You may have seen the reports that smartwatch popularity is on the wane, with Apple Watch Sales massively down compared to this time last year.
IDG has just updated its International Worldwide Quarterly Wearable Device Tracker for Q3 2016 and it has stated that Apple Watch shipments for the quarter were just 1.1 million – down a whopping 71% on Q3 2015, where Apple reportedly shipped 3.9 million units.
However, Apple CEO Tim Cook – while not revealing the actual figures – has disputed the claims. Speaking to Reuters he said: “Our data shows that Apple Watch is doing great and looks to be one of the most popular holiday gifts this year.
"Sales growth is off the charts. In fact, during the first week of holiday shopping, our sell-through of Apple Watch was greater than any week in the product’s history. And as we expected, we’re on track for the best quarter ever for Apple Watch."
Cupertino has remained tight lipped about the official shipment details for its smartwatch, instead choosing to group the tech-timepiece in with other ‘accessories’.
Apple launched the Series 2 smartwatch a couple of months ago, while at the same time revealing a Nike+ edition and an upgrade to the original – now dubbed Series 1.
Reports have also circulated this week that Apple could be working on a round-faced version of the smartwatch. A couple of patent filings turned up last week focused on an "Electronic device having display with curved edges".
According to Apple Insider, who discovered the documents, Apple was considering non-rectangular device displays as recently as the beginning of this year.
Back to IDG’s report and it states that wearable tech devices overall are on the rise – up 3.1% year-over-year in the third quarter of 2016. Fitness trackers in particular are going great guns; cornering 85% of the market and showing double-digit growth year-on-year.
Is Fitbit who is still leading the way here. The fitness tracker specialist – rumored to be acquiring Pebble – apparently shipped 5.3 million units in the quarter – an 11% growth compared to the same period last year.
