Apple Says It Won't Share Watch Sales...Because It Could Help Competitors

Apple Inc. AAPL reported earnings on Tuesday afternoon that beat some Wall Street expectations, but fell short of others.

The stock is down nearly 7 percent after-hours and trades near $121 just hours after it came close to breaking the $133 mark.

While the Apple Watch isn't the company's most important product by revenue -- that's the iPhone, which accounts for 64 percent of sales -- it does hold a special place in the hearts of investors hoping for innovation. "The market's going to read between the lines," former hedge fund manager Cody Willard told Benzinga on Monday. "If Apple doesn't announce big numbers, it knows that Apple Watch is a disappointment."

Global Equities Research's Trip Chowdhry told Benzinga after the call that Apple likely sold about 2.2 million watches. Apple CFO Luca Maestri told the New York Times after the data was reported that Watch sales (in their first nine weeks) beat the original iPhone and iPad, respectively.

That's all investors know about the device at the moment, however. On the third quarter conference call, Cook said while the Apple Watch offset iPod declines, the company doesn't intend to provide Apple Watch metrics because the data could help its competitors. He did offer his analysis -- "we did exceptionally well in any way you look at it" -- but little hard statistics.

About ten minutes later in the call, Cook reiterated that Apple had made the decision to not reveal Apple Watch shipments last year. It wasn't a matter of being transparent, he said, but rather to avoid giving competitors insight.

Posted In: NewsEventsMoversTech
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