The Apple Watch is no 'Flop'

The Apple Watch has been the latest Apple product being described by some as a “flop” after selling nearly 20,000 a day. Why are so many tech journalists quick to use such a word? My guess is that they need attention, maybe even some page views. The Apple Watch is no flop, unless you’re trying to compare it to the iPhone, which would mean almost every consumer electronic product is a flop.

I chose to use Google Trend data instead of some other metric simply because it’s real and can be quantified, unlike the report we saw yesterday which didn’t give any information on how many receipts they collected.

Take a look at how the Apple Watch compares to the other wearables today. When looking at Google Trends, it’s clear that the Apple Watch is by far the most successful consumer wearable ever. If the Apple Watch is truly being called a flop, what do you call the rest?

The problem is that so many tech pundits out there can’t seem to stop comparing the Apple Watch to the iPhone of today. They’ve forgotten that iPhone was once very much like the Apple Watch: Slower, less capable and without native third-party apps! It’s like comparing a newborn baby to a teenager. Of course the teenager is more capable. Seriously, just look at how the iPhone dwarfs every wearable in existence. There’s seriously no comparison. The iPhone is Apple’s golden child and that’s not going to change anytime soon.

We’re entering into a new era of products that are both wearable and technologically capable. This is new to many of us and it’s causing certain folks to ask the question of whether it’s a need or not. Today nobody, not even Apple, would likely call it a need. But ask yourself this: Was the first iPhone a need? iPad? iPod? Or how about even the first laptop? Car? None of those were needs at first. But over time, capabilities and functions change until they get to a point where some of us consider it a need.

Maybe you forget, but the iPhone took some time to get going as well. The first few months were not all the great as some seem to think. Apple even reduced the price of the iPhone in order to get it into more people’s hands. As someone who worked at Apple during those early iPhone years, I can tell you that it really didn’t start to ramp up until iPhone 3GS. That’s when we started seeing insane lines.

Remember, everything we enjoy today started out as small with the hope of being big. That journey never ends. It’s important that we all keep that in mind before we jump on the bandwagon of pundits that call things a “flop.” Maturity and growth take time. It never happens at birth.

Bottom line: Yes Apple Watch has not achieved iPhone-like success. But remember, neither did the iPhone after three months.