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Apple Watch sales hit 5.1M during Q4 2015, pushing smartwatches ahead of Swiss watch for first time

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According to a new report from Strategy Analytics, the sales of smartwatches in the fourth quarter of 2015 outpaced sales of Swiss watches for the first time. The company claims that during the holiday quarter, a total of 8.1 million smartwatches were shipped, while 7.9 million Swiss watches were shipped.

Of those 8.1 million smartwatch shipments, Apple and Samsung led the way. The former accounted for 63 percent of the market, coming out to roughly 5.1 million units, while the latter held 16 percent, or 1.3 million units.

With 8.1 million smartwatches shipped in the fourth quarter of 2015, that’s a 316 percent increase over the 1.9 million units shipped in Q4 of 2014. Obviously the big difference between the two years here is that Apple Watch was released in April of 2015, so Android manufacturers and companies like Pebble were the sole manufacturers in 2014.

In Q4 of 2014, Swiss watch shipments were at 8.3 million, meaning that shipments fell by 5 percent year-over-year to the 7.9 million shipped in the 2015 holiday quarter. The report notes that smartwatches manufactured by Swiss companies, like Tag Heuer, accounted for just 1 percent of the smartwatch.

Strategy Analytics executive director Neil Mawston had the following to say about smartwatches overtaking Swiss watches:

“The Swiss watch industry has been very slow to react to the development of smartwatches. The Swiss watch industry has been sticking its head in the sand and hoping smartwatches will go away. Swiss brands, like Tag Heuer, accounted for a tiny 1 percent of all smartwatches shipped globally during Q4 2015, and they are long way behind Apple, Samsung and other leaders in the high-growth smartwatch category.”

A report from Strategy Analytics during the summer of last year claimed that Apple accounted for an estimated 75% of the smartwatch market during Q2 of 2015. The decrease in marketshare since then could perhaps suggest that Apple Watch propelled the general smartwatch idea to be more mainstream, prompting Android users to go out and purchase models compatible with their phones. You can view the full chart below:

Screen Shot 2016-02-18 at 7.39.11 PM

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Comments

  1. Jake Becker - 8 years ago

    “wearables are just a fad”

  2. Wz Wzz - 8 years ago

    sounds similar to nokia

    • archie4oz (@archie4oz) - 8 years ago

      Except that Swiss watches constitute less than 2% of the global watch market. Nokia constituted a much larger percentage of the global market for mobile phones. Comparing a class of watch by it’s type with another class of watch by it’s nation of manufacture is kind of pointless and dumb unless you’re just looking for an eye grabbing headline for the sound bite culture.

  3. The Ranting Monkey - 8 years ago

    Shipped and sold are two very different numbers.

  4. Kunal Barchha - 8 years ago

    How come a site like 9to5 didn’t credit link to Strategy Analytics ? You have mentioned the source name, but not the link. A back link is kind of Thank You gesture.

    • vandy75 - 8 years ago

      Doubtless you were one of those people on the titanic listening to “nearer my God to thee” saying what pretty hymn. Purchase a clue.n the A watch is a success.

  5. triankar - 8 years ago

    I’ll wait to be “impressed” by official Apple sales figures. Until then, all this is just hot air.

  6. marcelhaering - 8 years ago

    This comparison does not make sense! Apple and Pears (pun intended). Apple watch is a gadget (with software) and a Swiss watch is a beautiful piece of craftsmanship (hardware), which keeps evolving with new complications, anti magnet technology etc.. I have an iMac, iPad, Iphone and a Garmin fitness tracker but I will still always wear a Swiss watch. I have an Omega Speedmaster. I use the fitness tracker only when running and leave everything else at home including watch and iPhone. If I could use an apple watch without carrying around the iphone I would buy it for sports in a heart beat. I will keep wearing my Swiss watch on all other occasions. If feel it is an insult to the Swiss craft to compare them to a gadget!

    • Jonathan Smyth - 8 years ago

      Choice is a wonderful thing. It’s only the shallow minds (like yours) that feel the need to insult choices that are different than their own.

      • marcelhaering - 8 years ago

        Thanks for saying I have a shallow mind. But you did not get my point. I love choice, might even get an Apple watch for fitness tracking too. The point is, a Swiss watch and a Apple watch are two completely different products. Like comparing a hand made cuckoo clock to a digital alarm clock. Maybe some users will throw away their cuckoo clock because they can read the time on a digital clock but that does not mean that people won’t buy cuckoo clocks anymore… Anyway maybe I am biased as I am Swiss and my wife works for a Swiss watch manufacturer ;-)

    • Doug Aalseth - 8 years ago

      I agree. They are two different things for two different purposes. Not to slight either, but one is a web connected device that does many things, while the other is a piece of art that does one thing with style. They are no more comparable than a $70k Mercedes and a $70k GMC Truck. Both have four wheels but their purpose and function is different. Sure you can get a top end Swiss watch for the same price as an AppleWatch, and they both tell time, but the similarity ends there.

  7. yuniverse7 - 8 years ago

    those two charts are just awful – look at the total row. smh

Author

Avatar for Chance Miller Chance Miller

Chance is an editor for the entire 9to5 network and covers the latest Apple news for 9to5Mac.

Tips, questions, typos to chance@9to5mac.com