Series 3 sales help crown Apple Watch king of 2017 wearables market
Some 8 million Apple Watches may have been sold in the December quarter, allowing Apple to beat out the likes of Fitbit for wearables dominance not just then but during the whole of 2017, according to research published on Thursday.
Apple saw its marketshare rise year-over-year from 14.4 percent to 21 percent in Q4, with units growing from 5.1 million, IDC said. One-time leader Fitbit saw its units decline from 6.5 million to 5.4 million, and hence share fall from 18.5 percent to 14.2.
Behind those two companies were Xiaomi, Garmin, and Huawei. A cumulative "others" group shrank from 43.5 percent to 41 percent, even as shipments increased slightly to 15.6 million.
"4Q17 was the first quarter that Apple held the market leader position all to itself after spending several quarters close behind Fitbit or Xiaomi," IDC wrote. "Apple is catching the market at the right time with many users of basic wearables moving on to smartwatches and cellular connectivity (available on select Series 3 Watches) is earning a warm reception among end users, if only for the convenience of leaving their smartphone behind. The late-year push of 8.0 million units separated Apple from the competition to emerge as the overall leader of the wearables market for the year."
During 2017, Apple is estimated to have shipped 17.7 million Watches, surpassing Xiaomi's 15.7 million and Fitbit's 15.4 million.
Apple's plans for new hardware in 2018 are still shrouded. The company could potentially add an EKG reader, and/or make cellular models even more independent of the iPhone.
Apple saw its marketshare rise year-over-year from 14.4 percent to 21 percent in Q4, with units growing from 5.1 million, IDC said. One-time leader Fitbit saw its units decline from 6.5 million to 5.4 million, and hence share fall from 18.5 percent to 14.2.
Behind those two companies were Xiaomi, Garmin, and Huawei. A cumulative "others" group shrank from 43.5 percent to 41 percent, even as shipments increased slightly to 15.6 million.
"4Q17 was the first quarter that Apple held the market leader position all to itself after spending several quarters close behind Fitbit or Xiaomi," IDC wrote. "Apple is catching the market at the right time with many users of basic wearables moving on to smartwatches and cellular connectivity (available on select Series 3 Watches) is earning a warm reception among end users, if only for the convenience of leaving their smartphone behind. The late-year push of 8.0 million units separated Apple from the competition to emerge as the overall leader of the wearables market for the year."
During 2017, Apple is estimated to have shipped 17.7 million Watches, surpassing Xiaomi's 15.7 million and Fitbit's 15.4 million.
Apple's plans for new hardware in 2018 are still shrouded. The company could potentially add an EKG reader, and/or make cellular models even more independent of the iPhone.
Comments
It's faster, brighter, and more functional, and I take my iPhone 7+ out of my pocket far less often.
I love the watch for placing and answering calls via my Beats X earphones. They're quick and easy to pair, and they stay in my ears far better than my previous PowerBeats Wireless 3 set.
Apple Pay works great with the watch, and is yet another way NOT to take out my phone.
And I love playing my Apple Music tunes from the watch with its easy-to-use interface.
Like with most Apple products I use, I don't care very much what are the various marketshares. I just know that there's no way I'd consider any other brand of comparable devices.
Next for us is the Home Pod—maybe two once Air Play 2 arrives!
But, to be honest, I use the watch for daily exercise tracking and its more instantaneous response makes a big difference (you don't want to be staring at a watch waiting for it to respond while you're running -- it's a bit like texting and driving.) But honestly, it seems every facet of the watch is just better...
Don't hesitate to upgrade to a newer series...
It started as a fashion accessory
Then it became a techy trinket
Now its (mostly) billed as an activity tracker -- and seems to have found its niche...
It did get off to a slow start but I think its future will be as a rising star...
... Weirdly, they are identical -- but the satisfaction factor is worlds apart. I love this Series 1!
But now I'm right back into the same dilemma: I really wanted a Series 3 LTE -- but the damn Series 1 works so damn well, I can't justify upgrading! I hate Apple!
Just having everything "better" has allowed me to use it more.