Analyst says Apple Watch had a strong Black Friday

Heading into the holiday shopping season, there was a question about how the Apple Watch would fare during this time of the year. While Apple doesn't breakout sales of its smartwatch, researcher IDC had Apple shipping 3.6 million units of the timepiece during the second quarter. That trailed only fitness tracker Fitbit's delivery of 4.4 million units during the same three month period.

Despite those figures, not too many analysts would go ahead and say that the watch had the same degree of success that the Apple iPhone and Apple iPad enjoyed when both were originally unveiled. But something did change last week, when retailers started offering their Black Friday sales. Demand for the timepiece picked up at Apple Stores, and at other retailers. Target cited sales of the Apple Watch as one of the reasons it enjoyed a record-breaking Thanksgiving. Best Buy also reported that the device was selling well during the holiday.

FBR Capital Markets analyst Daniel Ives told clients that the Apple Watch had a slow start, which he blamed on a supply shortage. Over the last six months, the analyst estimates that Apple shipped just 6 million units. But on Friday, Ives said that "this morning, we heard of ramping interest/sales among consumers based on our conversations at various Apple, Target, and Best Buy stores."

With interest in the smartwatch picking up for the holidays, Ives now expects Apple to ship 5 million to 6 million units of the Apple Watch for the December quarter alone. The real story will be told after the holiday season, when we will get a better idea whether the smartwatch will be able to keep its new found momentum going.


source: NYPost