Is the Apple Watch a success? Analysts differ

The Apple Watch got off to a fast start, according to Apple CEO Tim Cook. During the summer, the executive said that the timepiece had a better initial quarter of sales than the iPhone and iPad had, when those two devices were first launched. But on Wall Street, analysts have a differing opinion about Apple's first smartwatch. A survey of 17 analysts produced a wide range of estimates from a low of 2.5 million sold last quarter, to a high of 6 million units sold.

The Apple Watch is different than the Apple iPhone in the sense that Apple breaks out sales of the handset every quarter. Apple thus far, has been mum on sales of its timepiece. According to research firm IDC, Apple was second in the wearables market to Fitbit last quarter, with 3.6 million in shipments and a 20% share. Fitbit delivered 4.4 million units, according to the researcher.

Cook says that sales are improving each quarter. "We shipped a lot the first quarter...then last quarter we shipped even more," said the CEO. "I can predict this quarter we will ship even more." The executive isn't the only one who sees sales picking up for the Apple Watch. Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster estimates that sales for the product will slowly build. Munster is on the low end of last quarter's predictions, believing that 2.5 million sold over the three months. But he sees 14 million selling for all of 2016, with a surge to 40 million expected in 2017.

The recent update to watchOS 2 might help, as it allows for apps to be stored natively on the watch. This should allow them to open faster, without having to be kept on a paired iPhone. The addition of third party app information on the watch face might make the Apple Watch more useful, and Apple Pay support could lead to more purchases of the timepiece from those who like using the mobile payment service on their iPhone.

source: CNET