Tim Cook Says Apple Watch Is Doing Very Well, But Reality Disagrees

As Motley Fool reports, Apple CEO Tim Cook says the Apple Watch is doing well. The article notes that in the company’s recent conference call, the CEO noted that Apple allegedly set a quarterly record in terms of Apple Watch sales. Apple didn’t specify revenue figures.

Saying that Apple set a quarterly record may not mean much if the Apple Watch didn’t sell well the previous quarters. According to the Verge, Apple’s watch may have sold decently, but was far from a runaway hit.

“In its first nine months selling wearables, Apple has shipped an estimated 11.6 million Apple Watches, according to a report this week from research firm IDC. That puts Apple at third place in the industry with 14.9 percent of the market, just behind Xiaomi. Fitbit is still far and away the leader, however, with 21 million shipments in 2015.”

While some may say that third place is good, this is Apple we are talking about. The Apple Watch was one of the most hyped items in recent history. So, what went wrong? ZDNet has an idea.

“Apple didn’t build the best possible smartwatch it could. It engineered and built a device that had to be compromised because of the form factor,” says author, Adrian Kingsley.

Kingsley also says that the watch is too expensive. Finally, he says something a lot of other critics have been talking about.

“There’s no doubt that the Apple Watch is a beautiful device and a marvel of engineering. But it seems from the way that Apple markets the Apple Watch that the whole premise for it is to act as a tool that sits between you and your iPhone so you can use your iPhone less. This doesn’t make sense to me.”

The Apple Watch was the first major new product from Apple in years not to receive unanimously good reviews. Even though CNET gave the watch three-and-a-half stars, it was a rating that was lower than any other Apple product during the past year.

“The Apple Watch is the most ambitious, well-constructed smartwatch ever seen, but first-gen shortfalls make it feel more like a fashionable toy than a necessary tool. That may change with a big software update later this year, though.”

CNET didn’t like the fact that the battery only lasts about a day and that the price for most models is more than it should be. They also thought the interface was confusing and the communication with the iPhone was too slow. The New York Times didn’t like the fact there was a steep learning curve.

“First there was a day to learn the device’s initially complex user interface. Then another to determine how it could best fit it into my life. And still one more to figure out exactly what Apple’s first major new product in five years is trying to do — and, crucially, what it isn’t,” claimed reviewer Farhad Manjoo.

There are a significant number of people, however, who like their Apple Watch. The website 9to5Mac conducted its own poll of Apple Watch buyers to see if they are still wearing the watch after eight months and found that 72.07 percent said they wear their Apple Watch everyday. Twelve percent say they wear their watch, but not every single day. Sixteen percent said they don’t wear their watch at all. While the 16 percent number may seem low, it’s still a significant percentage of people that paid over $350 for a device they don’t care to wear anymore.

Apple will have to hit a home run with the Apple Watch 2 in order to make the device relevant. They’ve hit home runs with the second generation of devices before, so nobody should count Apple out just yet.

[Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images]