Apple Watch Hits More Than A Million Pre-Orders

Pre-orders for Apple’s highly-anticipated smartwatch finally opened on Friday, and it seems that despite a number of so-so reviews, customers are already keen to snap one up.

Data from analyst firm Slice Intelligence found that 957,000 people in the US pre-ordered an Apple Watch on Friday, the first day the watch was available for sale.

And according to data from 9,080 online shoppers, the firm revealed that each Apple Watch buyer ordered an average of ‘1.3 watches’, spending on average $503.83 per watch. Those ordering an Apple Watch Sport spent $382.83 per watch and those ordering the Apple Watch spent $707.04.

Get in line

Unsurprisingly, it seems that many of those pre-ordering the watch were ardent Apple fans, with 72 percent saying that they had purchased an Apple product in the past two years, and 21 percent had also pre-ordered an iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus following their release last September.

11 percent bought all three devices, in addition to their new watch.

As expected, the lowest-priced Apple Watch model, the Sport, was the most popular amongst shoppers, with 62 percent opting for this design.

Most consumers (71 percent) also opted for the larger 42 mm case, which cost slightly more, with Sport buyers slightly more likely to choose the 38 mm case, with 32 percent purchasing the smaller version, versus 24 percent of Apple Watch buyers.

However, it seems that many Apple Watch buyers invested in the pricier case but opted for a cheaper band, with more than one third adding a basic $49 black or white Sport band.

The most popular type of case was the Space Gray aluminium case, chosen by 40 percent of Apple Watch buyers, followed by: stainless steel at 34 percent, silver aluminium at 23 percent and finally Space Black stainless steel at three percent.

Set to go on sale on April 24, the Apple Watch is also available to pre-order now in the UK, with prices starting from £299 but rising to £13,000 for the most premium models.

Shoppers with slightly more time and money on their hands can head down to Selfridges department store on Oxford Street, where a pop-up Apple Store allows customers to have a 15-minute hands-on with the device before deciding whether or not to order one.

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