When the Apple Watch first came out in 2015, smartwatch skeptics celebrated Apple’s new wearable becoming “a flop.” However, three years later, it looks like Apple has proven the skeptics wrong. David Phelan from Forbes notes that the Watch sold eight million units in the fourth quarter of 2017. According to Mac Rumors, the Watch outsold all competing smartwatch devices together last year.
“The research firm says one in every five wearables shipped last quarter was an Apple Watch, on the strength of new Series 3 models launched in September. “
Even though Apple doesn’t release specific sales numbers for the Apple Watch, Tim Cook noted that the Series 3 model sold more than twice as much as the Series 2 model in the final quarter of the year of their releases. A lot of commenters after the Mac Rumors article have very positive comments about the Apple Watch — certainly more than they did just one year ago.
“It’s just a gimmick they said, it’ll never take off they said,” sarcastically points out Dannyyankou.
“No joke, just yesterday I was at a Dollar Tree and saw Apple Watch Sport on the wrists of all three cashiers. It’s clearly hit that tipping point where it’s not just for ‘sheep’ or luxury users, and all the people crying initially about the pricing ended up being wrong,” answers Kaibelf.
Meanwhile, the Apple Watch isn’t only becoming a huge seller; it’s becoming a life saver as well. An article at Shape.com about how the Apple Watch’s SOS feature saved a mother’s life went viral a couple weeks back. Many people praised Apple for continuing to make technology that saves lives.
Kacie Anderson, a very young mother from Hannover, PA, used the Apple Watch’s SOS feature to call for an ambulance after she suffered bad injuries from a car accident in late 2017. She was struck by a drunk driver and wasn’t able to reach her phone after the accident. But she was still able to get help.
“The moment he hit us everything inside the car went airborne. My face took a horrible blow to the steering wheel, headrest, back to the steering wheel, and then to the window,” Anderson claimed, adding that she couldn’t see anything.
She unsuccessfully reached for her iPhone, but realized she had her Watch on and was able to get it to call 911. All she had to do was continuously press the side button. Anderson claims the Watch helped save her life.
The SOS feature is something you hear about but hope you’ll never have to use. However, many people have used the feature to call 911, even if they didn’t intend to. Fake (or unintended) 911 calls by accidentally pressing the side button on the Apple Watch have become a huge issue.
The situation has been frustrating for first responders. The New York Post wrote about the issue last year.
“Apple iWatch [sic] users are being blamed for a spike in false 911 calls that have plagued the system, wasting valuable time for first responders in the tri-state area.”
The article added that in one week, there were nine false calls. Tyler Millix, the executive director of the Tolland County 911 in Connecticut, advised that accidental wrist dialers stay on the line and admit the mistake instead of hanging up on 911 operators, who are required to track down lost callers no matter what.
Still, it’s obvious that the SOS feature on the Apple Watch has done more good than bad. And now that the Watch has LTE, people can easily get emergency help even if they are far away from their smartphones.