According to market data from Counterpoint Research, Apple shipped 12.9 million models of the Apple Watch Series 6 and Apple Watch SE in the fourth quarter of 2020.
The market saw an overall decline in smartwatch shipments compared to last year due to the ongoing global health crisis. Apple, however, saw a 19% increase in shipments YoY. Apple was the single largest smartwatch maker in Q4 of 2019 when it controlled 34% of the market. In the final quarter of last year, Apple Watch models accounted for 40% of the market share.
Apple's market share consolidation can be attributed to the new Apple Watch SE's success, the mid-range Apple Watch option. Apple released the SE model alongside its flagship Series 6 at a lower $279 price point, with some caveats such as the lack of an always-on display, ECG functionality, and the faster S6 processor.
Counterpoint senior analyst Sujeong Lim says that the new mid-range Apple Watch SE will likely push Samsung and other smartwatch makers to create similar, mid-range options for customers looking for cheaper alternatives to main flagships.
“Second largest” after “Others”??? How about an edit to correct this. “Others” is only a grab-bag of all the other unidentified manufacturers - Apple was the largest by a huge margin.
This is the forum thread ('https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/apple-announces-apple-watch-available-in-early-2015-from-349.1773623/') on the day the Apple Watch was first announced in September 2014.
Here's a couple of examples of the characteristic MacRumors' forum optimism about new Apple products:
One miniaturisation too far. A white elephant. Look for them in eBay in a year. Do you want to be "That Knob With The Apple Watch Over There?" And by 'Knob' we aren't referring to The Digital Crown here, readers.
While I have never been a watch person, I was surprised at how quickly I got used to using the AW. I now feel kind of naked when I am not wearing it.
One thing I hate about the AW, is the handling of SW updates and the small storage size. I cannot update the OS due to not having enough free space. I tried deleting everything that was optional to delete, and I still couldn't free up enough space to do the update.
It appears that if I unpair and reset the watch, I can do the update, but this is a pretty crappy way of handling SW updates.
Overall, I am happy with it, but the SW update issues are quite annoying.
Apple's sudden overtaking of the market can be attributed to the new Apple Watch SE's success, the mid-range Apple Watch option. Apple released the SE model alongside its flagship Series 6 at a lower $279 price point, with some caveats such as the lack of an always-on display, ECG functionality, and the faster S6 processor.
The rest of the tech industry could be in some serious trouble if apple keep releasing these mid range products with flagship processors.
Wednesday April 17, 2024 9:58 am PDT by Juli Clover
Game emulator apps have come and gone since Apple announced App Store support for them on April 5, but now popular game emulator Delta from developer Riley Testut is available for download. Testut is known as the developer behind GBA4iOS, an open-source emulator that was available for a brief time more than a decade ago. GBA4iOS led to Delta, an emulator that has been available outside of...
Tuesday April 16, 2024 11:33 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
The first approved Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) emulator for the iPhone and iPad was made available on the App Store today following Apple's rule change. The emulator is called Bimmy, and it was developed by Tom Salvo. On the App Store, Bimmy is described as a tool for testing and playing public domain/"homebrew" games created for the NES, but the app allows you to load ROMs for any...
Tuesday April 16, 2024 6:54 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Last September, Apple's iPhone 15 Pro models debuted with a new customizable Action button, offering faster access to a handful of functions, as well as the ability to assign Shortcuts. Apple is poised to include the feature on all upcoming iPhone 16 models, so we asked iPhone 15 Pro users what their experience has been with the additional button so far. The Action button replaces the switch ...
Wednesday April 17, 2024 12:19 pm PDT by Juli Clover
A decade ago, developer Riley Testut released the GBA4iOS emulator for iOS, and since it was against the rules at the time, Apple put a stop to downloads. Emulators have been a violation of the App Store rules for years, but that changed on April 5 when Apple suddenly reversed course and said that it was allowing retro game emulators on the App Store. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel ...
iOS 18 is expected to be the "biggest" update in the iPhone's history. Below, we recap rumored features and changes for the iPhone. iOS 18 is rumored to include new generative AI features for Siri and many apps, and Apple plans to add RCS support to the Messages app for an improved texting experience between iPhones and Android devices. The update is also expected to introduce a more...
Top Rated Comments
Here's a couple of examples of the characteristic MacRumors' forum optimism about new Apple products:
While I have never been a watch person, I was surprised at how quickly I got used to using the AW. I now feel kind of naked when I am not wearing it.
One thing I hate about the AW, is the handling of SW updates and the small storage size. I cannot update the OS due to not having enough free space. I tried deleting everything that was optional to delete, and I still couldn't free up enough space to do the update.
It appears that if I unpair and reset the watch, I can do the update, but this is a pretty crappy way of handling SW updates.
Overall, I am happy with it, but the SW update issues are quite annoying.
The rest of the tech industry could be in some serious trouble if apple keep releasing these mid range products with flagship processors.
Should've entered the midrange market ages ago.