Apple Watch shipments in continuous decline for last two years
In 2024, Apple Watch shipments fell 19% year-over-year, per Counterpoint’s Global Smartwatch Shipment Tracker for Q4 2024. Declines occurred in all regions except India, with the North American market, accounting for over half of Apple’s shipments, driving the global drop. 2024 marked the second straight year of year-over-year shipment declines.
Balbir Singh for Counterpoint Technology Market Research:
In the advanced smartwatch segment, Apple’s market share decreased by 8 percentage points YoY in 2024. Q4 2024 was the fifth consecutive quarter to see a decline in Apple’s smartwatch shipments even as all the other major competitors offering advanced smartwatches witnessed growth.
In addition to the decline in North America, the overall decline in 2024 was also pushed by fewer substantial upgrades in Apple’s latest Watch Series 10. Also, the Watch Ultra 3 and Watch SE were not there in the latest releases. The Watch Ultra 3, being the most premium Apple model, usually holds over 10% shipment share, which went down to under 8% in Q4 2024. The Watch SE is a cheaper option among Apple smartwatches and constitutes most of its shipments in the post-launch period. As a result, Q3 2024 was the first time Apple witnessed a YoY shipment decline in a quarter in which a new smartwatch series was also launched.
The last Watch SE iteration was released in Q3 2022. Apple is also experimenting with the Watch SE design, changing from an aluminum base to plastic. This led to a delay in the release of a new Watch SE model.
To make a comeback in 2025 and retain its market share, Apple needs to focus on a few things, including the introduction of new features, launch of Watch SE and Watch Ultra models, and possible design upgrades.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple’s next-gen Apple Watch Series 11, Apple Watch Ultra 3, and Apple Watch SE 3, alongside watchOS 12, will boost sales back to growth.
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[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
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