【Japan】

If you believe some studies,Japan smartwatch sales are down by more than 50 percent, but that isn't stopping Apple from pushing its latest wearable even harder just before Christmas.

In a new series of ads the company posted on Friday, the Apple Watch Series 2 is profiled as the ultimate lifestyle device.

Taking us from what looks like Los Angeles and Asia, and then a dance studio and an outdoor soccer match, the spots don’t feature any dialogue and only last from 10 to 16 seconds each.

The key focus in each video is how they open: with the wearer opening a gift box containing the Apple Watch Series 2, a clear prompt to stuff Christmas stockings with Apple's newest wearable tech.

And while the aforementioned study, focused on smartwatches and released by IDC in October, had the Apple Watch in the lead in terms of market share, the fact is that Apple still won't reveal sales numbers for the device, leading some to wonder if it's not as popular as Apple might have us believe.

Along those lines, on Tuesday Apple CEO Tim Cook took the unusual step of responding to a query about Apple Watch sales via email.

"Our data shows that Apple Watch is doing great and looks to be one of the most popular holiday gifts this year," Cook wrote to Reuters.

"Sales growth is off the charts. In fact, during the first week of holiday shopping, our sell-through of Apple Watch was greater than any week in the product’s history. And as we expected, we’re on track for the best quarter ever for Apple Watch."

Cook's comments follow a more recent report from IDC in December focused on the fitness tracker category that had Apple in fourth place behind Fitbit, Xiaomi and Garmin. Both IDC reports estimate that Apple sold around 1.1 million units during the third quarter of 2016, which would represent a 71 percent drop from the previous year.

Nevertheless, the combination of Apple's new aspirational holiday ads and Cook's recent comments are working hard to dispel any ideas around the Apple Watch being anything less than another popular part of the Apple mobile ecosystem.