Study Shows Apple Watch Claims Half of Global Smartwatch Shipments

The Apple Watch accounts for more than half the global smartwatch shipments, according to a new report from Juniper Research.

The researcher estimates that in 2015, roughly 17.1 million smartwatches were shipped, with the Apple Watch accounting for about 8.8 million, or roughly 51.5 percent of devices sold. While that number looks quite good, it is below some projections from analysts who have estimated that the Apple Watch accounts for over 70 percent of smartwatches sold.

When it comes to Android Wear, the numbers don’t look so great. Juniper estimates that Android Wear devices accounted for less than 10 percent of sales in 2015.

Juniper believes that the Apple Watch dominated the smartwatch business partially because of the number of apps available for the Watch, somewhere around 10,000 versus about 4,000 apps for Android Wear and other devices. We tend to think Apple dominates because they have a better product, top to bottom.

Interestingly, 30 percent of consumers surveyed bye Juniper said they had no immediate plans to buy a wearable and don’t really know why they’d use such a device. This again proves that that while the Apple Watch may be off to a good start, Apple still needs to convince folks why they should buy one.

I’ve been wearing my Apple Watch every day since late April, and while there are days where I barely “use” it, I still appreciate it as as watch that tells me the time, gives me quick weather info, and counts my steps. $350 on the low end isn’t very cheap for something like that, but as Apple continues adding more functions, I believe the Watch will become more compelling to more people in the coming years.