Apple Watch Shipments Could Reach 15 Million in 2017

Overall Apple Watch shipments are expected to rise to 4.5 million units in the fourth quarter of this year and could reach 15 million for the whole of 2017, according to sources in the upstream supply chain (via DigiTimes).

Those predictions bode well for Apple as it prepares to launch its third-generation smartwatch, but the figures stand in stark contrast to other vendors of wearable devices, who are seeing increasingly weakening demand.

apple watch trio
Xiaomi and Fitbit are both experiencing dropping sales for their current smartwatch ranges, while wearable shipments from Samsung, LG, Huawei, and Motorola remain weak overall. Asustek has already decided to leave the market completely and Intel has been cutting staff and R&D resources involved in its wearable platforms.

High prices, weak battery life, overlapping functionalities with smartphones, and poorly integrated ecosystems are among the reasons cited for the less-than-impressive demand for rival wearables.

Meanwhile Apple's smartwatch continues to ride a wave of popularity, with supply chain sources expecting Apple Watch volume to rise to up to 20 million units in 2018. By contrast the first-generation Apple Watch shipped less than 5 million units in 2015, while the second-generation model has maintained strong sales since its launch in September 2016.

Set to launch next month, the Apple Watch Series 3 is said to be coming in both Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi + LTE models in 38mm and 42mm sizes, according to KGI securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Kuo reckons the cellular-enabled model will have an embedded SIM, but it might support VoIP calling only. Apple Watch Series 3 models will also reportedly have improved performance and longer battery life.

Rumors of a design change for the third-generation watch can't be confirmed, but it's possible some small tweaks to the form factor could be revealed in September, alongside new iPhones and possibly a 4K-capable Apple TV.

Related Roundup: Apple Watch 11
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Buy Now)

Popular Stories

M5 MacBook Pro

Apple Announces New 14-Inch MacBook Pro With M5 Chip

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:07 am PDT by
Apple today updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with its new M5 chip, which is also available in updated iPad Pro and Vision Pro models. In addition, the base 14-inch MacBook Pro can now be configured with up to 4TB of storage on Apple's online store, whereas the previous model maxed out at 2TB. However, the maximum amount of unified RAM available for this model remains 32GB. Like...
Apple iPad Pro hero M5

Apple Debuts New iPad Pro With M5 Chip, Faster Charging, and More

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:16 am PDT by
Apple today announced the next-generation iPad Pro, featuring the custom-designed M5, C1X, and N1 chips. The M5 chip has up to a 10-core CPU, with four performance cores and six efficiency cores. It features a next-generation GPU with Neural Accelerator in each core, allowing the new iPad Pro to deliver up to 3.5x the AI performance than the previous model, and a third-generation ray-tracing ...
apple oct 2024 mac tease

Apple Expected to Announce These Two to Three Products 'This Week'

Sunday October 12, 2025 7:05 am PDT by
Apple plans to announce new products "this week," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Apple's "Mac Your Calendars" teaser last October In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman said the products set to be updated this week include the iPad Pro, Vision Pro, and "likely" the base 14-inch MacBook Pro, with all three likely to receive a spec bump with Apple's next-generation M5 chip. Gurman...
maxresdefault

Here's Everything Apple Announced Today

Wednesday October 15, 2025 3:54 pm PDT by
We didn't get a second fall event this year, but Apple did unveil updated products with a series of press releases that went out today. The M5 chip made an appearance in new MacBook Pro, Vision Pro, and iPad Pro models. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. We've rounded up our coverage and highlighted the main feature changes for each device below. MacBook Pro M5...
joz macbook tease

Apple Teases Upcoming M5 MacBook Pro Launch: 'Something Powerful is Coming'

Tuesday October 14, 2025 11:59 am PDT by
Apple marketing chief Greg Joswiak today teased the launch of an upcoming product, saying "something powerful is coming" on social media. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. A short animation accompanying Joswiak's teaser reveals a brief glimpse of a MacBook Pro along with the words "coming soon." The shape of the MacBook Pro is a V, which is the Roman numeral...
airpods max 2024 colors

AirPods Max 2: Everything We Know So Far

Tuesday October 14, 2025 8:43 am PDT by
Apple's AirPods Max have now been available for almost five years, so what do we know about the second-generation version? According to Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the new AirPods Max will be lighter than the current ones, but exactly how much is as yet known. The current AirPods Max weigh 0.85 pounds (386.2 grams), excluding the charging case, making it one of the heavier...
HomePod mini and Apple TV

Apple's Next Rumored Products: New HomePod Mini, Apple TV, and More

Thursday October 16, 2025 9:13 am PDT by
Apple on Wednesday updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Vision Pro with its next-generation M5 chip, but previous rumors have indicated that the company still plans to announce at least a few additional products before the end of the year. The following Apple products have at one point been rumored to be updated in 2025, although it is unclear if the timeframe for any of them has...
Vision Pro M5 Announcement

Apple Updates Vision Pro With M5 Chip, Dual Knit Band, and 120Hz Support

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:14 am PDT by
Apple today updated the Vision Pro headset with its next-generation M5 chip for faster performance, and a more comfortable Dual Knit Band. The M5 chip has a 10-core CPU, a 10-core GPU with Neural Accelerators, and a 16-core Neural Engine, and we have confirmed the Vision Pro still has 16GB of RAM. With the M5 chip, the Vision Pro offers faster performance and longer battery life compared...
iphone air thickness

Apple Said to Cut iPhone Air Production Amid Underwhelming Sales

Friday October 17, 2025 8:29 am PDT by
Apple plans to cut production of the iPhone Air amid underwhelming sales performance, Japan's Mizuho Securities believes (via The Elec). The Japanese investment banking and securities firm claims that the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are seeing higher sales than their predecessors during the same period last year, while the standard iPhone 17 is a major success, performing...
macbook pro blue

Apple's M5 MacBook Pro Imminent: What to Expect

Tuesday October 14, 2025 4:35 pm PDT by
Apple is going to launch a new version of the MacBook Pro as soon as tomorrow, so we thought we'd go over what to expect from Apple's upcoming Mac. M5 Chip The MacBook Pro will be one of the first new devices to use the next-generation M5 chip, which will replace the M4 chip. The M5 is built on TSMC's more advanced 3-nanometer process, and it will bring speed and efficiency improvements. ...

Top Rated Comments

pika2000 Avatar
107 months ago
For something that only works on iPhone, it's quite amazing.
Meanwhile, Google doesn't even have a clear vision on what Android Wear is going. My 2nd gen Moto 360 released in 2015 is already abandoned last year (last security patch was October 2016). With Samsung pursuing their own solution with the insecure Tizen, Apple is becoming the de-facto smartwatch choice.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Sunny1990 Avatar
107 months ago
Overall Apple Watch shipments are expected to rise to 4.5 million units in the fourth quarter of this year and could reach 15 million for the whole of 2017, according to sources in the upstream supply chain (via DigiTimes ('http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20170817PD208.html')).
Shipments are Pretty much impressive. Cracks me up how some call it a flop.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
44267547 Avatar
107 months ago
What other competition is really against the Apple Watch? Pebble is out, Android wear seems distant and not overly popular, Fitbit lacks style and seems stagnant at the moment. It's Not shocking the overall success of the Apple Watch and Series 3 will Continue to improve the capabilities further, hopefully with more health related sensors, which I think is the strongest atttibute the Watch has besides the notifications and band changing.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
I7guy Avatar
107 months ago
While relatively few Watch-capable iPhone owners are getting one, current sales are not bad at about 5% of iPhone buyers. Very similar to Apple Pay adoption.

(Although it's not like iPhone owners have any real choice when it comes to a fully compatible watch... Apple has made sure of that by doing what Microsoft used to do: keep the tightest integration APIs to themselves.)

---
The bigger question to me is: how many end up in a drawer somewhere? Historically speaking, about half of smartwatches end up not being used after about six months. People forget to charge them, bring a charger, etc, and eventually fall out of the habit.

I'd love to see a survey to find out if Apple has beat the normal odds on long term user adoption.
My Fitbit surge is now 2 years and 5 months old and still going strong and is on my wrist at least 6 out of 7 days a week. My son wears his first gen AW as he would a wrist-watch. And without exception everyone I know with an AW still wears theirs. While that is a small sample, anecdotally it shows in my circle people do not throw their AW in a drawer after six months.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gugy Avatar
107 months ago
I was originally a skeptical guy. I still not in love with the design but the workout feature has been what made me abandon my Omega Seamaster (Use only for social ocasions). I have been motivate to workout more due the data and features. That alone makes it worth IMO. Good job Apple.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Bazooka-joe Avatar
107 months ago
Not bad figures considering all the people that posted on here in the past saying the Apple Watch is a flop
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)