The Apple Watch has received 7 million orders since it first hit the shelves in April. The wearable product from Apple is moving toward becoming the most successful product launch ever, believe analysts at Global Equities Research.
Apple Watch outperforms all
To date, a total of 2.5 million watches have been shipped, says Trip Chowdhry of Global Equities Research, who cites tracking methods used by developers. Chowdhry told CNN Money that by the end of this quarter, the Cupertino-based company is estimated to ship 5 million Apple Watches, which is well above analysts’ estimates. If achieved, this sales number will outperform the company’s previous “new category” debuts such as the iPod, iPhone and the iPad.
In 2001 when the iPod went on sale, a total of 125,000 units were sold in the first quarter. Six years after the iPod, the first iPhone was launched, selling 1.1 million units. In 2010, 3.3 million iPads were sold during the first three months of the debut. Apple could ship only around 50,000 Macs within the first three months of sale in 1984.
Based on these numbers the Apple Watch will undoubtedly be the most successful launch to date, driving ahead on a number of factors, including being the first product from Apple to launch in more than one country on the same day. In nine countries, consumers were able to place an order for the Apple Watch, with pre-sales going live on April 24. In contrast, international customers had to wait for months to get their first iPhone and iPad.
Factors pushing Apple Watch sales
Primarily, two factors will work in favor of pushing demand of the Apple Watch with the year passing. Word of mouth is the first factor that will fuel the demand of the watch. Chowdhry noted that every week “at least one existing Apple Watch owner is showing their Apple Watch to about 15 to 20 people,” adding that, on average, two of those friends or colleagues will buy the watch.
The second factor that will work in favor of the watch is Apple’s expansion into corporate sales, which started last year when it inked a partnership with IBM to produce enterprise-level software for iPads. Big names in the tech industry such as SAP, IBM, Oracle and Salesforce are developing Apple Watch apps, enabling employees to track sales metrics and manage their meetings.
Now all eyes will be on the Apple Watch, which is the first new product by the company in the past five years and the first one since Steve Jobs passed.
