Apple Watch Sales Figure Cloaking Sends Wrong Message, Juniper Research Says
Apple’s “obfuscating” the sales figures for the Apple Watch on its earnings call last week (see 1507220052) sent the wrong message, Juniper Research said in a note Friday, estimating Apple has sold between 2 and 2.5 million watches since the…
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April launch. Apple gave the appearance of cloaking “disappointing sales, which is the message investors seemingly took away from the earnings call, with shares falling by 7 percent despite a 35 percent [year-over-year] increase in iPhone sales," Juniper said. The research firm based the 2 million to 2.5 million unit range on the variance in pricing of different Watch models and on comparisons with other product launches that Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri cited on the earnings call. How many more above 2 million were sold depends on how much revenue shifted from Apple TV, Beats Electronics, iPod and accessories to the Watch -- all part of the Other Products category. Other Products was on a $200 million year-on-year decline before the Watch launch, Maestri said. Sales of 2 million to 2.5 million would make the Apple Watch the most successful smartwatch launch, Juniper said, with the Moto360 coming closest.