Apple Watch owners love it, but most think it's a failure

The biggest thing standing in the way of the success of the Apple Watch is the price

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It's been almost exactly one year since the Apple Watch started shipping on April 24, 2015. While Apple has been cagey about giving out any numbers on how many have been sold, the device, by most estimates, has been a sales success. Out of 17 millon smartwatches shipped last year, half were said to be Apple products. Some think the number was even larger than that. 

Whatever the reality is, though, public perception is also important and, according to new research out from Fluent, the overall feeling on the Apple Watch isn't very positive.

When 2,578 participated were asked if they thought that the Apple Watch was "a successful product," more than half, 53 percent, said no.

The numbers were skewed along those who own the device and those who don't, with 77 percent of Apple Watch owners saying it was successful. On top of that, 62 percent of them said they would upgrade their Apple Watch when the next edition comes out. 

The biggest use cases for owners of the device are health and fitness monitoring, and notifications, with 79 percent citing both, while 75 percent use it to listen to music.

Clearly those who have an Apple Watch seem to really love it. The challenge for Apple to change the minds of all of those other people who see the device negatively. The company has its work cut out for it, as only 8 percent said that definitely will buy an Apple Watch in the next year, compared 35 percent who said that they definitely will not.

The main thing that's holding it back, it seems, is the price. Nearly half, 46 percent, of all those surveyed cited the price as a reason to not buy an Apple Watch.

Apple seems to know that this is a problem. Last month the company dropped the price of the Apple Watch Sport from $350 to to $300. That's still a lot of money, but it shows that Apple is at least trying to fix the issue.

The reasons for not buying the device drop sharply after the price issue; only 26 percent said it wasn't useful, and 11 percent said they are waiting for a better version. Here's something interesting: an even higher percentage of Apple Watch users, 31 percent, said it wasn't useful. 

When it comes to whether or not the smartwatch is here to stay, the people ar split right down the middle, with 50 percent saying that the majority of Americans will have smartwatches in 10 years, and 50 percent saying the opposite.

Not surprisingly, 75 percent of Apple Watch owners go with the "everyone will have one" side, because who doesn't want to believe that they're on the forefront of a mass trend? 

The Apple Watch is a year old, and this survey shows one thing very clearly: the company has a perception problem on its hands, with people thinking the device is too expensive, and that it's been a failure. Those who have it seem to love it, but the company still has to convince everyone else that they actually need it. 

(Image source: apple.com)