Apple has once again refused to say how well the Apple Watch has sold -- while still hinting that it's been a relative success.
CEO Tim Cook said during the company's latest earnings call that the Watch had "topped our internal expectations", adding that "demand outstripped reply". But just how well has it sold?
Apple's decision to lump the Watch in its "other" product category -- alongside Apple TV, Beats, the iPod and Apple accessories -- makes it hard for outsiders to gauge sales. But from the details Apple has given we can get a pretty accurate picture.
- Sales of "other" products hit $2.64bn (£1.69bn) in quarter three, a jump of $952m (£609m) on the previous quarter
- More than 100 percent of that increase came from Apple Watch, according to Luca Maestri, Apple's chief financial officer
- If the average price of an Apple Watch is $499 (£319), as estimated by Bloomberg, that would suggest Apple has sold around 1.9 million units
- Or, to put it another way, Apple sold less than $1bn (£640m) worth of its wearable since it launched in April
- That estimate doesn't take into account people who bought extra Apple Watch straps
- Tim Cook confirmed sales of other devices in the category, including the iPod, were shrinking. But we don't know by how much
- The first generation iPad sold one million units a month after going on sale, with the first iPhone taking two months to reach that figure. The original iPad reached 3 million sales after 80 days
In summary, it is likely the Apple Watch has not sold as well as the original iPad, but may have performed similarly to the original iPhone.
As Tim Cook put it: "We feel really great about how we did [...] Our objective wasn’t primarily sales. Beyond the very good news on sales, we're very proud of how the product is positioned for the long term."
So what does that mean for the Watch itself? It's hard to say -- but don't expect Apple to give up on wearables any time soon.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
