During the launch of the Apple Watch Series 3 last week, the impression that was created was that the smartwatch is primarily a health-monitoring device. For the previous versions of the Apple Watch, Apple had tried to position the smartwatch as one aimed at people who need to access information more conveniently. What Apple has failed to do so far is convince the market that it’s a device that regular people would need to do regular things.

As a health-monitoring device, the launch presentation indicated that the smartwatch is now capable of tracking the heart rate in a manner that is more thorough to an extent that it can tell how effective one’s workouts were. It is also possible to tell through the smartwatch the number of stair flights one has climbed.

Health device

Through a partnership that has been formed with Stanford University, the heart-rate monitoring data will be used to tell whether the wearer is suffering from arrhythmias or irregular heartbeats. People who unknowingly have heart conditions and which could potentially lead to atrial fibrillation or heart failure as a result of arrhythmia will thus benefit from using the device. However, the average tech-gadget consumer might not be swayed by this.

But despite the Apple Watch having limited utility value to the average consumer KGI Securities’ analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo, has sent out a client note which indicates that LTE-enabled Apple smartwatch is proving popular with consumers. According to Kuo, sales are better than initially expected.

Pre-order data

Prior to the launch on September 12, the production weighting of the cellular smartwatch had been projected to be between 30% and 40%. Now from statistics obtained from the pre-order website the pre-order weighting has been revised upwards to between 80% and 90%.

One of the reasons could be the relatively low price difference between the Apple smartwatch with cellular connectivity and the one without. An Apple Watch with LTE connectivity is priced at $399 in the United States while one without will cost $329. A premium of $70 for the benefits that come from a smartwatch that will work independently of the iPhone seems to be a small price to pay literally.