Apple Watch - Dominating the watch industry

The report is behind a paywall so I can see the data but it's a bit odd to compare Apple's "smart" watch sales vs the smart watches from Tissot.

I'd be more interested in how they stack up against actual smart watch manufacturers such as Garmin, Fitbit or Xiaomi.

It's a bit like the much hyped PR that vinyl outsold CDs. Compared against historic numbers, people aren't buying either.
 
Is it comparing Apple Watch sakes only with smart watch sales? I read it as Apple Watch sales versus the entire Swiss watch industry.
 
Ricardodaforce said:
Is it comparing Apple Watch sakes only with smart watch sales? I read it as Apple Watch sales versus the entire Swiss watch industry.
Click to expand...

It's unclear. I think you're right that it's comparing Apple watches with the entire Swiss watch industry but it says

Apple Watch shipped 31 million units worldwide in 2019, compared with 21 million for all Swiss watch brands combined. Swiss companies, like Swatch, are losing the smartwatch wars.
Click to expand...

Like most paywalled articles it isn't clear without that data :) But I don't think it's because Apple sales are astronomical, it's because Swiss watch sales are taking a beating. Before the Apple watch it was almost unheard of for anybody below about 30 to buy a watch.
 
I guess Apple can do well outside of price conscious markets, such as the luxury world of Swiss watches. Whereas in the mobile world with Android dominating consitently at about 87% it's much harder for them.
 
ianp5a said:
I guess Apple can do well outside of price conscious markets, such as the luxury world of Swiss watches. Whereas in the mobile world with Android dominating consitently at about 87% it's much harder for them.
Click to expand...
I think you will find that the iPhone is still the most profitable phone out there even against the likes of Samsung who are probably their main competitor. If it wasn't for the original iPhone back in 2007 would we be where we are today, I think not. It's the same with the iPad, when it was first introduced everyone was taking the mickey saying that it would never succeed, well look around, they did succeed in a rather big way, so much so that Samsung and all the others decided to jump on the bandwagon. In reality, the iPhone and the iPad are still best in class due to their integration of the hardware with the software, thats what puts Apple ahead of the pack.
 
Its not a watch though is it?
It is a smart device for generally all things not watch like.
people don't buy them to have a watch to tell the time.

I have a few watch's made by Seiko, Rolex, Tag Heuer and Casio
 
Mr Bump said:
Its not a watch though is it?
It is a smart device for generally all things not watch like.
people don't buy them to have a watch to tell the time.

I have a few watch's made by Seiko, Rolex, Tag Heuer and Casio
Click to expand...

Yes, it is a watch.

Using your logic an iPhone is not a phone.

You don’t need the apostrophe in your last sentence. The plural of watch is watches.
 
ianp5a said:
I guess Apple can do well outside of price conscious markets, such as the luxury world of Swiss watches. Whereas in the mobile world with Android dominating consitently at about 87% it's much harder for them.
Click to expand...
There are lots of markets.

It's why there are BMWs and Mercedes, and Kias and Dacias, or similar.

You don't often hear people asking why people buy Mercedes when they can buy Kias, it's a peculiar thing that kicks in when discussing computer or device markets.
 
Ricardodaforce said:
Yes, it is a watch.

Using your logic an iPhone is not a phone.

You don’t need the apostrophe in your last sentence. The plural of watch is watches.
Click to expand...

W
H
A
T
E
V
E
R...….
 
Mr Bump said:
Its not a watch though is it?
It is a smart device for generally all things not watch like.
people don't buy them to have a watch to tell the time.

I have a few watch's made by Seiko, Rolex, Tag Heuer and Casio
Click to expand...
It very much is a watch, I also have some very nice watches in my watchbox, but they rarely get any wrist time since being given my Apple Watch.
 
It’d be good if that report mentioned sales as well as volume.
 
Apple watches can definitely be louder than Swiss ones.
 
The appeal is that although it's clearly a watch, and one where you can change it's face at the swipe of a finger, or a strap at the click of button, so is almost (not quite unlimitedly) customisable, it also does so much more. I initially bought one as a watch that happened to connect to my iPhone, and soon realised it was telling me how unfit I was. It was showing how few steps I was doing, and how little exercise I had, and at that point I was just shy of 20 stone. (5'10) As a tool it helped me motivate myself into action - and now a couple of years down the line I'm 12 and a half stone, much more active, and still have the same watch (series 2). So I think because it can be so many different things to so many different people, it succeeds where traditional watches fall short. I do like quality watches, and still own a nice Rado, but that hasn't been on my wrist since I got the Apple.
 
If we all liked the same thing life would be boring; there's room for both smart watches and traditional timepieces, I prefer my Rolex & would never consider buying an Apple or any other smart watch but it doesn't matter to me that others have different views.

My Rolex is valued at more than twice what I paid for it, so from an asset viewpoint it is a better investment than any smart watch.
 
My son in law recently bought me an Omega quarts watch from the 80's This was made at the time of the Swiss watch crisis caused by the advent of Quarts watches some years before. It is only of recent years that the luxury watch market has taken off again.
No quarts watch falls into the bracket of desirable to watch collectors.
Citizen now produce the most accurate Quartz watch in the world (caliber 0100)with a guaranteed +- one second a year. They will sell 100 of these Caliber 0100 watches in white gold For $16.800 and $7400 for the 500 titanium models that they have made. This is a tiny market, and is dwarfed by the sales of the UK company Sekonda who make cheap £30 and £40 quarts watches in Kong Kong, these are more accurate than the finest collectable mechanical watch.. and about a collectable a a rotting fish.The one that I use daily is accurate to around 1 or 2 seconds a week, which is only between one and two minutes a year. this far exceeds the accuracy that would needed to qualify as a mechanical watch chronometer.

However watches as mechanical objects are not subject to capital gains tax. so fine gold and platinum watches hold a special place in the investment world. Any gold watch makes a good investment, working or not, as you do not have to pay capital gains for any profit made if the bullion value is higher when you sell it. a sack full of old gold watches is potentially more valuable than the equivalent weight in gold bullion.
 
Apple's and Oranges (excuse the pun), the Apple watch attracts a much wider audience and has no exclusiveness about it.

The Swiss market has declined, but let's be honest, nobody really batts an eye when you see an apple watch on someone's wrist. Iconic doesn't necessarily mean collectible or exquisite.
 
It's a strange comparison. A smartwatch will only last a few years, so needs replacing pretty often.
A normal watch from a simple Casio to a Breguet) should last for decades, so hardly ever needs replacing.
 
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