Apple is back on creating its hype,expecting its existing users to show interest on its new apple watch.
About 40 per cent of adult Apple iPhone owners in
the United States are interested in buying the company's new Apple Watch,
according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll.
The high-tech smartwatch, which will range in price from $350 to $17,000 for an 18-karat gold model, is Apple Inc's first major new product in five years and consumer demand for the device is being closely watched by competitors and investors.
Owners of the iPhone are a particularly important
market for Apple as it launches the new watch, which goes on sale April
24. Because the watch needs an iPhone to work fully, analysts say the most
likely pool of initial buyers will already have an Apple smartphone in their
pockets.
BTIG analyst Walter Piecyk said that with more than
100 million active iPhone users in the United States and closer to half a
billion globally, the survey was "pretty encouraging" for a product
that has not been seen in shops, even if was unclear how much of the interest
would translate into purchases.
Pacific Crest
Securities analyst Andrew Hargreaves said it was not clear how many people
wanted or needed a smart watch. But he expected Apple's cache and marketing
might to deliver strong initial sales of the Apple Watch.
"Winning Apple customers is more realistic at this point," said Hargreaves.
The watch allows users to check email, listen to music and make phone calls.
Ipsos surveyed 2,469 Americans aged 18 and older online between March 9 and March 17 and found that 24 per cent expressed an interest in purchasing the Apple Watch, including 10 per cent of those describing themselves as "very interested." The data was weighted to reflect the US population and has a credibility interval, a measure of accuracy, of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points.
Among the iPhone owners, 39 per cent were interested in purchasing the Apple watch, including 17 per cent describing themselves as very interested. There were 788 iPhone owners in the survey with a credibility interval of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
"Winning Apple customers is more realistic at this point," said Hargreaves.
The watch allows users to check email, listen to music and make phone calls.
Ipsos surveyed 2,469 Americans aged 18 and older online between March 9 and March 17 and found that 24 per cent expressed an interest in purchasing the Apple Watch, including 10 per cent of those describing themselves as "very interested." The data was weighted to reflect the US population and has a credibility interval, a measure of accuracy, of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points.
Among the iPhone owners, 39 per cent were interested in purchasing the Apple watch, including 17 per cent describing themselves as very interested. There were 788 iPhone owners in the survey with a credibility interval of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
Discussions about the watch have flooded online
social media channels such as Twitter and Facebook since Apple held a splashy
event in San Francisco on March 9 to showcase the watch.
Social media chatter about the Apple watch was 15 per cent positive and 5 per cent negative in the week following Apple's event, according to an analysis that the firm Networked Insights conducted for Reuters. The remaining 80 per cent was neutral. By contrast, the social conversation for Apple's iPhone 6 during the same week was 5 per cent positive and 0 per cent negative, according to the analysis.
Among the conversations relating to the Apple watch
during the one-week period, 5.8 per cent of the comments showed an intent to purchase,
according to Networked Insights, which analyzes tweets, public Facebook posts
and other sources. Social comments about the iPhone 6, which has been on sale
since September, showed a 2.9 per cent purchase intent during the same week.
