Apple Watch Shipments Predicted to Fall 25% This Year Despite Launch of New Model

Apple Watch shipments are predicted to fall 25% this year despite the launch of a new Apple Watch 2 model, reports KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

Last year Apple sold about 10.6 million units of its wearable in eight months; however, Kuo says that even with the launch of a new model and twelve months of sales, shipments will only reach about 7.5 million units in 2016.

Kuo blames an "immature wearable device market" and several device shortcomings (dependency on iPhone, no killer app, poor battery life, etc) for the sales decline.


Contradicting an earlier report of a June unveiling for the Apple Watch 2, Kuo says it will enter mass production in third quarter of 2016 and possibly launch alongside the iPhone 7. This would limit the new model's affect on sales numbers for the year.

Notably, the Apple Watch 2 is said to feature under the hood improvements and minor form factor changes. A major redesign isn't expected until 2017.

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