A new poll predicts 6 percent of Americans will buy Apple's first-ever wearable Watch, which would equate to about 15 million devices being sold, and that's just about in line with early predictions by research analysts.
The Reuters/Ipsos survey also reveals that men are more likely, almost double, to be buying Apple's smartwatch. Nine percent of men are looking to buy a Watch while just 4 percent of women are expected to buy the wearable.
The news comes within a week of the Watch debuting in retail stores and online for pre-order sales and in-store try-on demos.
As Tech Times has reported research analyst sales predictions, prior to Watch's arrival in stores, ranged from 15 million to 30 million in sales. The poll surveyed 1,829 U.S. adults between April 8 and April 14.
"It should serve Apple well if they can even get close to that," said Van Baker, a Gartner analyst, regarding the poll estimate.
In regard to overall consumer interest in the Watch the survey reveals that 18 percent of those polled are "somewhat" or "very" interested and 76 percent indicated no interest.
That can't be music to Apple and its CEO Tim Cook as the Watch is Cook's first Apple product since he took the helm. The Watch represents a brand new revenue stream and product portfolio for Apple and reflects Apple's interest in moving into new industries beyond PCs and mobile computing devices.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll did not indicate which of the three Watch options consumers are looking to buy. The three range in price from $350 for the basic to a starting price of $10,000 for the Gold Edition.
While Apple, in traditional fashion, has yet to offer up any statistics regarding the product launch, early reports regarding the Watch debut in stores claim that 1 million Watch devices were pre-ordered on the first day.
A new report Thursday indicates the figure may actually be a bit higher, as a KGI Securities analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo, issued an investment note that global pre-orders for Apple Watch were now above 2.3 million.
Apple has not yet said how many watches have been ordered, but Cook described sales as "great." Shopping data firm Slice Intelligence and brokerage Cowen and Co estimated pre-orders on the first day at about 1 million in the United States.
As Tech Times has reported early industry reviews regarding the Watch have not been robust or encouraging, as many reviewers seem to believe the Watch is more of a novelty item that many consumers may not see a strong reason to buy. The Apple faithful, however, is expected to be a large population of early adopters.
In fact, many consumers may well be into owning a Watch, but not the first rendition, notes Gartner.
"We may see a high level of interest. Apple will sell a few million fairly quickly, but then things might flatten out a little," said Baker.
The poll revealed that most consumers who do buy the Watch will likely fall into the 18 to 28 age group as they indicated the highest interest level and checked off the 'cool factor' in the survey.
