Apple's share of the wearables market shrinks amid competition from Xiaomi, Huawei & Samsu...

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in Apple Watch
Apple maintained clear control of the global wearables market in the March quarter, but saw its share erode in the face of giants from China and Korea.

Apple Watch Series 4 Nike+


Apple is estimated to have sold 12.8 million units, giving it 25.8% marketshare, research firm IDC said on Thursday. Though shipments rose from 8.6 million a year ago, its share at that time was calculated at 26.8%.

In Apple's case, wearables include not just the Apple Watch but AirPods and various Beats headphones. The company has never officially shared unit numbers for any of those products -- there are however alternate means of gauging performance, such as third-party retailers.

China's Xiaomi ranked a distant second in Q1 2019 with 6.6 million units and a 13.3% share, but that rose from 3.9 million and 12.3% in 2018. Huawei grew from 1.3 million and 4.1% to 5 million and 10%.

Normally considered Apple's chief rival worldwide, Samsung advanced from 1.7 million and 5.3% to 4.3 million and 8.7%. The Korean company has reportedly benefited from bundling accessories like Galaxy Buds with its flagship Galaxy S10 phones.





The average selling price for the Apple Watch rose from $426 to $455, IDC noted. That data wasn't dissected, but in theory Watch buyers may be seeing more value in upgrades like 4G, stainless steel, and leather or steel bands. Some might also be gravitating toward bigger screens where previously they would've chosen a smaller, cheaper size.

"Apple also seems to be employing a similar strategy in its wireless headphone lineup as the latest AirPods are now available with wireless charging and an increased ASP," IDC added.

The only wearables numbers Apple has offered for the March quarter are net "Wearables, Home and Accessories" sales of $5.1 billion. That was up from $3.9 billion in the same 2018 quarter.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 20
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,092member
    It's laughable to put the wannabe Chinese iKnockoffs anywhere near the same field as the Apple Watch.  Like Android on tablets, it also is pathetic on wearables.  Good luck on them getting FDA approval and having anywhere near the functionality of what Apple offers.

    If the consumers are purchasing based solely on price, then they can have them and Samsung, Xiaomi, and Huawei can keep fighting over crumbs.
    StrangeDaysArloTimetravelerlordjohnwhorfinpscooter6380s_Apple_Guyalbegarcjony0
  • Reply 2 of 20
    hammeroftruthhammeroftruth Posts: 1,303member
    Consider the source, IDC. 🙄
    They still think that market share equals success when Apple never did. 
    ravnorodomStrangeDayspscooter63jony0
  • Reply 3 of 20
    entropysentropys Posts: 4,152member
    iDC. Laugh.
    Anyway, what kind of market segmentation is it that lumps high end smart watches with heart monitors,  budget earphones etc? Downright weird, and meaningless.

    I also expect Samsung growth in this “market” is the buds, not the galaxy watch.
    edited May 2019 jony0
  • Reply 4 of 20
    slurpyslurpy Posts: 5,382member
    Uh, sure, if you say so. I'll just completely ignore my anecdotal evidence of literally seeing hundreds of Apple Watches a day and maybe 1 Samsung/Huwaei/X chinese watch a week. Where the fuck are all these being sold, and to who?
    pscooter63albegarcjony0
  • Reply 5 of 20
    geekmeegeekmee Posts: 629member
    So does this mean that more people are unsatisfied with their Apple 4 watch purchases?.... or are there more people buying watches who have no idea what the difference in what they bought?
    The future of one of these trends is doomed.
    edited May 2019
  • Reply 6 of 20
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member
    My headline would be - Apple still reigns supreme, selling far more wearables than anybody else in the universe, making far more profits than anybody else and selling their wearables for a far higher price point than anybody else, with a far higher customer satisfaction rate than anybody else, and despite all this, the cheapo brands are still struggling with some of them resorting to bundling and giving away their stuff for free. 
    edited May 2019 lkruppalbegarcjony0
  • Reply 7 of 20
    retrogustoretrogusto Posts: 1,109member
    My headline would at least mention that this claim comes from IDC (who doesn’t have confirmed figures and whose guesses are rarely accurate). As it reads, it sounds like a fact rather than speculation. 
  • Reply 8 of 20
    Ot51Ot51 Posts: 2member
    I don't think people are unsatisfied with their Series 4's. My thought is with the upgrades from 3 to 4 many are waiting for Series 5 hoping for the biggest issue of all, improved battery life. I could be way of base (wouldnt be the first time) but that is my reason for holding out. For the pricing, I can wait and only hope.
    AI_lias
  • Reply 9 of 20
    revenantrevenant Posts: 621member
    slurpy said:
    Uh, sure, if you say so. I'll just completely ignore my anecdotal evidence of literally seeing hundreds of Apple Watches a day and maybe 1 Samsung/Huwaei/X chinese watch a week. Where the fuck are all these being sold, and to who?
    i am sure you are a world traveler who just missed the millions of non-apple watches in china, japan, and india.
    edited May 2019
  • Reply 10 of 20
    revenantrevenant Posts: 621member
    why are we bothering with IDC which is typically raked through the coals on this site (for good reason)? it appears very silly to condemn a (flawed) statistical company that reaches for straws when giving apple low numbers (we all complain 'how the heck do they know?') and then use their numbers when it puts apple in a glowing light?

  • Reply 11 of 20
    mcdavemcdave Posts: 1,927member
    Apple's share of the wearables market shrinks…”
    Due to 
    the category being flooded by cheaper products.

    As usual.
  • Reply 12 of 20
    entropys said:
    iDC. Laugh.
    Anyway, what kind of market segmentation is it that lumps high end smart watches with heart monitors,  budget earphones etc? Downright weird, and meaningless.

    I also expect Samsung growth in this “market” is the buds, not the galaxy watch.
    Well Apple lumps it's Apple watch and rear pods and beats together. 

    Comparing the Apple Watch to other junk is like comparing how many cheap bicycles vs Ferraris are sold. 
    edited May 2019
  • Reply 13 of 20
    mattinozmattinoz Posts: 2,299member
    mcdave said:
    Apple's share of the wearables market shrinks…”
    Due to 
    the category being flooded by cheaper products.

    As usual.
    Yes Apple's profit share in market no doubt increased. Although I doubt they are over a 100% yet. 
  • Reply 14 of 20
    bageljoeybageljoey Posts: 2,004member
    Ot51 said:
    I don't think people are unsatisfied with their Series 4's. My thought is with the upgrades from 3 to 4 many are waiting for Series 5 hoping for the biggest issue of all, improved battery life. I could be way of base (wouldnt be the first time) but that is my reason for holding out. For the pricing, I can wait and only hope.


    I think you are going to be disappointed. Unless Apple can get to 1 week battery life, I don’t really see all that much benefit—in fact, I think a doubling of the battery life to 2-4 days would almost be a negative.
    As it stands now, I have to charge my watch every night—it’s part of my routine. I don’t have to think about it or remember; I just do it.  If I got +/- 3 days, I would lose my routine and surely end up with a dead watch every week or two.  Because remembering to do something 2-3 times a week is much harder than remembering to so something every night!
    edited May 2019
  • Reply 15 of 20
    bestkeptsecretbestkeptsecret Posts: 4,265member

    This is just another case of Apple vs. all the others. This happened with the tablet market and may repeat in the smart watch market.

    Just like how the iPad is the de facto king of tablets, the Apple Watch will remain on top of the heap for a long time. I'm not talking about profitability. I'm talking about usability and relevance.

  • Reply 16 of 20
    kevin keekevin kee Posts: 1,289member
    geekmee said:
    So does this mean that more people are unsatisfied with their Apple 4 watch purchases?.... or are there more people buying watches who have no idea what the difference in what they bought?
    The future of one of these trends is doomed.
    1. Apple has the biggest market share at 25.8% with the second position almost half of that, this considering Apple is selling only the premium wearables.
    2. Apple YoY growth is actually very high from 8.6 millions (IDC number) to 12.8 millions, that's 4.2 millions increase.
    3. Huawei has the biggest percentage YoY growth at 282.2% but in reality only ship 5 millions, far below Apple.
    4. In conclusion: people are very satisfied with their Apple 4, never read just the headlines, and IDC is seldom accurate.
  • Reply 17 of 20
    multimediamultimedia Posts: 1,034member
    Ot51 said:
    I don't think people are unsatisfied with their Series 4's. My thought is with the upgrades from 3 to 4 many are waiting for Series 5 hoping for the biggest issue of all, improved battery life. I could be way of base (wouldnt be the first time) but that is my reason for holding out. For the pricing, I can wait and only hope.
    Very happy going from Series Zero (launch day) to Series 3 in Fall of 2017. Waiting to buy Series 5 simply because the WATCH is too expensive for me to upgrade every year. I upgraded from 256GB iPhone 7 Plus to 512GB Xs Max last Fall. Won’t do that again until Apple offers a Terrabyte of iPhone storage capacity. I expect to be very happy keeping my new 2019 Series 5 WATCH for many years to come thanks to the increased size change which I don’t expect to change again.

    As for battery life, I wear my Gold Aluminum Series 3 GPS+Cell WATCH 24/7 round the clock due to me using sleep apps and only need to charge it off my wrist for only one or two early evening hours to get it back to 100%. Then every morning I top it off for no more than a half or full hour at most while making breakfast or shaving/showering. That routine seems plenty convenient to me. I use Theatre mode most of the time and don’t use notifications nor sound ever. Don’t use the cell option. Wanted 16GB storage. Do run Runtastic &  Activity exercise apps on it every day.

    Really looking forward to upgrading to Series 5 this Fall. Love the Gold Aluminum Pink Sand Sport Loop. Will buy the 44mm GPS+Cell model just to keep my options open for possible future Cell use.
    edited May 2019
  • Reply 18 of 20
    maestro64maestro64 Posts: 5,043member
    More made up data from IDC again using quarterly unit sold share when profit share is the real meaningful measure. Plus installed based is the real important measure. 
  • Reply 19 of 20
    jungmarkjungmark Posts: 6,926member
    How does idc define the “wearables” market? I bet it includes all the cheap crap. 
    edited May 2019
  • Reply 20 of 20
    FatmanFatman Posts: 513member
    Market share of smart watches alone (less the cheap/ free earphones) is a more relevant stat to track. 
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