Apple Watch leads growing smartwatch segment with 5.7M units shipped in Q2
Apple once again led the smartwatch pack during the second quarter of 2019, shipping an estimated 5.7 million Apple Watch units as it creeps toward a 50% share of the global market.
According to the latest statistics from Strategy Analytics, Apple shipped 5.7 million Apple Watch devices to capture 46.4% of the market during the three-month period ending in June. That result is up 50% from 3.8 million units shipped in the same quarter of 2018.
"Apple Watch remains a long way ahead of the chasing pack and its global smartwatch marketshare has grown to 46% this quarter, up from 44% a year ago," said Neil Mawston, executive director at Strategy Analytics. "Apple Watch has fended off strong competition from hungry rivals like Fitbit. Apple remains the clear smartwatch market leader."
Samsung came in second with 2 million smartwatches shipped, more than doubling its performance year over year. Riding high on recent releases like the Galaxy Watch Active, the Korean tech giant upped its slice of the global smartwatch pie from 10.5% in the second quarter of 2018 to nearly 16% in 2019.
Third place Fitbit saw a dip in sales as its numbers dropped from 1.3 million units shipped in the second quarter of 2018 to 1.2 million in 2019. The wearable industry stalwart saw its share of the market contract from 15.2% to 9.8% over the same period. Earlier this month, Fitbit lowered guidance for its fiscal 2019 on weaker than expected sales of Versa Lite, a device once advertised as a budget Apple Watch competitor.
Overall, the smartwatch market continued to grow during quarter two, with market players shipping some 12.3 million units, up from 8.6 million in the year ago quarter.
Apple is forging ahead in its quest to dominate the wearables segment and most recently posted record revenues of $5.5 billion in a category that includes Apple Watch, AirPods, Beats, Apple TV and HomePod. Apple CEO Tim Cook in an earnings conference call in July said Apple Watch adoption was at record-breaking levels. On a wider level, Apple's wearables business benefitted from an influx of new users and enjoyed a 50% growth rate from the same time last year.
According to the latest statistics from Strategy Analytics, Apple shipped 5.7 million Apple Watch devices to capture 46.4% of the market during the three-month period ending in June. That result is up 50% from 3.8 million units shipped in the same quarter of 2018.
"Apple Watch remains a long way ahead of the chasing pack and its global smartwatch marketshare has grown to 46% this quarter, up from 44% a year ago," said Neil Mawston, executive director at Strategy Analytics. "Apple Watch has fended off strong competition from hungry rivals like Fitbit. Apple remains the clear smartwatch market leader."
Samsung came in second with 2 million smartwatches shipped, more than doubling its performance year over year. Riding high on recent releases like the Galaxy Watch Active, the Korean tech giant upped its slice of the global smartwatch pie from 10.5% in the second quarter of 2018 to nearly 16% in 2019.
Third place Fitbit saw a dip in sales as its numbers dropped from 1.3 million units shipped in the second quarter of 2018 to 1.2 million in 2019. The wearable industry stalwart saw its share of the market contract from 15.2% to 9.8% over the same period. Earlier this month, Fitbit lowered guidance for its fiscal 2019 on weaker than expected sales of Versa Lite, a device once advertised as a budget Apple Watch competitor.
Overall, the smartwatch market continued to grow during quarter two, with market players shipping some 12.3 million units, up from 8.6 million in the year ago quarter.
Apple is forging ahead in its quest to dominate the wearables segment and most recently posted record revenues of $5.5 billion in a category that includes Apple Watch, AirPods, Beats, Apple TV and HomePod. Apple CEO Tim Cook in an earnings conference call in July said Apple Watch adoption was at record-breaking levels. On a wider level, Apple's wearables business benefitted from an influx of new users and enjoyed a 50% growth rate from the same time last year.
Comments
The phone seems to be the one device that everyone has. Heck some people even carry two (work and personal). I see lots of people without watches at all and many for whom the classic (non smart/digital) design is preferred. But everyone has a phone and it's with them almost 24/7.
The phone turns out to be the near perfect form factor for 80-90% of people's use cases. It is the true "personal computer." I suspect the watch, simply because of form limits, will never quite get there.
Apple will keep going with this. It's no business to laugh off by any means and the watch brings value particularly its health monitoring features. But from a business POV, it's nothing compared to the phone.
Rather like what the iPad have done. Where competitors have just given up. He said, he thinks a lot of people were thinking it would be like the iPhone, where Android has a huge market share...but no profits. Except where they harvest and sell your data!
BTW, I'm still rocking my Series Zero for every day wear to complete my circles and running.
Will be buying the new gen., so I can swim, and use the watch so I don't have to carry my iPhone.
Best
P.S. I remember back in the day when Apple iPod had 87% of the iPod (MP3 disc) market...and then Apple introduced the iPod shuffle (Flash based) and had 87% of that market by the following Friday!
Yes. Apple knows this and were smart enough to plan for it... They're selling fewer phones, but still making more money by expanding in other areas, specifically, wearables and services. So even though people are hanging on to their phones a lot longer now, Apple has been able to make up for it by producing desirable "satellite" products that work seamlessly with those phones.
So as long as Apple continues to add and move their iOS platform forward, people will eventually upgrade to new iPhone.
The article is about the business of selling watches.
I'm not saying or even implying that's the only factor to consider about that.
That said, it is an important aspect because if it cannot be a profitable endeavor, it will cease to be offered. The fact that it is a good business suggests that it provides good value to people. If it did not provide good value it would not sell very well for very long.
Because Android sells knockoff iPhones for dirt cheap and it's a communications device you will see more sales.
Apple Watch is more of a luxury than a commodity with hardly any viable knockoffs. Because of this people who can afford and Apple Watch(Apple users) will buy one as a companion device.
This is why Android iPad knockoffs and watches struggle because the average android user can only afford the bare minimum(knockoff iPhone) and not luxuries such as android watches/iPad knockoffs/Streaming boxes/you name it.
Don't be surprised if Apple Watch reaches 50%+ marketshare. I predict 80% marketshare eventually unless a very cheap knockoff hits the market. Fitbit is trying to do this.
in Australia, Samsung gears are quite rare except in the IT geek crowd. It’s either Fitbit or Apple Watch. I would say Fitbit is a bit more common so far, probably because the price gap is so large, and Apple Watch does not have the full range of features as the US to work as a selling point. .
Eventually, is seems likely that a watch with no phone will become an option. How many will choose this, leaving the typing and web surfing for iPads or notebooks, and just use a watch for routine connectivity while going about your day?
But, like the Terminator: "They'll be back!".
Other vendors will keep on improving their hardware and eventually catch up to Apple's hardware -- just as they've done with other Apple products.
But, like those other products, those competitors will always be lacking one important thing: Apple's software, its ecosystem and how it all integrates with other Apple products.
My Apple Watch integrates seamlessly with Apple's ecosystem, my iPhone and, to a lesser degree, my Mac. It is an integration that cannot adequately be expressed in words -- but they all compliment each other and make each other stronger. I seriously doubt that any competitor will ever be able to match that.
There will eventually be smartwatches that are 'good enough' (sound familiar?) at all price bands. Apple won't be able to sustain 80% of such a market.
'Eventually' might also be sooner rather than later.
1. Apple isn't far off (if already there).
2. iKnockoff users can't afford luxuries like a watch. Apple users CAN. This is why Android iPad wannabes failed and 35 buck Amazon versions are killing it! Sound familiar?
Maybe Samsung or Huawei will release a cheap knockoff(If Huawei already hasn't) but again, it will be crap and outsell Apple due to price leaving Apple to reap 90%+ of all profits again.
Mostly Apple Watch with a few Fitbit watches and a tiny bit random android crap sprinkled in the U.S.
This would be my anecdotal chart:
50% Analog watches
40% Apple Watch
8% Fitbit
2% Random android crap
Move them goal posts! Classic move by you — claiming that because a bunch of different companies will sell a bunch of crappier chinese knockoffs, while making little to no money doing it, that this means Apple is somehow losing.
Errrnnnrt. Nope.