Apple Watch sales figures: How many many were sold on the first weekend on pre-order? Here’s the first analyst estimates
The first estimates of the Apple Watch sales are in – and they're not looking too shabby (despite reviews that can be summarised as "meh").
After opening for pre-order sales on Friday, one research firm has already pegged sales at almost one million. 957,000 if you want to be precise.
Of course, Apple are keeping quiet on numbers. The tech firm has a lot riding on the new product category and a smaller supply of Apple Watches – compared to say, the iPhone 6 – means it can create more intense demand for the smartwatch, which had already sold out in some styles within hours.
The estimates are based on research by Slice Intelligence which looks at online receipts from a panel of two million consumers.
The firm found on average each customer bought 1.3 watches, which works out that many customers were buying two.
The average spend on the Apple Sport, the entry-level priced device was $382.83 (£261.47), while the mid-priced Apple Watch spend was $707.04 and the majority of people were buying the Apple Sport (62 per cent).
Meanwhile, UBS's Apple Watch Monitor pegs sales in the region of a games console with no direct comparisons yet.
"Early interest in the Watch is less than for the original iPad and iPhone and comparable to the Xbox One. We think this first version will be a nice-to-have based on saving time, perhaps evolving into a must-have as the way to interact with Internet of Things," said UBS's Steven Milunovich.
Xbox One sales in the first 24 hours were more than one million and the best launch in Xbox history. Back in 2010, the iPad sold 300,000 within the first 24 hours, reaching three million within 80 days.
Piper Jaffrey analyst Gene Munster said he expects Apple to ramp up production in mid-May to June. Already some of the 38 models available have delivery dates of June and August according to some customers.
Apple had said the device would ship from 24 April, but warned demand would outstrip supply. "Overall we view the trends over the weekend as an indication of solid demand paired with very limited supply, with supply being the most significant limiting factor." he said.
Munster told CNBC's Squawk Box "they [Apple] could probably put an Apple logo on a teacup and sell over a million".
Here's what analysts were predicting pre-launch and these are the 38 Apple Watch styles customers had to choose from.