Apple sold about 975,000 Apple Watches during the first day of pre-order availability in the U.S., according to data from Slice Intelligence. Silver proved to be the most popular color with Apple Watch and Apple Watch Sport making up more than half total sales, although the space gay Apple Watch Sport accounted for 40 percent of overall sales by itself.
Apple ran through at least 975,000 Apple Watch pre-orders last Friday
Apple launched Apple Watch pre-orders on Friday, April 10 as 12:01AM pacific time. Deliveries should start arriving on April 24.
62 percent of Friday's Apple Watch pre-orders were made up of the Apple Watch Sport which customers spending an average of US$382.83 per watch. Shoppers buying the stainless steel Apple Watch spend on average $707.04.
Slice Intelligence culled its data from a panel of 2 million online shoppers. The figures it uses come from e-receipts instead of other metrics such as Web browser activity, or special code embedded in apps.
The group's data showed 71 percent of buyers opted for the 42mm models. Apple Watch Sport buyers, however, were more likely to buy the 38mm version. Their study revealed that 32 percent of Sport model buyers opted for the smaller Apple Watch, compared to 24 percent of the stainless steel Apple Watch buyers.
Apple's April 10 pre-order numbers are impressive for the smartwatch market, but SI's figures tell only part of the story. Since it collects data only in the United States, it couldn't account for pre-order sales throughout Europe, Australia, Canada, Japan, and China. With U.S. Friday sales hitting 975,000, it's likely combined global sales for the day topped a million units.
Pre-order ship dates were pushed out to four to six weeks within minutes on Friday morning, and within half an hour of pre-orders opening were pushed out to June. Shoppers hoping to pick up an Apple Watch in stores on the 24th will be out of luck because the company selling only through its online store during the launch phase.