Rolex Market Share & Industry Stats

[bram]

Hey everyone, just thought I would share some interesting stats on the watch industry, from this months edition of WatchTime, most notably Rolex’s 25% market share and 810,000 units sold in 2020.

Enjoy!




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[bram]

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[BobtheViking]

The main thing to take from that is that breitling should be ashamed of themselves

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[horologyhour]

Intereting! Rolex increasingly becoming more and more of a commodity, based on 2020 second-hand prices.

[enjoythemusic]

Asia is an INCREDIBLY strong market. I can see why many manufacturers are releasing new models catering to the average Asian wrist size.

Calvin Klein selling more timepieces than Tudor is an interesting data point, thx OP!

[ROBERT1183]

Originally Posted by BobtheViking

The main thing to take from that is that breitling should be ashamed of themselves

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I agree. If I had to guess I woulda figured they sold more.

[andrewgusa]

Thanks for sharing Zane!

[derekhayden]

Nice Stats

[russ86]

wow for some reason I thought it would be more than that

[101031-28]

Excellent piece of information, thank you for sharing!

[thenewrick]

Very rough numbers estimate 131k Rolex come to USA each year. If there’s something like 100 ADs that averages around 1,310 Rolexes to each AD each year or about 110 a month. Sounds about right. Smaller stores probably half that and big stores maybe double

[copernic83]

Once again, numbers don't match.

If Rolex had an annual turnover of 4.42bn and sold 810k watches, that's 5,450 CHF per watch on average, which is close to the price of their cheapest watch (OP31) ! Way too low

[flyboyyy]

Originally Posted by copernic83

Once again, numbers don't match.

If Rolex had an annual turnover of 4.42bn and sold 810k watches, that's 5,450 CHF per watch on average, which is close to the price of their cheapest watch (OP31) ! Way too low

Rolex doesn't earn retail price...only wholesale which we know is roughly around 60% of retail (and some margin for distribution comes off as well), so the numbers are probably reasonably accurate.

[dannyp]

Originally Posted by BobtheViking

The main thing to take from that is that breitling should be ashamed of themselves

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Yes, but the two caveats to that are:

1. The downside of not being part of a conglomerate.

2. China. I’ve never heard about it being huge in that market, especially since Asia seems to favor slightly smaller pieces, and if you can’t move watches in China, good luck having comparatively large sales.

[replicator]

Originally Posted by ROBERT1183

I agree. If I had to guess I woulda figured they sold more.

More Mille sold than Breitling? Wow.

[TheVTCGuy]

Originally Posted by replicator

More Mille sold than Breitling? Wow.

Yeah, I found that interesting as well.

[Avs Fan]

Originally Posted by TheVTCGuy

Yeah, I found that interesting as well.

To compete on sales market share, not units sold, you've got to sell a lot of Breitlings for every RM...

[DC116710LN]

Very cool - thanks for sharing

[dannyp]

Originally Posted by flyboyyy

Rolex doesn't earn retail price...only wholesale which we know is roughly around 60% of retail (and some margin for distribution comes off as well), so the numbers are probably reasonably accurate.

Also, isn't it possible that it's further diluted because Rolex SA technically "sells" units to its distributors, despite most (like Rolex USA) being wholly owned subsidiaries? While that's all a matter of accounting, if watches are sold to the distributors for, say, 60% of wholesale, then we're down to Rolex SA taking in less than 40% of the retail price.

[brandrea]

I’m surprised to see RM has more share of the market than Tudor.

[Fleetlord]

Originally Posted by BobtheViking

The main thing to take from that is that breitling should be ashamed of themselves

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Honestly...absolutely pathetic share numbers from Breitling and Panerai..really, really struggling.

IWC is not as bad, but still awful.

The one that surprised me the most is TAG Heuer. I would never have thought Longines would have 2X their share. Tag sure is fading...must be the smartwatches chewing into that segement.

But, no surprise at Rolex showing absolute market domination. It isn't even remotely close.

[enjoythemusic]

Originally Posted by Fleetlord

Honestly...absolutely pathetic share numbers... and Panerai..really, really struggling.

PAM needs more downsized pieces to reach the Asian market. 45+mm won't cut it, so more 42mm-ish and unisex 38mm-ish.

[Seddyspaghetti]

Thanks for sharing

[horseShu]

Despite all the hate from watch enthusiasts and youtubers, Hublot's market share is just about the same as forum favorite, Tudor.

Goes to show this tiny echo chamber of ours does not follow market reality.

[enjoythemusic]

Originally Posted by horseShu

Goes to show this tiny echo chamber of ours does not follow market reality.

To be fair, every forum has faves... and whipping boys.

There's more to life than just the English language.

[teck21]

Originally Posted by russ86

wow for some reason I thought it would be more than that

A lot of people are buying other brands because they

a) can’t get a Rolex , or
b) are bundling or building a relationship to get a Rolex

If it holds true that these people would simply have just gotten a Rolex, if they could get the one they wanted, Rolex’s market share would likely be higher.

Rolex’s ‘low’ market share is likely a function of its decision not to manufacture more of some references.

[Greg 59]

Originally Posted by copernic83

Once again, numbers don't match.

If Rolex had an annual turnover of 4.42bn and sold 810k watches, that's 5,450 CHF per watch on average, which is close to the price of their cheapest watch (OP31) ! Way too low

Not every watch that Rolex manufacturers is sold for cash. Some are given away as gifts. I assume you are not on that list?

[CAOrthopod90]

Very interesting, thanks for sharing. I would have guessed Omega may have a larger market share just on availability at stores and production numbers but guess not.

Also, this does not even remotely take into account secondary market where Rolex is truly king.

[dannyp]

Originally Posted by Fleetlord

Honestly...absolutely pathetic share numbers from Breitling and Panerai..really, really struggling.

IWC is not as bad, but still awful.

The one that surprised me the most is TAG Heuer. I would never have thought Longines would have 2X their share. Tag sure is fading...must be the smartwatches chewing into that segement.

But, no surprise at Rolex showing absolute market domination. It isn't even remotely close.

Perhaps a function of TAG getting increasingly more expensive (to the point of losing market share to those who'd rather an Omega at those prices)? Longines may have 2x the marketshare by revenue, but it's over 3x by volume, which suggests they just churn out loads and loads of pretty cheap watches.

[db1.dubai]

interesting