Apple Watch sales down ahead of next generation release

Shipments of Apple Watches declined 55% year-over-year in the second quarter, as the release of a second generation of the technology is due to come later this year.

Samsung Electronics is gaining ground in the watch technology market, as Apple experiences a drop in market share from 72% to 42% currently.

The drop in Apple Watch shipments can be attributed to an irregularly high second quarter of 2015, in which the smartwatch made its debut, said Roger Kay, founder of tech consulting company Endpoint Technologies Associates.

“The numbers look bad because [Apple] did well out of the gate,” Kay said. “It’s a hard compare, because essentially there was an overabundance of enthusiasm in the beginning.”

Apple still remains the leader in the market however, selling more watches than Samsung, Lenovo, LG and Garmin combined.

Consumers could be waiting for the arrival of the Apple Watch 2, which is predicted to arrive around September of this year, and the tech company hopes that this will drive sales once more.

Global shipments of smartwatches declined for the first time in the second quarter, by a significant 32%, mostly because of Apple. But with the help of Apple Watch 2, as well as a number of improvements from other market leaders and growing interest in the technology in general, growth may return in 2017.

Shares of Apple decreased 0.5% to $99.41 in Thursday trading. Its shares have declined by 6% in the past three months and 24% in the past year.