Sales of Apple Watch plummet by 90 per cent
Sales of the Apple Watch have nosedived by 90 per cent since its release in April, according to new research.
The Apple Watch was one of the most eagerly awaited new tech launches in years, and was the first entirely new Apple product since founder and visionary Steve Jobs died nearly four years ago.
Many observers have doubted that the Apple Watch could replicate the huge worldwide success of the iPhone and iPad - and early signs suggest the sceptics could be right.
Data collected by Slice Intelligence shows sales decreased from 200,000 to only 20,000 since its opening weekend in April, selling only around 4,000 to 5,000 units at the end of June. Worse still, two thirds of the products sold have been the cheaper Sport version, priced at $349 (£299).
According to Market Watch, the more expensive Gold edition - a deluxe model priced at $10,000 (£8,000) - has only sold 2,000 units since its release in April.
Slice Intelligence gathers its data from electronic receipts sent via email to those who had just purchased the product, meaning that the data is unofficial, and doesn't present a complete picture of sales, however it is likely to be a good early indicator.
The Apple Watch is likely to struggle to match the success of earlier products not because of price, but because of far lower consumer demand for the device, which must be paired with a iPhone to work.
If the early figures are a good indication, it may indicate that 'wearables' might not break through into being every day items as smartphones have. This will have implications for the future growth of wearables and tracking health via data, a field in which most of the big tech players are investing heavily.
Apple's rival Google recently announced that it is developing its own wearable, but has decided to market it for use in clinical research, rather than as a consumer device.
(Additional reporting by Andrew McConaghie)
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