Report: 17% Of Apple Inc. Watch Buyers Spring For A Spare Band

About 17 percent of U.S. shoppers who bought an Apple Watch also acquired a spare watch band, according to data provided exclusively to Reuters. http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/18/us-apple-watch-idUSKBN0OY0FC20150618 Entry-level accessory bands cost $2.05 to manufacture and retail for $49, according to estimates from IHS cited by Reuters. Slice Intelligence, a research firm that studies consumers' e-mail receipts, shared its watch band estimate with Reuters and also estimated that Apple Inc.

sold 2.79 million of the watches in the U.S. as of mid June. The data excludes the nine other countries where the watch is sold, including China, according to Fortune Magazine. http://fortune.com/2015/06/18/apple-watch-2-79-million/ Fortune noted that Above Avalon‘s Neil Cybart puts worldwide Apple Watch sales to date at about 4 million. Cybart, a former Wall Street tech analyst, noted that investors are increasingly questioning whether Apple can meet expectations for its Watch. http://us9.campaign-archive1.com/?u=da73666a96f0aebdde714ca26&id=cd70811b72&e=9e602b4a06 "Basically, the question being raised is will normal people buy the Watch?" Cybart wrote recently. Watch profit margins have been variously estimated at 35 percent and 45 percent. http://appleinsider.com/articles/15/03/10/wall-street-expects-high-margins-respectable-sales-for-launch-of-well-designed-apple-watch Cybart noted that Apple has chosen not to release unit sales on the Watch. "When you're selling 50 million iPhones each quarter, announcing 4 million Apple Watch sales may be lost on many market observers," Cybart said.