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Apple Watch is such a flop it's the world's top-selling wearable

Canalys reckons Cupertino shifted 4.2 million wristjobs in a quarter

Apple's Watch was slow to reach stores, needed a patch for the FREAK bug, has given users a nasty rash, sparked a lawsuit and may not be notably better than Android Wear, but none of those travails have stopped it from becoming the world's number one wearable.

So say the folks at analyst outfit Canalys, who reckon Apple shipped 4.2 million of the devices in 2015's second quarter. The firm previously suggested the world bought seven million wearables in Q1, when Fitbit led the market.

Apple “easily overtook Fitbit, Xiaomi and all the smart watch vendors, despite the Apple Watch’s significantly higher pricing,” says Canalys, which opined that all purveyors of wearables have plenty of work to do if the category is to thrive.

“Apple and other vendors still face important challenges to make the smart watch a breakout hit,” said veep and principal analyst Chris Jones. “Improvements in performance, battery life and sensor integration are needed to make future models more attractive, but it is the quality of third-party apps that will determine whether the Apple Watch will be a long-term success.”

Canalys has previously predicted that Cupertino will shift 20 million wristjobs this year and it hasn't backed away from that number, suggesting the 4.2 million Q2 sales were slowed by supply chain wobbles.

Apple posts its results late Tuesday, US time, when we'll have a chance to learn if Canalys' 4.2 million sold number or KGI's 3.9 million prediction are close to the mark. ®

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