Apple’s post-smartphone business seems to be shaping up OK…
Apple is skiing through the post smartphone transition…
Smartphone sales may indeed be slowing, but Apple CEO, Tim Cook, likely sleeps well all the same – not only is services revenue growing fast, but the company leads both the tablet and smart watch industries.
That’s not so bad, eh?
Look it this way:
Global smartwatch shipments jumped 44% YoY to 12 million units in Q2 2019 (Apr to Jun), according to the latest Strategy Analytics data.
What makes this more interesting is that Apple Watch leads with 46% worldwide marketshare, up from 44% a year ago.
No one else comes close.
Samsung is a distant second with 16% sales, and third place Fitbit saw share fall by a third, hitting 10 percent worldwide.
Neil Mawston, Executive Director at Strategy Analytics said:
“Apple shipped 5.7 million smartwatches worldwide in Q2 2019, rising an above-average 50 percent from 3.8 million in Q2 2018.
Apple Watch remains a long way ahead of the chasing pack and its global smartwatch marketshare has grown to 46 percent this quarter, up from 44 percent a year ago.
Apple Watch has fended off strong competition from hungry rivals like Fitbit. Apple remains the clear smartwatch market leader.”
It’s important to consider the nature of the smartwatch market, which is growing.
Wearing Apple on your sleeve
This doesn’t extend solely to watches, of course: Apple is also seeing growth in AirPod sales as evidenced by revenue in its wearables, home and accessories division, which accounted for $5.5 billion in FYQ3.
Counterpoint Research claims Apple took 60% of the market for truly wireless headphones in Q4 2018, and has updated these since then.
Steven Waltzer, Senior Analyst at Strategy Analytics, said:
“Global smartwatch shipments grew an impressive 44 percent annually from 8.6 million units in Q2 2018 to 12.3 million in Q2 2019. Smartwatch growth continues to soar, as consumers increasingly accessorize their smartphones with fitness-led wearables.”
Taking the tablets
Apple is also thriving in tablet sales, recent IDC data shows.
Apple now has just under 40% (38.1%) of the market and is experiencing growing tablet sales even as competitors see sales decline.
Global Q2 tablet sales shrank to 32.2m units, from 33.9m last year. Apple didn’t experience that story: it saw sales climb from 11.6m to 12.3m in the same quarter, year-on-year.
Up next:
With Apple’s R&D spending at the max and upcoming high impact releases such as its new swathe of services, Mac Pro and the next-generation iPhone, it will be interesting to see if the company can continue its transition from being a pure computer company to become a smartphone company and now to carve a big space in the burgeoning market for digital transformation services and products.
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Apple is not nearly the company it was under Steve Jobs. Every aspect of its business has declined from a consumer perspective since Tim Cook took the helm. The reason why Apple continues to do well is because their “new” consumers don’t expect much from it. They are happy with closed boxes that cannot be easily repaired or readily upgraded and expanded, products that favor form over function and planned obsolescence; and increasingly buggy software that lacks elegance, discoverability, and flexibility. I, for one, am not. I expect excellence and value from Apple, the best user experience possible for a modest premium. That’s why I was passionate for (nearly) all things Apple for decades and supported it through good and bad times. I got it. Today, Apple disappoints me greatly and I hardly pass any money along to it any longer. I’m just treading water waiting for a regime change that might return Apple to its core values as under Jobs or for two guys in a garage making the next great thing. Whichever comes first, or my death — then it will make no difference.
What is it about America’s only openly gay CEO you have such a problem handling?