Despite all the hype, some industry watchers have observed that Apple Watch sales are kind of slow to date, but according to one analyst, the demand for Apple’s one and only wearable device (so far) should be steady in a couple of years.
According to Gene Munster, an expert analyst from investment company Piper Jaffray, sales of the Apple Watch currently appear to be slower than expected, and may have investors worrying. But as explained by Munster, there is no cause for worry. Munster himself had forecasted that the Apple Watch would undergo a slow start in terms of sales and then strengthen as time goes by.
As a matter of fact, Munster had predicted that for the second quarter of this year, the Apple Watch would sell about 3 million units. That number may be a bit modest compared to the forecasts of other industry watchers, but Munster actually believes it will lead to a massive build up. The analyst is confident that in a couple of years time, Apple’s smartwatch will have a truly breakout year. His forecast suggests that the Apple Watch will manage to sell 14 million units next year and then 40 million units by 2017. Around that time, the wearable device will likely make up 9 percent of Apple’s entire revenues.
The Apple Watch is basically available in three variants -- the entry level Apple Watch Sport that goes for at least $349, the midrange Apple Watch that goes for at least $549, and the luxury Apple Watch Edition that goes for at least $10,000. When it was first launched, the device went through some supply issues, especially when Apple decided to make the device available only via online order. The company has since started to make the Apple Watch more available by allowing mobile users to purchase the device in-store. Whether or not the early supply problems caused the Apple Watch’s slow start in terms of sales is hard to prove at this point.
And it does not help that Apple has not released any official sales numbers for the Apple Watch until now. Other parties have tried to quantify the device’s sales anyway. Research firm Slice Intelligence estimates it is around 2.8 million units as of June. However, Slice’s data is only based on email receipts (for those who ordered the device online), and it does not count sales at retail stores.
Absence of truly reliable sales figures aside, the Apple Watch is certainly looking ahead at better things. Apple will be releasing version 2 of its Apple Watch operating system later this year, which could only mean more native apps and better features for the wearable device. And lest we forget, this is the first Apple Watch that has ever been released, after all -- Apple will surely be unveiling new and improved versions in the years to come.
