@cstross I can't say I'm surprised. All the Apple Car rumors made me wonder "where's the value for Apple here and why should they bother?" and I could never figure out an answer that seemed worth the hassle.

Apparently that's true of people inside Apple too.

@FeralRobots @wordshaper Per Statista (not the best site) Apple has sold about 54 million watches from 2015 through 2022. So maybe 60 million by now, at an average price of say $500 (assuming most folks buy the cheap model), that'd be $30Bn, or maybe $4-5Bn/year.

Yes, that's a SMALL product by Apple standards.

@cstross @FeralRobots ...it's entirely possible the Apple Watch exists because Tim Cook runs and was annoyed by how bad fitness trackers were. A petty reason but maybe the case. (And if so I'm good with it, I rather like mine as a fitness gadget)

Possibly they're also taking a long view and just waiting for some new health sensors -- if it ever gets blood pressure or glucose monitoring those sales numbers will get a nice boost.

@wordshaper @FeralRobots Wrist-mounted blood pressure is a non-starter: wrist cuff monitors exist, the accuracy is piss-poor (they depend on height relative to your heart). Non-invasive glucose monitoring would be the killer app, but the FDA just had to post a warning that no such devices exist yet and are licensed ...

https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/safety-communications/do-not-use-smartwatches-or-smart-rings-measure-blood-glucose-levels-fda-safety-communication