IHS, a technology research firm, has found that Apple is making huge markups on the bands, with an entry-level 38mm fluroelastomer Sport band which retails for $49 costing an estimated $2.05 to make.
It should be noted the figure excludes other related costs such as packaging, shipping, marketing, cost of sale and so forth and “may not capture the full cost of the material Apple uses to make the band,” IHS analyst Kevin Keller told Reuters.
Once again, Apple has managed to maintain the highest score for overall satisfaction when it comes to computer technical support, Consumer Reports, the influential U.S. magazine published monthly by Consumers Union since 1936, has found in its July 2015 issue.
The non-profit organization first began polling customers about the topic back in 2007. Apple's tech support is “by far the most effective of any computer brand’s,” the magazine revealed. If you own a Windows PC, there’s only a 50-50 chance that a manufacturer’s tech support will solve your problem, the survey found.
Slice Intelligence, an opt-in service that scans receipts of two million online shoppers' inboxes, estimated Friday that Apple Watch sales have cooled off and currently stand at or below 30,000 daily units in the United States, following the launch day spike that saw an estimated 1.5 million U.S. pre-orders of the wrist-worn device.
As noted by Quartz tech editor Dan Former, that suggests that Apple Watch orders fell sharply after the first day and haven’t grown since.
Apple Pay is picking up steam and has hit an important milestone: the service is outperforming PayPal in mobile payments, according to a new 451 Research survey shared with iDownloadBlog on Tuesday. It's been gaining momentum in the mobile payments space since becoming available six months ago, primarily at the expense of PayPal.
The March study, conducted by 451 Research’s ChangeWave service, consisted of 4,168 respondents primarily based in North America, and looked at planned use of mobile payment applications and the issue of security.
Respondents interested in buying an Apple Watch are twice as likely (54 percent) as all other smartphone owners to say they’ll use mobile payment apps (29 percent said 'Very Likely' and 25 percent said 'Somewhat Likely').
And overall consumer interest in Samsung's mobile payments service (which is launching this summer) sits at a meager eight percent of respondents who are 'Very Likely' or 'Somewhat Likely' to use Samsung Pay in the future.
When Apple's design chief Jonathan Ive opined ahead of the Apple Watch unveiling last year that Switzerland was in trouble, many commentators waved off the comment as pure marketing talk.
But surveys cited in today's note by Key Banc researches clearly show that a much stronger-than-anticipated reception to the device may indeed give fashionable watch brands a pause.
The truth is, sales of traditional watches have already slowed as would-be buyers were holding off purchases in the wake of the Apple Watch's arrival.
The “disappointing” Apple Watch has seen an estimated 957,000 sales on its first day of pre-orders in the United States alone, filing as better-than-expected initial success than its first iPhone or the iPod. By comparison, Apple sold a millionth iPhone after 74 days. It took 28 days to get to that milestone with the iPad and two years with the iPod.
According to a poll of 9,080 online shoppers by Slice Intelligence, which measures digital commerce by tracking consumer e-receipts, an average of 1.3 Watches were purchased per customer, with $503.83 spent per item, indicating some fans bought more than one device.
Apple's been making some impressive strides in China, its second-biggest market by revenue and home to a population of 1.33 billion people.
On the weight of strong sales of the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus, the Cupertino firm has now hit an all-time high share, with iOS accounting for a record 27.6 percent volume share of the Chinese smartphone market versus 17.9 percent a year ago.
Kantar data for the three months ending in February proves the iPhone 6 has remained the country's top-selling smartphone in the period. It's grown from 9.5 percent of sales recorded in the previous period ending in January to 10.2 percent ending in February. Xiaomi's iPhone 6 Plus lookalike, the RedMI Note, took the second spot, followed by Apple's 5.5-inch phablet-class iPhone 6 Plus, which grabbed the third place.
The latest indication that even with its minuscule share of smartphone units sold Apple is clobbering everyone when it comes to profits came Thursday via research firm Strategy Analytics. The research company reported that the Cupertino firm took home an astounding 88.7 percent of operating profit share in smartphones during the fourth quarter of last year.
This is no doubt the effect of strong sales of Apple's well-received iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus handsets. Android, meanwhile, has fallen to a record-low eleven (11.3) percent.
Thanks in no small part to strong sales of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus smartphones, Apple has been able to extend its enterprise lead over Android during the fourth quarter of last year.
According to the new Mobility Index Report data (PDF download) by research firm Good Technology, iOS activations in the enterprise market jumped from 69 percent in the third quarter of last year to 73 percent during the last three months of 2014, while Android activations fell from 29 percent to 25 percent.
A study released Wednesday by investment firm J.P. Morgan bodes well for Apple’s inaugural wrist-worn gadget. Although the Apple Watch requires an iPhone and is limited to owners of the iPhone 5 and newer, JP Morgan thinks there will be 400 million potential Apple Watch customers by the end of the March quarter, with five percent of compatible iPhone owners potentially buying it before the end of 2015.
Wednesday, TechCrunch relayed a new survey by market research firm Kantar Worldpanel which underscores a small victory in Apple's global rivalry with Android as the company overtook Android vendors in terms of units shipped in the United States during the last three months of 2014.
Driven by the introduction of its larger-screened iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, Apple took a 47.7 percent share of the U.S. smartphone market. Android grabbed a 47.6 percent share and Windows Phone accounted for just 3.8 percent of smartphone sales.
Driven by phenomenal iPhone sales during the holiday quarter, Apple has now tied Samsung for the title of the world's top smartphone maker. According to latest numbers from research firm Strategy Analytics relayed by Bloomberg, both companies sold about 74.5 million smartphones during the fourth quarter of last year.
Both companies took an equal 19.6 percent market share in the global market for smartphones. Motorola owner Lenovo was a distant third with a 6.5 percent share, followed by Chinese vendor Huawei, which took a 5.7 percent share. Lenovo and Huawei shipper about 24 million smartphones each.