18 million Apple Watches ship in 2017, up 54% on 2016 | Canalys

Apple Watch shipments beat expectations, topping 18 million in 2017, up by more than 54% on 2016. The Series 3 was the key growth driver, as total shipments of the latest version of Apple’s Watch were just under 9 million, making up nearly half of all shipments in 2017.

It’s good to see the Apple Watch continue to grow into a major player in both the watch and tech spaces. For comparison, the hot gadget of the year, the Nintendo Switch, which was hard to come by all year long and is the faster selling gaming console of all time, sold 15 million units in 2017. Now it was only on sale for the last 10 months of the year, but even if you add another 2 months’ worth of sales, it’s at best about even with the Apple Watch. That ain’t bad.

I also find it interesting that the Series 3 made up half of all Apple Watch sales despite only being available for the last 3 months of the year. Yes, it came out right at the start of the holiday buying season where the Apple Watch sales seem to peak, but the Series 1 and 2 were readily available at that time and were hundred(s) of dollars cheaper. To my eyes, that looks like people saw the value in the Series 3 and spent the extra cash. If that’s true, it seems like good news for the Apple Watch, as people are not just buying the cheapest one they can find, they’re investing more money to get a better experience. That sounds like a platform worth investing more money and effort into.