About 30% of the users of the iPhone in North America also have a smart Apple Watch clock, a study by United Research analysts. This is the highest one in the six-month period since Apple Watch started sales in 2015. Statistics show an overall increase in the popularity of smart hours in the US market, but this is particularly relevant for Apple devices.
The source notes that, over the years, the demand for the Apple Watch smart hour in the North American market has grown steadily, although it was not popular at the outset. The fact is that many consumers initially viewed the smart hour as a fashionable accessories rather than a really useful device, and now that, over the years, functions for sports and health monitoring began to appear, buyers began to perceive it differently, which is why sales are increasing.
At the time of launch in 2015, Apple Watch could boast of a limited set of functions. They could be used to buy, send messages and make calls, but the benefits of using the device together with the smartphone were not obvious. Over time, the emergence of water protection, the function of tracking the frequency of heart cuts, the control of sleep quality, the definition of oxygen saturation and many other things helped Apple Watch to become a truly useful tool to help monitor health and maintain itself in shape.
All of this contributes to the popularity of Apple smart hours. Analysts point out that Apple dominated or close to being one of the largest technology companies in the world in the past decade. They believe that Apple Watch will play a key role in maintaining this position in the current decade. Despite the fact that Apple continues to attract new users into its ecosystem, key smartphone markets have reached or are close to saturation. This puts Apple Watch at the centre of the company's strategy in the hardware segment. In 2021, Apple's supply of smart hours was only 18% of the volume sold by iPhone.
If Apple treats each owner of the iPhone as a potential user of Apple Watch, the annual income from the sale of smart hours could be $70 billion, which is 550 per cent higher than the company's current income forecast for the smart hour segment, with the possibility of generating more income from bonus models, such as the new Apple Watch Ultra, whose price is equal to the value of the iPhone 14. In addition, the smart hours will play a key role in the development of the service-related business segment, such as Apple Music, Apple Care and Apple Podcasts. Other growth opportunities may arise if Apple launches more services corresponding to the smart hour form.