While the bulk of Apple’s revenue still comes from the iPhone, revenue derived from the company’s suite of services and its burgeoning wearables division has increased dramatically over the past few years. Put simply, Apple has done an impressive job of diversifying its revenue stream so that its success from quarter to quarter no longer hinges exclusively on how quickly consumers flock to new iPhone models.
As it stands now, Apple’s wearables division — which includes the Apple Watch, Beats, and AirPods — accounts for about 10% of Apple’s quarterly revenue. That figure, though, is poised to increase dramatically as Apple Watch and AirPods sales are growing at a tremendous, if not unprecedented, clip.
According to recent data compiled by the research firm IDC, Apple during the September quarter of this year shipped 29.5 million wearables. By way of contrast, Apple during the same quarter in 2018 shipped an estimated 10 million wearables. That comes out to about a 195% increase in sales year over year.
Speaking to the popularity of wearables in general, Samsung and Huawei also posted some impressive year over year gains, as evidenced by the chart below.
Word of Apple’s success in the wearables space shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. Specifically, AirPods sales continue to impress, especially following the recent release of the new AirPods Pro. Not only were Apple’s new AirPods in very high demand during the Black Friday season, but some analysts are also anticipating that AirPods sales in 2019, once the dust settles, will be 100% higher than they were in 2018. AirPods may not be as margin-friendly as the iPhone, but taken together with growing Apple Watch sales, it stands to reason that revenue from Apple’s wearables division will continue to exhibit strong growth well into 2020.
