Contrary to popular opinion, Pureprofile’s latest survey reveals that the much-hyped Apple Watch will be a surprise hit on Aussie shores.
SYDNEY: Ahead of the expected Apple Watch launch on Tuesday, consumer insights specialist Pureprofile (1) has conducted a national survey to gauge purchasing intention and interest.
The survey found only 4.2 per cent of adult Australians are intending to buy the Apple Watch right now, with most interest coming from the Gen Y and Gen X age brackets. Based on a representative sample of 1501 Australians, the survey also revealed that one in four Australians had never heard of the Apple Watch, despite more than a year of global hype.
Pureprofile’s research comes in the wake of overwhelmingly negative sentiment around the Apple Watch, with many industry commentators claiming it will be a flop due to the high price tag and poor battery life.
Based on the survey results, however, Pureprofile is optimistic about the Apple Watch’s chance of success.
“It may not sound like a lot, but 4.2 per cent is huge for an unseen and untested product. That’s nearly 800,000 people in Australia alone who plan to buy the Apple Watch. Apart from Apple, that is an insanely high number for any product pre-launch” said Paul Chan, founder and CEO of Pureprofile.
The research also found that a further 18.9 per cent of Australians are considering purchasing the Apple Watch, which indicates just how big a product this could be.
“The first four per cent are the early adopters and Apple die-hard enthusiasts that are happy to buy the Apple Watch sight unseen. The next segment of people, the fence-sitters, are the ones who will be swayed by other factors: being able to see and touch it in person; having a friend that owns one; and seeing online reviews and media coverage.”
Even seeing the long line of people waiting to buy one at the Apple Store or hearing that the first batch of Apple Watches have sold out could be enough to get these guys over the line.
The iPad had a similar crowd of naysayers before it first came out. Many dismissed it as an oversized iPhone. It then went on to become one of Apple’s most successful products. The Apple Watch could well be the next big gadget that no one even realises they want yet,” said Paul Chan.
The major results of Pureprofile’s Apple Watch research include:
- 4.2 per cent of Australians intend to buy the Apple Watch
- 1 in 4 Australians have never heard of the Apple Watch
- 31 per cent of females have never heard of the Apple Watch
- The most popular reason for buying the Apple Watch is to use it as a second screen for the iPhone (44 per cent)
- 14 per cent of people that are buying or considering buying the Apple Watch are not sure why they want it.
- 66 per cent of Australians currently wear a watch sometimes or more often
- 76 per cent of Australians don’t think conventional watches will become obsolete in the near future due to smart watches
The launch of the Apple Watch comes on the heels of the Mobile World Congress trade show, where vendors such as Huawei, LG, Optus and Guess announced new smart watches. Industry veteran Pebble also used the week as an opportunity to announce a steel version of its new Time smart watch.
“There’s definitely a growing interest in smart watches, and Apple’s entry into the market is probably just the shot in the arm that the segment needs to go mainstream. Our insights show that 39 per cent of the respondents who were going to buy or were considering buying the Apple Watch were interested in this sort of product already and were waiting on Apple to release its own take on the technology,” said Paul Chan.
Pureprofile’s survey is one of many that the company intends to undertake this year to help consumers get a deeper understanding of their purchasing behaviour and help them make better decisions over time.
“One of the main goals we have at Pureprofile is to produce rich insights for consumers to help make their lives better, which is what we’ve already been doing for businesses for more than a decade now. There’s the ‘what’, which is what you do, and the ‘why’, which is why you do it. Pureprofile is aiming to give consumers the ‘why’,” Paul Chan said.
(1) The online study was conducted by Pureprofile between 27 February and 3 March 2015 among a representative sample of 1,501 Australian adults.
Around the web
- Business Spectator – Will the Apple watch be a flop?
- Tech Guide – Will Apple watch make smartwatches the next big category?
