Apple Watch driving radical smartwatch market expansion in Q2 2021

AppleInsider

As the overall smartwatch market grows, Apple continues to hold its lead with the popular Apple Watch Series 6 driving sales.

Apple Watch continues to be a third of the shipping smartwatch market

Research from Counterpoint shows that other platforms are struggling to gain market share in the smartwatch market. Apple Watch sits comfortably at 33.5% of shipments while second place is Tizen at only 8%. The remainder of the market share is distributed among several smaller brands.

The commanding lead that the Apple Watch holds is despite a consolidation in the smartwatch market thanks to acquisitions and mergers from major companies trying to compete with Apple's efforts. The Apple Watch continues to dominate with 33.5% of the global smartwatch shipments share in fiscal Q2 2021.

"Apple was able to further solidify its leadership position in the market by widening the portfolio from Watch SE to Series 6 at the right time," said senior analyst Sujeong Lim. "This may drive Samsung to launch a mid-price-tier model to boost growth."

Google's WearOS for smartwatches has failed to gain traction in the market with only 3.9% of shipments. Google recently announced a partnership with Samsung to bolster its wearable business along with the acquisition of Fitbit. These three brands combined could represent more than 15% of shipments in the future.

"This is a great move by Google to accelerate its ambitions for the wearables space," said Vice President of Research Neil Shah. "It can build a robust portfolio of Wear devices integrating the best of all the three worlds - Tizen OS, Wear OS and Fitbit OS. The consolidation brings more power to Google's Wear platform and will attract more developers to build newer experiences for the wrist."

Apple introduced Apple Fitness+, which combines fitness tracking on the Apple Watch with video exercises on Apple TV or iPad for a new level of synergy.

Rumors about the "Apple Watch Series 7" show a continued commitment to health tracking and life-saving features. Apple could introduce a blood pressure monitor or some form of glucose tracking in the new smartwatch. Such features in a $400 smartwatch would ensure Apple's market control continued into 2022.

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lkrupp

True to form, Apple develops a runaway hit with the Watch, and the others realize they have to start over if they want to compete. Is it really going to take three companies to compete with Apple effectively?

MacPro

lkrupp said:

True to form, Apple develops a runaway hit with the Watch, and the others realize they have to start over if they want to compete. Is it really going to take three companies to compete with Apple effectively?

Remember the naysayers here on AI when it was announced?  I'd love to see AI repost some of the best examples of those claiming Watch would fail.

muthuk_vanalingam

lkrupp said:

True to form, Apple develops a runaway hit with the Watch, and the others realize they have to start over if they want to compete. Is it really going to take three companies to compete with Apple effectively?

i don't think even 30 companies are going to compete with Apple effectively on the Watch space, much like Tablets. Apple will nearly be a monopoly on these 2 segments for years to come.

DAalseth

MacPro said:

lkrupp said:

True to form, Apple develops a runaway hit with the Watch, and the others realize they have to start over if they want to compete. Is it really going to take three companies to compete with Apple effectively?

Remember the naysayers here on AI when it was announced?  I'd love to see AI repost some of the best examples of those claiming Watch would fail.

I was one of those, I didn’t think it was that big a deal. I did not see the appeal of the AW when it was released. However let’s be honest, the original AW was nothing compared to what is out today. Apple tried to place it as a fashion accessory. Only when they boosted the power and capabilities did it become a must have thing. That’s why I waited until the AW 6 before getting one. Now I love it, it has integrated into every aspect of my daily life. The original AW0 would not have. 

Though TBH that is how Apple has come to dominate several markets. The iPhone, and iPad were each cool devices that didn’t do much at first. Each was refined and refined until they became the fantastic devices they are now. I waited until the iPhone 5C before I got one.

williamh

Supporting the premise of the story, my wife's AW is out for delivery now. Some of you have noted the major improvements in 6 generations of the watch.  

For me, even the original did what I wanted it to do and pretty well, which was basically to track my workouts which are mostly running and calisthenic type of stuff. I've enjoyed some of the new features but disabled a lot of them, such as most alerts.

I'd recommended the watch to my wife for a long time (along with Fitbit etc, whatever works for her) for motivating her fitness. Finally the newer health features and EKG got her attention, as well as the variety of straps.  She likes pretty things.

DAalseth

williamh said:

. Finally the newer health features and EKG got her attention, as well as the variety of straps.  She likes pretty things.

Same here

Beats

In my (anecdotal) experience that Apple Watch market share number seems crazy low.

My experience:
Apple Watch 55%

Analog watches %40
Other smart watches %5

I include analog watches otherwise Apple Watch would completely dominate. If I were to count only smart watches then Apple would easily take 95-100% share per day.

I know GatorGuy about 2 years back claimed he’d never seen an Apple Watch in the wild. At that time I’d easily see 3 Watches among a group of people and one time counted them at the check out at Wal Mart and counted 12 IIRC.

Beats

muthuk_vanalingam said:

lkrupp said:

True to form, Apple develops a runaway hit with the Watch, and the others realize they have to start over if they want to compete. Is it really going to take three companies to compete with Apple effectively?

i don't think even 30 companies are going to compete with Apple effectively on the Watch space, much like Tablets. Apple will nearly be a monopoly on these 2 segments for years to come.

Remember over 200 companies are competing against iPhone and probably half of that against iPad.

I hope Apple has a monopoly with Watch.


“It can build a robust portfolio of Wear devices integrating the best of all the three worlds - Tizen OS, Wear OS and Fitbit OS.”

Yay more fragmentation! sounds great!
/s

muthuk_vanalingam

Beats said:

muthuk_vanalingam said:

lkrupp said:

True to form, Apple develops a runaway hit with the Watch, and the others realize they have to start over if they want to compete. Is it really going to take three companies to compete with Apple effectively?

i don't think even 30 companies are going to compete with Apple effectively on the Watch space, much like Tablets. Apple will nearly be a monopoly on these 2 segments for years to come.

Remember over 200 companies are competing against iPhone and probably half of that against iPad.

I hope Apple has a monopoly with Watch.


“It can build a robust portfolio of Wear devices integrating the best of all the three worlds - Tizen OS, Wear OS and Fitbit OS.”

Yay more fragmentation! sounds great!
/s

I think you misunderstood the statement from that article that was bolded by you. Google is working to reduce the fragmentation by working together with Samsung and through the acquisition of Fitbit. It is a step in the right direction. Would that help much in moving the needle? I seriously doubt it. There is just not adequate demand for a smartwatch from Android phone buying customers, for Google/Samsung/Huawei/BBK/Qualcomm to invest much on smart watches.

The technology used in smartwatches from Android OEMs is WAY behind what Apple is using and the gap keeps increasing every year because Apple is actively investing into integrating various health & other features in Apple Watch continuously. Since there is not much money to be made, Android OEMs are finding it extremely difficult to invest in Watch and falling behind further and further. So yeah, we can expect Apple to have near monopoly on the smartwatch segment for years to come.

Beats

muthuk_vanalingam said:

Beats said:

muthuk_vanalingam said:

lkrupp said:

True to form, Apple develops a runaway hit with the Watch, and the others realize they have to start over if they want to compete. Is it really going to take three companies to compete with Apple effectively?

i don't think even 30 companies are going to compete with Apple effectively on the Watch space, much like Tablets. Apple will nearly be a monopoly on these 2 segments for years to come.

Remember over 200 companies are competing against iPhone and probably half of that against iPad.

I hope Apple has a monopoly with Watch.


“It can build a robust portfolio of Wear devices integrating the best of all the three worlds - Tizen OS, Wear OS and Fitbit OS.”

Yay more fragmentation! sounds great!
/s

I think you misunderstood the statement from that article that was bolded by you. Google is working to reduce the fragmentation by working together with Samsung and through the acquisition of Fitbit. It is a step in the right direction. Would that help much in moving the needle? I seriously doubt it. There is just not adequate demand for a smartwatch from Android phone buying customers, for Google/Samsung/Huawei/BBK/Qualcomm to invest much on smart watches.

The technology used in smartwatches from Android OEMs is WAY behind what Apple is using and the gap keeps increasing every year because Apple is actively investing into integrating various health & other features in Apple Watch continuously. Since there is not much money to be made, Android OEMs are finding it extremely difficult to invest in Watch and falling behind further and further. So yeah, we can expect Apple to have near monopoly on the smartwatch segment for years to come.

I see what you’re saying and the sentence is written confusingly. So does this mean all 3 will create a new OS? It still sounds like a disaster. My assumption is that they will be 3 different OSes sharing functions which in my opinion won’t help much and will still be fragmented especially since Samsung wants to control their OS. This seems more like a final attempt to take on Apple.

Also in usual Google fashion, it looks like FitBit is dying fast after acquisition.

muthuk_vanalingam

Beats said:

muthuk_vanalingam said:

Beats said:

muthuk_vanalingam said:

lkrupp said:

True to form, Apple develops a runaway hit with the Watch, and the others realize they have to start over if they want to compete. Is it really going to take three companies to compete with Apple effectively?

i don't think even 30 companies are going to compete with Apple effectively on the Watch space, much like Tablets. Apple will nearly be a monopoly on these 2 segments for years to come.

Remember over 200 companies are competing against iPhone and probably half of that against iPad.

I hope Apple has a monopoly with Watch.


“It can build a robust portfolio of Wear devices integrating the best of all the three worlds - Tizen OS, Wear OS and Fitbit OS.”

Yay more fragmentation! sounds great!
/s

I think you misunderstood the statement from that article that was bolded by you. Google is working to reduce the fragmentation by working together with Samsung and through the acquisition of Fitbit. It is a step in the right direction. Would that help much in moving the needle? I seriously doubt it. There is just not adequate demand for a smartwatch from Android phone buying customers, for Google/Samsung/Huawei/BBK/Qualcomm to invest much on smart watches.

The technology used in smartwatches from Android OEMs is WAY behind what Apple is using and the gap keeps increasing every year because Apple is actively investing into integrating various health & other features in Apple Watch continuously. Since there is not much money to be made, Android OEMs are finding it extremely difficult to invest in Watch and falling behind further and further. So yeah, we can expect Apple to have near monopoly on the smartwatch segment for years to come.

I see what you’re saying and the sentence is written confusingly. So does this mean all 3 will create a new OS? It still sounds like a disaster. My assumption is that they will be 3 different OSes sharing functions which in my opinion won’t help much and will still be fragmented especially since Samsung wants to control their OS. This seems more like a final attempt to take on Apple.

Also in usual Google fashion, it looks like FitBit is dying fast after acquisition.

Current state is 3 different OSes - Tizen OS by Samsung, Fitbit OS by Fitbit and Wear OS by Google.
Future state - One Single OS, i.e. Wear OS by Google.

Samsung has agreed to incorporate Wear OS into its smartwatches for future (whether they will give up Tizen OS completely and go all-in with Wear OS is not clear to me at this point). Google has acquired Fitbit, so Fitbit OS in its current form won't exist in future, with parts of it getting added to Wear OS eventually. As I mentioned earlier, this is a step in the right direction to reduce fragmentation.

How much will it help Samsung/Google? I have my own doubts on that part. That boat has sailed half a decade back which Google and Android OEMs missed. This is too little, too late for them to compete with Apple in this space. Samsung and few other Android OEMs may remain a niche player in this space in future without getting much traction, with Apple remaining the dominant player.

StrangeDays

DAalseth said:

MacPro said:

lkrupp said:

True to form, Apple develops a runaway hit with the Watch, and the others realize they have to start over if they want to compete. Is it really going to take three companies to compete with Apple effectively?

Remember the naysayers here on AI when it was announced?  I'd love to see AI repost some of the best examples of those claiming Watch would fail.

I was one of those, I didn’t think it was that big a deal. I did not see the appeal of the AW when it was released. However let’s be honest, the original AW was nothing compared to what is out today. Apple tried to place it as a fashion accessory. Only when they boosted the power and capabilities did it become a must have thing. That’s why I waited until the AW 6 before getting one. Now I love it, it has integrated into every aspect of my daily life. The original AW0 would not have. 

Though TBH that is how Apple has come to dominate several markets. The iPhone, and iPad were each cool devices that didn’t do much at first. Each was refined and refined until they became the fantastic devices they are now. I waited until the iPhone 5C before I got one.

This isn't really true. While they did offer 3 models at launch, the top tier being gold, by far the most popular model was (as expected) the basic model, which sold for $350/400 and was literally named "Sport". Activity tracking ala FitBit was the #1 feature -- it was immediately all about closing those activity rings. The other main things were notifications, NFC payments, and wireless iPod, which are still with us. Me personally I also used HomeKit. The iterations have given us a little more (ECG, blood oxygen, sleep tracking), but those original main use cases are still the tentpole features.

Was it slow and frustrating? Sure. But the claim that Apple pivoted it away from fashion and into sports doesn't mesh w/ reality -- Apple Watch Sport and the Workouts app, day 1, for $350. IMO, I think offering it w/ optional high-end bands like Hermes and selling it inside other stores was just intended to position it as a non-techies-only device, broadening its appeal to normals. I think that worked.

They continue to sell premium materials versions -- stainless steel, titanium, and previously ceramic.

Beats

muthuk_vanalingam said:

Beats said:

muthuk_vanalingam said:

Beats said:

muthuk_vanalingam said:

lkrupp said:

True to form, Apple develops a runaway hit with the Watch, and the others realize they have to start over if they want to compete. Is it really going to take three companies to compete with Apple effectively?

i don't think even 30 companies are going to compete with Apple effectively on the Watch space, much like Tablets. Apple will nearly be a monopoly on these 2 segments for years to come.

Remember over 200 companies are competing against iPhone and probably half of that against iPad.

I hope Apple has a monopoly with Watch.


“It can build a robust portfolio of Wear devices integrating the best of all the three worlds - Tizen OS, Wear OS and Fitbit OS.”

Yay more fragmentation! sounds great!
/s

I think you misunderstood the statement from that article that was bolded by you. Google is working to reduce the fragmentation by working together with Samsung and through the acquisition of Fitbit. It is a step in the right direction. Would that help much in moving the needle? I seriously doubt it. There is just not adequate demand for a smartwatch from Android phone buying customers, for Google/Samsung/Huawei/BBK/Qualcomm to invest much on smart watches.

The technology used in smartwatches from Android OEMs is WAY behind what Apple is using and the gap keeps increasing every year because Apple is actively investing into integrating various health & other features in Apple Watch continuously. Since there is not much money to be made, Android OEMs are finding it extremely difficult to invest in Watch and falling behind further and further. So yeah, we can expect Apple to have near monopoly on the smartwatch segment for years to come.

I see what you’re saying and the sentence is written confusingly. So does this mean all 3 will create a new OS? It still sounds like a disaster. My assumption is that they will be 3 different OSes sharing functions which in my opinion won’t help much and will still be fragmented especially since Samsung wants to control their OS. This seems more like a final attempt to take on Apple.

Also in usual Google fashion, it looks like FitBit is dying fast after acquisition.

Current state is 3 different OSes - Tizen OS by Samsung, Fitbit OS by Fitbit and Wear OS by Google.
Future state - One Single OS, i.e. Wear OS by Google.

Samsung has agreed to incorporate Wear OS into its smartwatches for future (whether they will give up Tizen OS completely and go all-in with Wear OS is not clear to me at this point). Google has acquired Fitbit, so Fitbit OS in its current form won't exist in future, with parts of it getting added to Wear OS eventually. As I mentioned earlier, this is a step in the right direction to reduce fragmentation.

How much will it help Samsung/Google? I have my own doubts on that part. That boat has sailed half a decade back which Google and Android OEMs missed. This is too little, too late for them to compete with Apple in this space. Samsung and few other Android OEMs may remain a niche player in this space in future without getting much traction, with Apple remaining the dominant player.

Thanks for explaining. I can’t help but think that a lot of FitBit owners would be pissed to have to move to WearOS. There were Tweets of people threatening to leave Fitbit after the Google acquisition because of privacy concerns. Maybe a few Tizen users will be upset about leaving that OS behind also. I’m surprised Sammy agreed but with Apple being that big they must have had no choice. I’d imagine if Sammy had a big chunk of market share they would have told Google to F off.

They’re really relying on the star Fitbit here. I don’t see how any other brand can compete. And Fitbit seems to be losing steam every quarter. If Apple keeps the SE on the market next gen and drops the price further, it’s game over for WearOs and this can happen within the next few months.