Apple Inc.(NASDAQ:AAPL) shareholders have in the past perceived Apple Watch as a prospective game-changer for the firm. However, the current development trajectory in general seems to indicate otherwise. In fact, it appears that Apple Music has better prospects compared to Apple Watch.

The highlights

Apple recently posted 4Q2016 earnings that surpassed both bottom and top line projections, but still left a bitter taste in shareholders’ months after the firm posted another large revenue drop of 8.9%. All major hardware divisions reported year-over-year drops. iPhone unit sales declined 5%, iPad sales dropped 6% and Mac sales declined 14%. The quarterly report did show some positives though, with revenue from services up 24% YoY. Apple Music revenue jumped 22% and Apple Pay transactions surged 500% YoY.

As usual, Apple kept the Apple Watch numbers secret. Shareholders have in the past have focused immensely on the potential of Apple Watch turning a game-changer for the company. But visibly the latest sales statistics are as skimpy as they are critical about the state of the smartwatch market. Meanwhile, Apple Music has failed to receive as much favorable response as Apple Watch, probably because it’s definitely still a small portion of company’s Services business. Analysts are betting on Apple Music with the prospects that it is bound to turn into a bigger part of company than Apple Watch, both from a financial and strategic viewpoint.

Although Apple failed to disclose Apple Watch sales, market experts project that sales declined by a considerable amount in the reported quarter. As per the IDC, Apple Watch unit sales came at 2.7 million in the third quarter, a 72% YoY decline. That’s substantially worse than the wide average drop of 51.6% posted by smartwatch industry in the same period.

The industry shrinkage itself is a big issue from the triple-digit progression the market recorded during 4Q2015. Apple Watch drop witnessed company’s smartwatch market share decline to just 41% from 71% in last year’s corresponding quarter. Of the big firms, only Lenovo recorded a worse drop than Apple in the smartwatch segment.

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