Samsung sells 800,000 Galaxy Gear smartwatches in two months

Samsung has released the sales figures for the Galaxy Gear Smartwatch and much to everyone's surprise the company is reporting that it's shifted 800,000 units since the watch was unveiled a little over two months ago.

The Gear was shown off at IFA in Berlin, at the same time that Sony and Qualcomm also announced their own smartwatches. It's thought that the proliferation in wrist-based gadgets at the show was an attempt by a range of companies to get a headstart on Apple, which was widely believed to be releasing its own watch this autumn -- although the mysterious wearable is still yet to materialise.

Samsung announced the Gear alongside the Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition at its annual Samsung Unpacked event, and has poured extensive resources into marketing it, as well as putting it on the runway during the Lisbon and New York Fashion Weeks. Despite poor reviews across the board and a ridiculous £300 price tag, it seems the marketing has been effective, for Samsung is claiming its sales figures have exceeded even its own expectations.
"It's the most sold wearable watch available in the market place... and we plan to expand its availability by expanding mobile devices that work with the Gear," Reuters reports Samsung as saying in statement.

When Wired.co.uk reviewed the Gear last month, we gave it five stars out of a possible ten and recommended you hold off buying a smartwatch for a little while yet. To quote our review:
"The Galaxy Gear feels like too little, too soon, at too big a price, with too limited a spread of supported devices to use it with -- and it's essential you pair it with one. There's clearly a potential market for smartwatches, but limited capability tied in to a very small number of smartphones doesn't seem like a great way to make the most of that potential."

In our review Sony's smartwatch scored six stars although it's not known how the SW2 -- which is half the price of the Gear -- is performing in comparison. Qualcomm's Toq is not yet on sale, but will be available to purchase online from 2 December for $350 (£218). Initially the watch was designed only as a proof-of-concept device, but it was a concept that was well received by the industry, so it's great to see it officially go on sale.

When we went hands-on with the Toq in September we were told the watch would only be available in small numbers in the US, but Qualcomm has tweeted that while "initially" it will only be shipping to the US, it will let us know if and when it will be available in other countries.