Apple Watch takes lead in wearables market as smartwatch sales surge
The inclusion of cellular connectivity in Apple Watch Series 3 helped propel Apple to the top of the wearables market in the first quarter of 2018, according to market research firm IDC, a move that ousted longtime frontrunner Xiaomi.
Continuing a trend that emerged last year, smartwatch sales are outpacing those of basic wearables, or simple devices capable only of counting steps.
In its latest Worldwide Quarterly Wearable Device Tracker, IDC estimates wearables shipments grew 1.2 percent over the first quarter. Notably, the market for smart devices like Apple Watch and products from Fitbit grew 28.4 percent over the same period, while basic wearables suffered a 9.2 percent decline.
Leading the pack was Apple with 4 million Apple Watch units shipped, up 13.5 percent year-over-year. The performance was good enough to capture a 16.1 percent share of the market, putting the company ahead of Xiaomi's 3.7 million shipped units and 14.8 percent marketshare. The Chinese upstart's wearables business finished the quarter up 2.3 percent.
Market stalwart Fitbit was dealt a punishing blow in quarter one and managed to ship 2.2 million units, down 28.1 percent year-over-year. The poor showing landed the company far back in third place with an 8.7 percent share of the market, whereas last year the health tracking firm was just 2 points away from then-No. 2 Apple. Fitbit was the only top-five manufacturer to post negative growth during the quarter.
Coming in fourth and fifth were Huawei and Garmin, respectively. Huawei managed to boost shipments by 147 percent to 1.3 million units and 5.2 percent of the market, while Garmin finished the period with a similar showing of 1.3 million shipments for a 5 percent marketshare.
Pushing its advantage, Apple is expected to unveil a redesigned Apple Watch model with larger screen, enhanced battery life and improved health features later this year. Not much is known about the device, though rumblings suggest Apple will not stray far from the form factor it debuted when the device launched in 2015.
Continuing a trend that emerged last year, smartwatch sales are outpacing those of basic wearables, or simple devices capable only of counting steps.
In its latest Worldwide Quarterly Wearable Device Tracker, IDC estimates wearables shipments grew 1.2 percent over the first quarter. Notably, the market for smart devices like Apple Watch and products from Fitbit grew 28.4 percent over the same period, while basic wearables suffered a 9.2 percent decline.
Leading the pack was Apple with 4 million Apple Watch units shipped, up 13.5 percent year-over-year. The performance was good enough to capture a 16.1 percent share of the market, putting the company ahead of Xiaomi's 3.7 million shipped units and 14.8 percent marketshare. The Chinese upstart's wearables business finished the quarter up 2.3 percent.
Market stalwart Fitbit was dealt a punishing blow in quarter one and managed to ship 2.2 million units, down 28.1 percent year-over-year. The poor showing landed the company far back in third place with an 8.7 percent share of the market, whereas last year the health tracking firm was just 2 points away from then-No. 2 Apple. Fitbit was the only top-five manufacturer to post negative growth during the quarter.
Coming in fourth and fifth were Huawei and Garmin, respectively. Huawei managed to boost shipments by 147 percent to 1.3 million units and 5.2 percent of the market, while Garmin finished the period with a similar showing of 1.3 million shipments for a 5 percent marketshare.
Pushing its advantage, Apple is expected to unveil a redesigned Apple Watch model with larger screen, enhanced battery life and improved health features later this year. Not much is known about the device, though rumblings suggest Apple will not stray far from the form factor it debuted when the device launched in 2015.
Comments
Then I would guess Apple would be fine selling 500 units a year?
Yes it would, if it was selling them for $10million each. And the support costs would be less too.
Profit first. Always.
It's wonderful to track run statistics month after month. Very easy to note where improvements need to come. Distance per run, distance per month, minutes per mile and what I think is most important, is number of runs per month.
If I can run 15-20 runs a month, I keep the momentum going and see great improvements in all all the other areas!
With the momentum, all the running stats seem to just fall into place.
The added benefits are better sleep, better eating habits, better mood, more energy and weight loss!
Best
If you look at the smart watch category - the only real "smart" part of wearables - then Apple Watch does have iPod-like marketshare. Fitbit is a very distant 2nd.
Similarly, in tablets in the western countries, Apple has something like 70%+ marketshare in devices over $200. So take out the video viewers & e-readers, and in the true "tablet computing" market, Apple is really the only company.
very insightful. With iPad you have all these rules to get to 70%, a little less with Watch. With iPod, people were buying $200 iPods instead of the $20 junk.