period of complete dominance of the smartwatch market. While smartwatches had perhaps not quite worked out exactly what their target market would want to use them for, they were enjoying some success. Apple also joined a crowded market inhabited not just by watchmakers but also by their smartphone competitors. The likes of TAG Hauer and Mondaine are joined by the likes of Sony and Samsung in the quest for smartwatch supremacy. They are also joined by Google with their Android Wear platform powering a lot of these top quality watches. Top quality watchmaking expertise and smart technology expertise had already combined many times in the past to create fantastic smart watches. This was something which had never happened in the smartphone world before the iPhone.
Apple seem to have succeeded despite the level of competition from top quality watchmakers and technology giants before their entry into the world of smartwatches. Asymco’s estimates suggest that Apple have sold approximately 15 million watches with an average price of $330 over the last 12 months. The total revenue from smartwatches sold by Apple in the last 12 months works out at $4.9 billion, making them the biggest watchmaker in the world. You can compare this to Rolex, possibly the most famous watchmaker in the world – who were number one in Asymco’s estimates in 2016. Rolex sold 1 million watches in 2016 with a total revenue from watches of $4.7 billion. This shows just how successful Apple have been, selling so many watches that they were able to top Rolex’s 2016 revenue despite selling most of their watches at a much lower price than Rolex.
Conclusion
While Apple may not have quite become synonymous with smart watches as they did with smartphones, the success of the Apple Watch cannot be underestimated. The question of whether Apple really are the biggest watchmaker in the world is certainly up for debate. Apple are certainly at the top of the tree in terms of sales figures and revenue in 2017. But if they are going to become the biggest watchmaker their success needs to last for longer than just one year.
If they are going to stay at the top then the Apple Watch Series 3 is the a step in the right direction. This device is a huge leap forward with the addition of LTE capability to the device, which turns their smart watch into a top quality standalone device. Previous iterations of the Apple Watch required a connection to an Apple Watch in order to access most of the features. Whether it is quite enough to maintain Apple’s current position at the top of the smartwatch tree remains to be seen. But, once again, it seems like reports of Apple’s imminent demise may be a little premature. With the most exciting Apple Watch and the all-new iPhone X just around the corner, Apple seem to have a lot of life left in them yet!
