Apple saw shipments of its Apple Watch lineup drop by 19% year-over-year in 2024, making it the second consecutive annual fall in shipment numbers, as well as the fifth quarter in a row it saw sliding sales, shows new data released by Counterpoint Research.
Counterpoint’s Global Smartwatch Shipment Tracker for the fourth quarter of 2024 shows sliding shipment numbers for the Apple Watch in all major regions of the world except for India. The device suffered the largest drop in shipments in North America, which traditionally accounts for more than 50% of global Apple Watch shipments.
The report indicates that while several factors have contributed to the extended downturn in sales, the biggest contribution to the drop in shipments is that there has been the lack of recent updates to the budget-priced Apple Watch SE model. The Apple Watch SE has not been updated since the third quarter of 2022, marking longer than two years since an update.
The Apple Watch Series 10, while released in fall 2024, offered little to drive upgrades from customers’ current Apple Watches, due to the lack “substantial upgrades” over the previous model. In addition, the Series 10 has a disabled blood oxygen sensor feature, which had been available on previous models, but has been disabled due to an ongoing patent battle.
The expected Apple Watch Ultra 3 failed to make an appearance in the fall, and that also proved to be a contributing factor to the drop in shipments. The Ultra’s share of sales fell to 8% in Q4 2024. It had made up 10% of sales the year before.
Despite Apple’s decline in Apple Watch shipments, the lineup still sits in first place when it comes to unit volume. However, while Apple saw a decline in its smartwatch shipment numbers, other major smartwatch makers saw improved year-over-year shipment numbers.
Apple may see an improvement in its shipment numbers later this year, as a third-generation Apple Watch SE is expected to debut this year, boasting a refreshed design and possibly a lower price. The SE 3 had been rumored to sport a plastic case in place of its traditional aluminum chassis, Apple has reported decided not to go in that direction, as the design team is said to have been disappointed with the look of the plastic chassis, and using plastic didn’t reduce the price of the case as much as Apple had hoped.
A Apple Watch Series 11 will be unveiled alongside the iPhone 17 lineup in September, and it is rumored to have 5G connectivity, as well as new health monitoring capabilities. We also expect to see an Apple Watch Ultra 3 finally make an appearance, and that model is expected to offer satellite connectivity.
