Apple, again: from The Motley Fool, August 22, 2020 -- Apple has gobbled up half of the Smartwatch market this year. Remember when everyone laughed at Apple's Apple Watch. LOL. This is truly amazing -- so many story lines.
Apple has been dominating the wearables market in recent years, thanks in large part to the popularity of Apple Watch.
Strong demand for AirPods also helps, as the company is likewise the leader in hearables. The smartwatch market has been able to grow so far this year despite the economic havoc that the COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked across the world.
The Mac maker has expanded its market share over the past year and represented over half of all smartwatch revenue in the first two quarters of 2020.
Counterpoint Research estimates that Apple's share of smartwatch revenue in the first half of 2020 was 51.4%, up from 43.2% in the first half of 2019.
The No. 2 vendor was Garmin with 9.4% share during that time frame, followed by China's Huawei at 8.3%. Overall unit volumes were roughly flat at around 42 million as consumers tried to continue exercising during the coronavirus crisis, but the 20% growth in total smartwatch revenue points to an increase in average selling prices (ASPs).
"The smartwatch space remains a popular consumer device segment, compared to the downturn seen in smartphone demand and many other segments in the first six months of 2020 due to the devastation caused by COVID-19," Counterpoint senior analyst Sujeong Lim said.
"Close to 42 million smartwatches were shipped in the first half of 2020 as wearables continue to see greater demand with consumers becoming more health conscious." The Apple Watch Series 5 has the most popular smartwatch model thus far in 2020, followed by the older Apple Watch Series 3 that the Cupertino tech giant continues to sell at a lower $199 price point. Huawei's Watch GT2 was the third best-selling gadget, with Samsung's Galaxy Watch Active 2 ranking No. 4 in popularity.
Biggest fumble: colleges canceling fall football. Huge, huge fumble. How bad will it be. The repercussions will be felt for years. My hunch: "peripheral sports" dead; women's sports will take a bigger hit. From https://www.foxbusiness.com/sports/iowa-hawkeyes-announce-cuts-to-sports-programs-over-financial-fallout-a-loss-of-this-magnitude-will-take-years-to-overcome: Iowa Hawkeyes announce cuts to sports programs over financial fallout: "A loss of this magnitude will take years to overcome." More than 200 sports programs have been cut across the NCAA's three divisions and NAIA.
The University of Iowa announced Friday that it would be cutting several sports programs following the 2020-2021 season as a result of the financial burden caused by the pandemic.
School president Bruce Harreld and athletic director Gary Barta confirmed that the school would be discontinuing men's gymnastics, men's tennis and men's and women's swimming and diving in response to the projected $100 million in revenue losses.
“A loss of this magnitude will take years to overcome. We have a plan to recover, but the journey will be challenging,” Harreld and Barta said.
Barta pointed to Big Ten’s decision to postpone Hawkeyes football and other fall sports to the spring. The move creates an estimated budget deficit of somewhere between $60 million and $75 million this year.
Athletic departments across the country are facing financial hardships because of the cancellation of the NCAA men's basketball tournament and shortened or canceled football seasons. More than 200 sports programs have been cut across the NCAA's three divisions and NAIA since the pandemic began in March.
Just last month Stanford announced that it would be doing away with 11 sports programs. Iowa announced initial budget cuts in July, including a $15 million reduction for athletics through pay cuts and furloughs but it wasn’t enough to save the program.
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