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30+ Little-Known Apple Watch Statistics 2024: Sales, Market Share, Number Sold

Peter Susic Peter Susic
Last updated: 2 years ago
6 min read

Apple sold more than 40 million Apple Watches in 2021 alone, selling more than 195 million Watches since Series 0 (first watch).

Learn more about the most popular smartwatch in the world:

  • How many people are using it, and what is most commonly used for
  • How big is Apple Watch’s market share compared to the competition
  • A little bit about user demographics and how frequently people are upgrading their Watch

Did you know that the first Apple Watch was a flop? More on that later.

Apple Watch on a MacBook

Apple Watch sales figures

How many Apple Watches have been sold

Apple Watch market share

Apple Watch demographics

Little-Known Apple Watch Statistics

  • Apple sold more than 40 million Apple Watches in 2021 alone, selling around 29% more smartwatches than the year before.
  • In 2021, Apple shipped 59.7 million Apple Watches, which is 76.1% more than in 2020.
  • At 34.1%, Apple holds the largest global smartwatch market share.
  • In 2020, Apple surpassed 100 million Watch users, whereas they had already shipped more than 195 million units between 2016 and Q2 2022.
  • Most users check their Watch to read messages, and more than 36% of them will upgrade every 2 years.

Apple Watch sales figures

Apple sold more than 40 million smartwatches in 2021.

Annual Apple Watch sales

In 2020, they sold more than 9 million fewer Watches.

Apple sold around 40 million units by the end of Q3 2021.

(Watchpro)

YearApple Watches
sold
Q1-Q3 202140 million
202031 million
201926 million
201822 million
(Above Avalon)

Apple currently sells around 40 million Apple Watches per year.

There are no official sales numbers, so this is an estimation.

There’s one thing we do know, Apple is selling more AirPods (AirPods 3 review). Find AirPods sales numbers here.

(Jeweller)

Global smartwatch shipments (Apple Watch compared to other smartwatch manufacturers).

Quarter results:

Quarter
of the year		Shipments
for Apple		Shipments for
other brands
Q2 20228.4 million23.2 million
Q2 20219.5 million8.6 million
Q1 20219.2 million12.7 million
Q2 20206.5 million5.8 million
Q2 20195.7 million6.6 million
Q2 20183.8 million4.8 million
Q2 20161.6 millionn/a
(Deloitte, Above Avalon 3, Canalys 2, Canalys 3)

Apple again dominates in annual shipments, shipping around 59.7 million Apple Watches in 2021.

That’s 76.1% more compared to 2020.

Annual Apple Watch shipments

Here’s the table of annual Apple Watch shipments:

YearAnnual
shipments		Growth
Q1+Q2
2022		23.14 million/
202159.7 million+76.1%
202033.9 million+19.3%
201928.4 million+26.2%
201822.5 million+25%
201718 million+85.5%
20169.7 million/
(Counterpoint, SA, Canalys, IDC)

According to Strategy Analytics, Apple sells more watches than the entire Swiss watch industry as of 2020.

(SA 2)

By the end of Q2 2016, Apple Watch had already sold 12.1 million units which earned Apple $5.7 billion.

(Above Avalon 3)

Read more on the consumer electronics industry.

Are Apple Watch sales growing?

Apple Watch sales are rising around 18-19% each year, based on available data.

Shipments are rising even faster, with 76.1% more shipments between 2020 and 2021.

YearSales growthShipment growth
202129%*+76.1%
202019.2%+19.3%
201918.2%+26.2%
2018n/a+25%
2017n/a+85.5%
(Above Avalon, Counterpoint, SA, Canalys, IDC)

* = Calculated from sales from Q1 to Q3 2021, not an entire year.

How many Apple Watches have been sold?

Apple Watch surpassed 100 million users in 2020.

Total number of Apple Watches sold

This data shows the cumulative Apple Watch sales figure.

Here’s the table of how many Apple Watches combined have been sold up until each year:

YearCumulative number of
Apple Watches sold		Growth
Q3 2021142 million
(estimation)		+39.2%
2020102 million+41.6%
201972 million+44%
201850 million+56.2%
201732 million+77.7%
201618 million+80%
201510 million/
This data shows the combined Apple Watch sales figure. (Above Avalon 2)

Up until 2018, Apple sold around 50 million Apple Watches.

Despite an estimated user base of 40-43 million owners.

(Above Avalon 2, Twitter 2)

Which Apple Watch has the most sales?

Apple Watch Series 7 is currently the best-selling smartwatch worldwide.

The second one is Apple Watch SE, while an older yet still popular Apple Watch Series 3 ranked 5th.

Sales
ranking		Smartwatch
model
1.Apple Watch Series 7
2.Apple Watch SE
3.Samsung Galaxy Watch 4
4.Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 Classic
5.Apple Watch Series 3
(Twitter)

Estimated shipment numbers for Apple Watch Series 7 were between 14 and 16 million in 2021.

(Apple Insider)

Apple Watch facts

  • First Apple Watch, announced on September 9th, 2014, and released on April 24th, 2015, was initially a flop, with an 85.7% drop in sales from April 2015 to July 2015.
  • The reason was that the Apple Watch Series 0 simply wasn’t good enough. It was neither fashionable nor performed well as a fitness watch.
  • Apple, later on, shifted to focus on fitness features instead of simply making their watch look good. By the time Apple released Watch Series 3, people were already hooked.
  • The Series 3 is still among the most sold Apple Watches. However, Apple is dropping the support for the older watch.

Apple Watch market share

Apple holds a strong first place in the smartwatch market, boasting a 34.1% global market share in Q4 2022.

Smart watch market share
The graph shows the market share in Q1 2022.

Samsung is the distant second with 10.1%.

Here’s the table of Apple Watch overall market share between Q4 2022 and Q3 2020 (compared to other major smartwatch brands):

BrandQ4 2022Q2 2022Q1 2022Q4 2021Q1 2021Q4 2020
Apple34.1%29.3%36.1%34.9%35.9%36%
Samsung9.8%9.2%10.1%7.9%7.8%8.5%
Huawei6.7%6.8%7.2%6.7%8.1%5.5%
Xiaomi/4.3%5%8.6%3.4%8.8%
Garmin4%4.3%4.3%/4.5%/
Amazfit4%4.1%4%/4%/
imoo/4%3.4%/4.9%/
Fitbit//2.7%/4.1%/
(Counterpoint 2, Counterpoint 4, IDC, IDC 2)

At 21.8% in Q3 2021, Apple’s watchOS holds the largest market share among smartwatch operating systems.

However, Google’s Wear OS saw a tremendous rise in share, jumping from merely 3.2% in Q3 2020 to 17.3% in Q3 2021.

Smartwatch
operating system		Q3 2021Q3 2020Q3 2019Q3 2018
watchOS21.8%28%25.6%21%
Wear OS17.3%3.2%3.4%3.8%
Amazfit5.8%5.4%4.2%<3%
Fitbit4.4%4.2%4.3%8.2%
Garmin2.9%3%3.5%3.2%
Tizen<3%9.9%7.5%7.6%
(Counterpoint 3)

Apple Watch had a 10% global adoption rate by the end of 2020.

YearAdoption rate
for that year
202010%
20198%
20186%
20174%
20163%
20153%
(Above Avalon 2)

How many Americans use Apple Watch?

According to a Statista survey, out of 6000 American respondents, 46% use Apple Watch.

Fitbit is the second most popular at 38% share (or 2280 users).

Here’s the share of US smartwatch users for each popular brand:

Since some respondents use more than just one smartwatch or fitness tracker, the combined percentage is 120%.

BrandShare of US smartwatch
or fitness tracker users		Number of respondents
based on percentage
Apple46%2760
Fitbit38%2280
Samsung16%960
Garmin8%480
LG7%420
Huawei5%300
(Statista: 2021 survey)

How many Apple watches have been made so far?

Apple has already shipped 195.34 million Apple Watches, based on shipment data from 2016 to Q2 2022.

Disclaimer: Available shipment data is an estimation, not official numbers.

(Counterpoint, SA, Canalys, IDC)

Apple Watch demographics

The age of an average Apple Watch user is 41 years.

The data is from 2018.

(Apple Insider 2)

Even globally, Americans are the largest Apple Watch users, having an attach rate of around 30%.

Americans are huge iPhone users, and Apple Watch brings greater integration unlike any other smartwatch. That’s why many American users pick Apple’s watch.

(Counterpoint 4)

That’s why more than 35% of American iPhone users already own an Apple Watch.

(Above Avalon 2)

It’s twice as likely for a man to buy Apple Watch than a woman.

The data is from 2015.

Here are some more facts on Apple Watch users:

  • Overall, only 18% of all US adults surveyed showed interest in buying the Apple Watch, whereas 76% showed no interest at all.
  • Around 15% of iPhone users were planning to buy an Apple Watch.
  • Interestingly, 8% of non-Apple users said they were willing to switch to an iPhone in order to buy the Apple Watch.
  • Men between 18 and 28 showed the highest interest in buying Apple Watch at 34%.

However, being interested isn’t the same as being a buyer.

  • 13% of adults between 30 and 39 years were the likeliest buyers. The second likeliest age group to buy an Apple Watch was younger buyers, 18- to 29-year-olds, with 10%.
Age groupMost likely Apple Watch
buyers in percentages
30-39 years13%
18-29 years10%
(Reuters)

38% of Apple Watch users check their watch 2-3 times per hour.

Apple Watch checks per hourPercentage
of users
0-16%
2-338%
4-528%
6-713%
8-96%
10+8%
Don’t know1%
(Fortune)

How many Apple Watch users say they’ll upgrade when the next version comes out?

36.7% of people will upgrade their Apple Watch after 2 years.

At 35.4%, the close second, is the group replacing their watch in 3-4 years.

How often do Apple Watch users upgrade
The results come from an internet survey in 2020.

Here’s the table of how frequently Apple Watch users plan to upgrade their Watches:

The time period after which
Apple Watch will be upgraded		Percentage
of users
After a year19%
After 2 year36.7%
After 3-4 years35.4%
When it breaks16.5%
(MacRumors)

Apple Watch can expect around 3 years of use before the battery starts to show serious degradation.

After 5 years, most users want to upgrade regardless of the condition of their Apple Watch.

(Apple Toolbox)

What are the most popular Apple Watch apps?

Here are the most useful and popularly known Apple Watch apps:

  • Just Press Record
  • PCalc
  • WorkOutDoors
  • Citymapper
  • BFT
  • Solstice
  • Cloud Battery
  • Pennies
  • Tiny Armies
  • Watchsmith
  • ETA
  • un:safe
  • Gentler Streak
  • Carrot Fit
  • Strava
  • AutoSleep
  • Streaks Workout
  • Cheatsheet Notes
  • iTranslate
  • Dark Sky
  • Carrot Weather
  • Night Sky
  • Deliveries
  • Fantastical

(STH)

The common use for an Apple Watch.

The most common thing Apple Watch users do is check their messages at 81%.

Surprisingly, at 80%, the second most common thing to do is decline a phone call.

The table of most common things Apple Watch users do with their Watches:

Things users do
on their Apple Watch		Percentage of
usage
Check messages81%
Decline a call80%
Check activity details75%
Workout tracking74%
Checking heart rate73%
Look at the Complication
from a third-party app		66%
Use a non-fitness
third-party apps		61%
Check email notifications57%
Set a reminder54%
Answer a call51%
Change the watch face48
Change the watch band47%
Use the watch
to find iPhone		46%
Use Siri to send SMS42%
Check social media
notifications		40%
Get GPS directions34%
Use a scribble feature
to write SMS		33%
Control a smart home31%
Use a third-party
fitness app		28%
Shower with
Apple Watch		26%
Use Siri to
make a phone call		15%
Swim with Apple Watch11%
(Cult of Mac)

Here’s how often Apple Watch users tend to check:

Here are the frequency percentages of how often Apple Watch users check activity rings, time, and complications on their Watches:

Frequency of
checking
Apple Watch		Checking for
Activity Rings		Checking
for Time		Checking
Complications
More than expected70%48%46%
As expected19%51%35%
Less than expected11%1%19%
(CNET, data from 2015)

Read more:

Conclusion

These were the latest and most in-depth Apple Watch statistics we could find.

Despite being a flop at first, Apple Watch continues to hold the largest market share and is the most popular smartwatch in the world. That is no surprise, considering how well and accurately it performs.

Do you own an Apple Watch? What do you think of it, how do you use it, when will you upgrade, and why?

Please let us know in the comments.

Sources: Above Avalon, Above Avalon 2, Above Avalon 3, Watchpro, Jeweller, Deloitte, Counterpoint, Counterpoint 2, Counterpoint 3, Counterpoint 4, SA, SA 2, Canalys, Canalys 2, IDC, IDC 2, Twitter, Twitter 2, Apple Insider, Apple Insider 2, Statista, Reuters, Fortune, MacRumors, Apple Toolbox, Cult of Mac, CNET, STH

Canalys 3, Smart and basic watches drive a return to wearable band market growth in Q2 2022. Published Sep 7, 2022. Accessed Feb 22, 2023.

Counterpoint 4, Global Smartwatch Shipments Grow 12% YoY in 2022; Price Polarization Seen in Demand. Published Feb 22, 2023. Accessed Feb 22, 2023.

3 Comments

  1. The first line says “Apple sold more than 40 million Apple Watches in 2021 alone, selling more than 195 million Watches since Series 1.”

    Are you not including sales of that original Apple Watch often referred to as series 0? And why?

    Reply

    1. Hi Charles,

      Thanks, updated the error. The data includes Series 0 onward.

      Reply

  2. Nice article

    Reply

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