Apple Watch Sales Falling Due to Lack of New Models and Updates
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Global shipments of the Apple Watch plunged by 19% year-over-year in 2024, marking the second consecutive annual drop in shipments and the fifth quarter in a row where the wearable saw falling sales, according to new data released by Counterpoint Research.
Counterpoint’s Global Smartwatch Shipment Tracker for the fourth quarter of 2024 shows the Apple Watch seeing shipment declines in all major regions except India. The most significant drop in shipments occurred in North America, which generally accounts for over half of Apple Watch shipments around the globe.
The report believes several factors contributed to the prolonged downturn in sales. Perhaps the most significant is the lack of a recent update to the Apple Watch SE model. The SE has historically been Apple’s most popular smartwatch model in terms of sales volume in post-launch periods. The Apple Watch SE was last updated in the third quarter of 2022. The lack of an update for more than two years was cited by Counterpoint as the key driver of the plunge in shipments. By last summer, it had reportedly become Apple’s least popular smartwatch.
While Apple released the Apple Watch Series 10 in fall 2024, consumers felt little urge to upgrade from their current model, as the Series 10 offered “fewer substantial upgrades” over its predecessor. The Series 10 did not provide the blood oxygen sensor feature that had been available on older models due to ongoing patent litigation.
Apple failed to offer an Apple Watch Ultra 3 model in 2024, which also proved to be a contributing factor in the fall in shipments. The Apple Watch Ultra accounted for over 10% of Apple Watch shipments globally during the previous year. That share fell to 8% in the fourth quarter of 2024 due to the lack of a new model. Counterpoint says the decline contributed substantially to Apple’s overall shipment losses in the advanced smartwatch segment, as Apple’s piece of the action fell by 8% year-over-year.
While Apple has seen a decline in its Apple Watch shipments, the Cupertino firm continues to sit atop the smartwatch category in unit volume. However, the numbers mark a troubling reversal from Apple’s previous years of impressive growth. In 2021, Apple Watch shipments leapt by 27% in 2021. In 2022, shipments stalled, with Apple reporting a zero percent year-over-year change in shipment numbers. A 10% plunge in shipment was seen in 2023, and those numbers fell nearly twice as much during 2024.
Other smartwatch makers appear to have benefited from the Apple Watch’s problems, as all other major vendors in the smartwatch category experienced year-over-year growth, according to the Counterpoint report.
Apple is expected to release a third-generation Apple Watch SE in the coming months, which will reportedly boast a revamped design and possibly a lower price point. While the Apple Watch SE 3 was expected to have a plastic case in place of the current aluminum chassis, that plan has reportedly been dropped. The design team was reported to be unhappy with the look of the plastic case, which also didn’t result in any meaningful savings over the aluminum chassis.
We should also see an Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3 debut alongside the iPhone 17 lineup in September. The Series 11 is rumored to boast new health monitoring capabilities, while the Ultra 3 is expected to get 5G and satellite connectivity.
