KGI Securities Lowers Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) SmartWatch Predictions

Apple Watch

As demand for the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’ smartwatch dips in the U.S. markets, KGI Securities Thailand lowers sale predictions. According to reports, KGI Securities has estimated the Apple Watch to make shipments of five to six million units in Q32015 and in the FY2015, around 15 million shipments can be expected.

Analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo, has lowered the units to be shipped by almost 30% and said that the demand has gone down in a very short span.

The current estimates are down by almost 50% from the previous estimates of over 30 million shipments in 2015. A Wall Street Journal report said that the slowdown was due to a fault in the taptic engine of the Apple Watch. The analyst also noted that men formed the majority of the Apple Watch clientele and women buyers are less than 30%.

42 mm Model in Greater Demand

The analysis also predicted the 42 mm model to generate around 80% more sales than the 38mm watch. UBS Managing Director Steve Milunovich also cut the 2016 sales estimated to 31 million from the earlier 40 million. Milunovich said that even though the company built up the interest in the watch through its public events, they failed to deliver.

The skepticism over the availability of the smartwatch has hit the consumer sentiment and has also had a negative impact on demand. The watch is available for purchase on online stores after the launch in April and CEO Tim Cook recently announced making them available on store shelves soon. He said that the Apple Watch could be available on the company stores from June 2015.

Smartwatch On Shelves In June

Apart from the U.S. markets, even China will get the availability of the watch as the same time. Currently, people can book an Apple Watch online and get the delivery by July. Ming Chi Kuo has been accurate about his estimates for the company and if his current estimates also prove right, then the Apple Watch will not be able to cross the iPhone sales when it was first launched.

Analysts had predicted the watch to ship more units than the iPhone in its initial days, but all seems vain as per current demand.

Source: Businessinsider.in, time.com