Apple
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A new estimate suggests that Apple sold more watches than the entire Swiss watch industry last quarter.
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Estimates suggest Apple sold about 8 million watches during the holiday quarter.
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The comparison shows the accelerating sales growth of Apple's smartwatch platform.
Apple is one of the biggest watchmakers in the world.
How big? Based on newly available statistics, it now seems certain that Apple outsold the entire Swiss watch industry combined last quarter.
Yep. The company best known for making iPhones outsold Rolex, Omega, and even Swatch last quarter — combined.
That's according to Apple Watch sales estimates from industry researcher Canalys and IDC, and publicly released shipment statistics from the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry. Canalys estimates that Apple sold 8 million Apple Watches in the last quarter of 2017.
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For the first time, #Apple shipped more Apple Watches in 4Q2017, than the entire Swiss Watch Industry shipped watches! Apple is the biggest watch maker in the world #AppleWatch pic.twitter.com/G6M6TJ7uO2
Apple's been making watches for four years. Switzerland has been making timepieces for centuries.
Not a flop
Hollis JohnsonApple doesn't reveal official sales figures for the Apple Watch, making comparisons like this one difficult.
Instead, it bundles Apple Watch sales into an "other products" category — which led some people, including yours truly, to brand the device a "flop," as it seemed like Apple was glossing over lackluster sales.
And for awhile, especially in 2016, it did look like sales growth stalled. But based on data points provided by Apple officials on earnings call earlier this month, it's possible for analysts to calculate a strong estimate of units and revenue.
"It was our best quarter ever for the Apple Watch with over 50% growth in revenue and units for the fourth quarter in a row and strong double-digit growth in every geographic segment," Apple CEO Tim Cook said on February 1.
In some ways, the comparison with the entire Swiss watch industry is a testament to Apple's scale. Some Swiss watches are meant to be luxury pieces, like Rolex watches, which cost tens of thousands of dollars. But other Swiss watchmakers are mass market, like Swatch, with watches that are priced in the same range as the least expensive Apple Watch — about $180.
But other tech companies have similar scale, like Samsung and other Google partners — and their smartwatch sales aren't even close.