Apple Watch Sales Were Way Up Over The Holidays, Slice Data Shows

Apple CEO Tim Cook promised big Apple Watch Sales during the holiday season, and new data from Slice Intelligence suggests that the company delivered.

Slice, which draws its data from online receipts, says Watch sales were up 57% from sales in November and December of 2015. Apple had only one model of Watch available in 2015, the Series 1, available in 38mm and 42mm sizes. In November and December 2016, customers could choose the Series 1, the new Series 2, or the Nike Edition of the Watch.

In terms of revenue, Slice believes Watch revenues were up 111% during November compared to November 2015. Revenue from sales of the device during December were up 55% from last year.

Cook said during a Reuters interview December 6th that internal sales numbers showed that Apple Watch sold a lot during the first shopping week of the holiday season. Cook said “sell through” (actual sales, not just inventory shipped to stores) during the first week of the holiday season was the strongest the product has ever seen.

Slice says online sales of the device showed a large spike over Cyber Weekend (November 25th through November 28th), particularly on Black Friday (November 25th).

Most people chose the larger 42mm Apple Watch over the 38mm size this holiday season, the Slice data show, but not by a wide margin. Slice says the smaller version was more popular during the holidays last year.

Neil Cybart, an analyst with Above Avalon, said in early December Apple Watch could sell close to 5 million units this holiday quarter, making it the best quarter yet for the device. Since Slice tracks online sales, it doesn’t provide estimates of total unit sales.

Slice’s data is based on actual online purchase data and e-reciepts. Its Apple Watch sales analysis is based on a sample of more than 20,000 online shoppers.