As the Watch marked its first anniversary on Sunday, it should be noted that Apple has sold twice as many Watches as iPhones in its debut year. Yet somehow the Apple Watch remains to be dogged by the perception that it's a disappointment.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported last night that Apple Watch's fate is critical to Apple. "It is Apple's first all-new product since the iPad and a test of its ability to innovate under Chief Executive Tim Cook, when sales of iPhones are slowing."

​So far, the numbers appear solid, even though Apple doesn't disclose sales. Yet analysts estimate about 12 million Watches have been sold in its debut year. The WSJ noted that at an estimated average price of $500, the Apple Watch has three times the annual revenue of activity tracker Fitbit Inc.

By comparison, Apple sold roughly six million iPhones in its first year. As a new entrant, the Watch accounted for about 61% of global smartwatch sales last year, according to researcher IDC.

Yet like any new product it has its first generation problems. The WSJ spoke with Joshua Stein, a 33-year-old app developer in Chicago, who said that he bought the Apple Watch shortly after its release, but found the software slow and thought it was inconvenient having to charge it each night."

To address the sluggish software issue, Apple now requires all new watchOS apps to be native by June 1 as noted in Apple's announcement posted last week and illustrated below.

Still, the Apple Watch has fans that use it daily. According to research firm Wristly, 93% of 1,150 Apple Watch owners in an online survey last week said they were 'satisfied' or 'very satisfied' with the device.

The Watch's early struggles in some ways echo the iPhone, now considered a ground-breaking product that accounts for two-thirds of Apple's revenue. The initial model didn't run on the then-fastest wireless network, didn't offer third-party apps and lacked basic functions such as copying and pasting text. But that's all forgotten now that it's the leading premier smartphone on the market.

Most fans believe that the Apple Watch's best days are ahead. One such fan is Adam Grossman, the creator of Dark Sky (a popular weather app for the iPhone) who told the Wall Street Journal that he thinks that most of Apple Watch's greatness is still to come and that in six years from now it's going to be weird not to own one. Apple is working to ensure that's the case.

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