Apple’s next big thing is off to a solid start, according to pre-order projections from Slice Intelligence, a firm that tracks and projects US consumer spending through e-commerce email receipts.

By Dan Frommer·2 min read·Updated July 21, 2022

Add QZ to Google

Apple $AAPL’s next big thing is off to a solid start, according to pre-order projections from Slice Intelligence, a firm that tracks and projects US consumer spending through e-commerce email receipts.

Apple received watch pre-orders from almost one million Americans on Friday, April 10, its first day of accepting orders, according to Slice’s projections, based on receipts from 9,080 online shoppers.

Daily Brief

The essential business news, delivered fresh every morning.

Join 500,000+ readers who start their day with Quartz.

By subscribing, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

Almost two-thirds of pre-orders were for the less expensive, aluminum Sport line, which starts at $349. About one-third of pre-orders were for the stainless-steel Apple Watch collection, which starts at $549. The gold ”Edition” series, which starts at $10,000, didn’t represent enough US pre-orders to show up in Slice’s report.
The average selling price per watch was about $504. The average order was for 1.3 watches, suggesting orders for more than 1 million units.
The most popular color is Apple’s “space gray” aluminum case—40% of pre-orders—followed by stainless steel (34%), silver aluminum (23%), and “space black” steel (3%).
The black sport band was the most popular band among all buyers, representing almost half of all orders.

Some 71% of pre-orders were for the larger, 42mm watch size.
Among Apple Watch pre-order customers tracked by Slice, 72% had previously ordered an Apple product in the past two years.
Apple also started selling its new MacBook laptop on April 10. Some 43% of those ordering a MacBook also bought an Apple Watch, according to Slice.

To be sure, this is a projection based on one company’s data. (Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment on its accuracy.) And this only reflects US pre-orders. It’s entirely possible—if not likely—that order profiles were different in other countries. Apple has also put itself in the position to reveal very little about watch sales: It has said that it will not report them in quarterly earnings reports as a specific category, but will bundle them in with other products.

Actual Apple Watch sales begin on April 24 in nine countries: Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, the UK, and the US. It’s not clear how much inventory Apple will have at its stores. The company has encouraged pre-orders, which seem to have quickly sold out: Availability timing for US pre-orders is now mostly in May or June, depending on the model.