Apple Watch Sales Number A Secret No More

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The Apple Watch has indeed made a remarkable debut, with sales in the first quarter of availability exceeding those of the iPad and iPhone. The company started shipping the watch on April 24, and in the second quarter, it shipped 3.6 million units, according to research firm IDC on Thursday.

Apple Watch going strong

The iPad was launched on April 3, 2010, and in its first full quarter of availability, Apple was able to sell 3.27 million units. The first iPhone was released in June 2007, and by the end of the quarter, Apple sold 270,000 units, while in the next quarter, 1.12 million iPhone units were sold.

With such excellent numbers for the watch, Apple has gained the second position among sellers of wearable devices. Fitbit is at the first position with 4.4 million units shipped in the second quarter, according to IDC. The research firm distinguishes the Apple Watch from basic wearables that don’t run third-party apps, such as the device from Fitbit.

“Apple will become the stick against which other wearables are measured, and competing vendors need to stay current or ahead of Apple,” IDC said in a statement. “Everyone will be watching to see what other wearable devices it decides to launch.”

First credible numbers for the watch

The numbers revealed by IDC are among the first credible indicators of Apple Watch sales as the company has not provided any figures of its own. Apple hopes that by keeping the numbers secret, it will be able to keep competitors calm.

The Apple Watch got a lot of lukewarm reviews from analysts and gained negative publicity since its launch. The device was not available at Apple retail stores until mid-June. Despite all this, the product has been able to surpass Apple’s own projections, said CEO Tim Cook without revealing what those projections were. The company will release a new version of the watch’s operating system this fall to make sure non-Apple apps also run well on the device, which is an issue for now.

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