Apple Watch dominates the market with 50 million units sold in 2022

According to data analyzed by the Watch Faces team, the Apple Watch’s annual sales hit 53.9 million in 2022, surpassing the 50 million mark for the very first time.

The company that makes faces for the smartwatch says this means the Apple Watch is now the fourth best-selling product of Apple, behind the iPhone, iPad, and AirPods. Since its release in 2015, the total number of Apple Watch sales has reached 229.3 million.

In 2015, when the first Apple Watch was released, Apple started out with 8.3 million sales of the smart device. Since then, it took five extra years for Apple Watch sales to surpass 100 million and another two to exceed 200 million.

Apple certainly did not invent the smartwatch, as Fitbit and Garmin were on the market a while before the release of the Apple Watch. Still, in only a few years, Apple Watch surpassed its competitors and occupied the leading position.

In 2022, Apple accounted for 34.1% of all smartwatch shipments and 60% of the revenue for the entire market globally. Apple Watch sales also surpassed the Swiss watch market, with 15.8 million units exported in 2022.

“The Apple Watch’s victory is multifaceted,” says Arnas Jagminas, founder of one of the App Store’s top-rated Watch Faces apps. “Users relish the ability to track their fitness, monitor their health, perform day-to-day tasks like navigating, answering calls and texts, and even making purchases on the go. The ability to personalize the watch with different straps, cases, and watch face combinations elevates it from being a simple tech device to a bona fide fashion statement.”

However, he adds that the real catalyst for the watch’s success lies in its seamless integration with the broader Apple ecosystem. This ecosystem commands a dedicated fan base and remains unparalleled in the tech world, thereby contributing immensely to the soaring sales of the Apple Watch, Jagminas says. 

While one of the newer Apple product categories, the Wearable, Home, and Accessory segment earned Apple $41.1 billion last year — a 7% rise from 2021. Overall, the Wearable, Home, and Accessory segment made up one-tenth of Apple’s total revenue in 2022. Apple Watch sales could have contributed between $14 billion to $18 billion a year.