Wearables Grew 30%

Apple once again touted how its grown wearables from nothing to a Fortune 120 business in only a few short years, and this year the category saw some of the largest growth ever, increasing by a staggering 30%, although it didn’t eclipse the Mac and iPad categories as much as it did last year, since both of those categories also grew significantly thanks to new iPads and Apple’s new M1 Macs.

Still, there was a lot going on in this category this time around, since it saw the release of not one, but two new Apple Watch models, along with a Family Setup feature that greatly expanded the market for Apple Watch sales — Apple reported that 75 percent of Apple Watch sales were to new customers.

The wearables category also includes home products and accessories, meaning the release of the HomePod mini also contributed to this growth, and while the AirPods Max came out very late in the quarter, they would have added to the mix as well.

Then there’s the fact that AirPods and Beats headphones of all flavours are always popular holiday gifts, and the new $50 Beats Flex undoubtedly made a great stocking stuffer this year with its W1 chip making it an ideal choice for any iPhone user.

Notably, however, Apple’s executives still consider the company to be in the early stages of these products, with the absolute level of sales being relatively low compared to the potential opportunities, so it’s likely that the wearables category is going to continue to skyrocket in the years to come.