• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
TechApple

First Apple Watch sales results

By
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
Down Arrow Button Icon
April 12, 2015, 11:27 AM ET

BMO

Not knowing how many Apple Watches were available for pre-sale before they ran out on Friday, it’s impossible to say for certain how many units were sold. [See update below]. Meanwhile, we’ve learned something about the distribution of the early adopters’ orders.

Among the one in 10 respondents who told BMO Capital Markets before pre-orders began that they planned to buy an Apple Watch, their preferences were:

  • 60% aluminum ($349-$399)
  • 12% stainless steel ($449-$1,099)
  • 4% gold ($10,000-$17,000)
  • 24% undecided

.

Judging from the Sunday morning reader polls we’ve seen, the undecideds broke heavily for the mid-range ($449-$1,099) stainless steel.

The survey results we’ve seen:

9to5Mac (11,865 respondents)

  • 55.8% aluminum
  • 38.9% steel
  • 2.8% gold

.

iMore (5,204 respondents)

  • 58.8% aluminum
  • 38.9% steel
  • 2.3% gold

.

MacRumors/Forums (1,054 respondents)

  • 38.3% aluminum
  • 55.8% steel
  • 5.9% gold

.

Today’s iPhone (340 respondents)

  • 57.1% aluminum
  • 40.1% steel
  • 3.2% gold

.

Apple’s wider offerings in stainless steel — with more bands and bodies to choose from — probably helped up-sell customers, pushing them toward the higher-priced models. Note the preponderance of steel configurations on display in the company’s stores and on its website:

  • 10 aluminum (26%)
  • 20 steel (53%)
  • 8 gold (21%)

.

UPDATE: Late Sunday Slice Intelligence, drawing on data from a pool of 2 million online shoppers, estimated that 957,000 people in the U.S. pre-ordered an Apple Watch on Friday, spending an average of $503.83 per watch. By their count, 62% chose the aluminum model.

  • Those who chose aluminum spent $382.83 per watch
  • Those who chose steel spent $707.04 per watch

.

Note that Slice’s estimates do not include pre-orders from Europe or China. We asked three analysts to extrapolate and got three different answers. See How many Apple Watches were sold worldwide last weekend?

See also: Apple Watch (nearly) sold out in 30 minutes

Follow Philip Elmer-DeWitt on Twitter at @philiped. Read his Apple (AAPL) coverage at fortune.com/ped or subscribe via his RSS feed.

About the Author
By Philip Elmer-DeWitt
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Success
  • Tech
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Environment
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Health
  • Retail
  • Lifestyle
  • Politics
  • Newsletters
  • Magazine
  • Features
  • Commentary
  • Mpw
  • CEO Initiative
  • Conferences
  • Personal Finance
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.


Most Popular

placeholder alt text
Success
In 2026, many employers are ditching merit-based pay bumps in favor of ‘peanut butter raises’
By Emma BurleighFebruary 2, 2026
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Cybersecurity
Top AI leaders are begging people not to use Moltbook, a social media platform for AI agents: It’s a ‘disaster waiting to happen’
By Eva RoytburgFebruary 2, 2026
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Politics
Meet the Palm Beach billionaire who paid $2 million for a private White House visit with Trump
By Tristan BoveFebruary 3, 2026
24 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Economy
President Trump just missed a key legal deadline for his spending plans—stoking economists’ fears over the $38.5 trillion national debt
By Eleanor PringleFebruary 3, 2026
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Future of Work
‘You’re not a hero, you’re a liability’: Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary warns Gen Z founders to stop glorifying hustle culture
By Jacqueline MunisFebruary 2, 2026
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Personal Finance
Current price of silver as of Monday, February 2, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerFebruary 2, 2026
2 days ago

Latest in Tech

altman
AICoding
‘I felt a little useless and it was sad’: Sam Altman feels obsolete using his own AI tools—and he’s not the only one
By Nick LichtenbergFebruary 4, 2026
4 minutes ago
super bowl
Arts & EntertainmentAdvertising
The ‘Kardashian Kurse’ and a Jurassic Park reunion are among the Super Bowl commercials planned for this year
By Mae Anderson and The Associated PressFebruary 4, 2026
49 minutes ago
Successthe future of work
Workspace CEO says bosses who force five-day mandates are taking an old ‘factory style approach’ when they should be embracing AI
By Orianna Rosa RoyleFebruary 4, 2026
1 hour ago
damaro
C-SuiteDisney
Disney’s incoming CEO Josh D’Amaro is a 54-year-old who has been at the company nearly half his life
By Michelle Chapman and The Associated PressFebruary 4, 2026
1 hour ago
InvestingStock
How the Magnificent 7 destroyed index funds: There’s nowhere to hide
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezFebruary 4, 2026
2 hours ago
Adaption Labs cofounders Sara Hooker and Sudip Roy
AIfunding round
Former Cohere exec Sara Hooker has raised $50 million for her AI startup Adaption Labs—a bet on smaller, smarter models
By Jeremy KahnFebruary 4, 2026
3 hours ago