Apple Shipped an Estimated 4.2 Million Apple Watches in 3Q2018, With Series 3 Making Up the Bulk of Sales

Apple shipped an estimated 4.2 million Apple Watches during the third quarter of 2018, according to new wearable device shipment data shared today by IDC.

Apple Watch shipments were up 54 percent year over year, with Apple having shipped an estimated 2.7 million devices in the third quarter of 2017. Apple's jump in shipments wasn't enough to make it the top wearable vendor, however, with that title going to Xiaomi.

idcwearablestotal
Xiaomi shipped an estimated 6.9 million wearable devices during the quarter, giving the company 21.5 percent market share, while Apple came in at 13.1 percent market share. Fitbit trailed Apple in the number 3 slot with an estimated 3.5 million wearable devices shipped.

Wearable devices as measured by IDC include basic wearable devices such as simple fitness trackers along with smart watches like the Apple Watch. Overall, the wearables market reached 32 million units in 3Q18, up 21.7 percent from 3Q17. Growth was up in Asia/Pacific, but declined 0.4 percent in the U.S.

idcwearablesmarketshare
When it comes to Apple Watch shipments, IDC's numbers are estimates because Apple does not provide details on the number of Apple Watch models that it sells. Apple Watch revenue is included in Apple's "Other" category that also encompasses products like AirPods, Apple TV, HomePod, and more.

According to IDC, the Series 4 Apple Watch, which Apple released in September near the end of the quarter, accounted for less than 20 percent of all Apple Watch shipments, with customers instead going for the more affordable Apple Watch Series 3.

Apple managed to launch its Series 4 Watch, its first watch approved for medical use, towards the end of the quarter. The new design and sizes along with the latest version of Watch OS were welcome changes though the latest series only accounted for less than 20% of all Apple Watch shipments. The reduced price on the still affable [sic] Series 3 accounted for the majority of Apple's shipments during the quarter.

While Apple does not share information on Apple Watch sales, during the most recent earnings call for the fourth fiscal quarter of 2018 (which corresponds to the third calendar quarter), Apple CEO Tim Cook said that the company's wearables category set a September quarter revenue record with growth over 50 percent.

Tag: IDC

Popular Stories

New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18

20 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.2

Monday December 16, 2024 8:55 am PST by
Apple released iOS 18.2 in the second week of December, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. Apple has added a handful of new non-AI related feature controls as...
iphone 16 apple intelligence

Apple Drops Plans for iPhone Hardware Subscription Service

Wednesday December 18, 2024 11:39 am PST by
Apple is no longer planning to launch a hardware subscription service that would let customers "subscribe" to get a new iPhone each year, reports Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman first shared rumors about Apple's work on a hardware subscription service back in 2022, and at the time, he said that Apple wanted to develop a simple system that would allow customers to pay a monthly fee to gain...
iPhone 17 Pro Dual Tone Feature 1

iPhone 17 Pro Rumored to Stick With 'Triangular' Camera Design

Wednesday December 18, 2024 2:36 am PST by
Contrary to recent reports, the iPhone 17 Pro will not feature a horizontal camera layout, according to the leaker known as "Instant Digital." In a new post on Weibo, the leaker said that a source has confirmed that while the appearance of the back of the iPhone 17 Pro has indeed changed, the layout of the three cameras is "still triangular," rather than the "horizontal bar spread on the...
elevation lab airtag battery

Your AirTag's Battery Will Last for Up to 10 Years With Elevation Lab's New TimeCapsule Enclosure

Wednesday December 18, 2024 10:05 am PST by
Elevation Lab today announced the launch of TimeCapsule, an innovative and simple solution for increasing the battery life of Apple's AirTag. Priced at $20, TimeCapsule is an AirTag enclosure that houses two AA batteries that offer 14x more battery capacity than the CR2032 battery that the AirTag runs on. It works by attaching the AirTag's upper housing to the built-in custom contact in the...
apple tv 4k yellow bg feature

New Apple TV Rumored to Launch Next Year With These Features

Tuesday December 17, 2024 9:02 am PST by
The current Apple TV 4K was released more than two years ago, so the streaming device is becoming due for a hardware upgrade soon. Fortunately, it was recently rumored that a new Apple TV will launch at some point next year. Below, we recap rumors about the next-generation Apple TV. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman last week reported that Apple has been working on its own combined Wi-Fi and...
blackmagic vision pro

Blackmagic Debuts $30K 3D Camera for Capturing Video for Vision Pro

Monday December 16, 2024 4:17 pm PST by
Blackmagic today announced that its URSA Cine Immersive camera is now available for pre-order, with deliveries set to start late in the first quarter of 2025. Blackmagic says that this is the world's first commercial camera system designed to capture 3D content for the Vision Pro. The URSA Cine Immersive camera was first introduced in June, but it has not been available for purchase until...
mac pro creativity

Apple Launched the Controversial 'Trashcan' Mac Pro 11 Years Ago Today

Thursday December 19, 2024 7:00 pm PST by
Apple launched the controversial "trashcan" Mac Pro eleven years ago today, introducing one of its most criticized designs that persisted through a period of widespread discontentment with the Mac lineup. The redesign took the Mac Pro in an entirely new direction, spearheaded by a polished aluminum cylindrical design that became unofficially dubbed the "trashcan" in the Mac community. All of ...
iPhone 17 Slim Feature

'iPhone 17 Air' With 'Major' Design Changes and 19-Inch MacBook Detailed in New Report

Sunday December 15, 2024 9:47 am PST by
Apple is planning a series of "major design" and "format changes" for iPhones over the next few years, according to The Wall Street Journal's Aaron Tilley and Yang Jie. The paywalled report published today corroborated the widely-rumored "iPhone 17 Air" with an "ultrathin" design that is thinner than current iPhone models. The report did not mention a specific measurement, but previous...

Top Rated Comments

SCMedic Avatar
79 months ago
Do you think it's possible that the S3 outsold the S4 because the S4 was only available for 2 weeks of Q3?Hmmmmm...

Stupid comparison.

('https://www.macrumors.com/2018/12/03/apple-watch-shipments-idc-3q2018/')


Apple shipped an estimated 4.2 million Apple Watches during the third quarter of 2018, according to new wearable device shipment data shared today by IDC ('https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS44500418').

Apple Watch shipments were up 54 percent year over year, with Apple having shipped an estimated 2.7 million devices in the third quarter of 2017. Apple's jump in shipments wasn't enough to make it the top wearable vendor, however, with that title going to Xiaomi.



Xiaomi shipped an estimated 6.9 million wearable devices during the quarter, giving the company 21.5 percent market share, while Apple came in at 13.1 percent market share. Fitbit trailed Apple in the number 3 slot with an estimated 3.5 million wearable devices shipped.

Wearable devices as measured by IDC include basic wearable devices such as simple fitness trackers along with smart watches like the Apple Watch. Overall, the wearables market reached 32 million units in 3Q18, up 21.7 percent from 3Q17. Growth was up in Asia/Pacific, but declined 0.4 percent in the U.S.



When it comes to Apple Watch shipments, IDC's numbers are estimates because Apple does not provide details on the number of Apple Watch models that it sells. Apple Watch revenue is included in Apple's "Other" category that also encompasses other products like AirPods, Apple TV, HomePod, and more.

According to IDC, the Series 4 Apple Watch, which Apple released in October, accounted for less than 20 percent of all Apple Watch shipments, with customers instead going for the more affordable Apple Watch Series 3.While Apple does not share information on Apple Watch sales, during the most recent earnings call for the fourth fiscal quarter of 2018 (which corresponds to the third calendar quarter) Apple CEO Tim Cook said that the company's wearables category set a September quarter revenue record ('https://www.macrumors.com/2018/11/01/apple-wearable-category-growth-4q2018/') with growth over 50 percent.

Article Link: Apple Shipped an Estimated 4.2 Million Apple Watches in 3Q2018, With Series 3 Making Up the Bulk of Sales ('https://www.macrumors.com/2018/12/03/apple-watch-shipments-idc-3q2018/')
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
brofkand Avatar
79 months ago
Remember, these numbers are made up.

Has anyone ever seen someone wearing a Xiaomi watch?
I'd imagine if you asked people in China you'd get a lot of "yes" responses to your question.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gfurry Avatar
79 months ago
I'd imagine if you asked people in China you'd get a lot of "yes" responses to your question.
This is for wearables and includes the $25 Xiaomi Mi Band. Hardly a fair comparison.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Baymowe335 Avatar
79 months ago
Remember, these numbers are made up.

Has anyone ever seen someone wearing a Xiaomi watch?
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
69Mustang Avatar
79 months ago
I don't know anyone with an Apple watch, although I did talk to someone once who was wearing one.
On the other hand, I know a lot of people who have Apple watches and see them out and about often. I don’t know anyone with an Android based watch, but I did see someone wearing on in a store a few weeks ago.
Two great examples of the ineffectiveness of anecdotes being evidence of anything relevant. We see what we want to see when we want to see it.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tromboneaholic Avatar
79 months ago

According to IDC, the Series 4 Apple Watch, which Apple released in October, accounted for less than 20 percent of all Apple Watch shipments, with customers instead going for the more affordable Apple Watch Series 3.
Series 4 was only available for a couple of weeks during the quarter, yet it accounted for 20% of all Apple Watch Shipments if we believe IDC.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)