Science

Apple Watch Takes the Lead in the Global Wearable Market

March 02, 2018 15:36·
Apple takes the top spot in the global wearables market

Apple takes the top spot in the global wearables market

For the year, Apple shipped 17.7 million units to number two Xiaomi's 15.7 and Fitbit's 15.4 million.

While Apple gained momentum by adding cellular connectivity to its smartwatch, Fitbit struggled through its ongoing business transformation.

The culprits behind the malaise in the rest of the market were Fitbit, the former leader, and Chinese manufacturer Xiaomi, which focuses on the low end. With eight million shipments in the fourth quarter, Apple has become the leader in the global wearables market, a report by International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Wearable Device Tracker has said. All told, Apple moved 8 million units in the last three months of 2017- up 57.5 percent from the year before, and good for a 21 percent market share.

Xiaomi in third place witnessed declined in shipment to 4.9 million from 5.2 million, with its market share going lower to 13 percent from 14.7 percent.

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"The slowdown is not due to a lack of interest - far from it", Llamas said. That's a result of numerous vendors exiting the market altogether, Llamas wrote, noting that new vendors and new models are already moving to replace them. "The next generation of wearables will make the ones we saw as recently as 2016 look quaint".

Apple's share for the year totaled 15.3% thanks to strong Watch Series 3 sales. At the same time, the company took multiple steps to deepen its reach in healthcare, including several partnerships with major healthcare providers. Although its aging MiBand 2 accounted for most volume, the company has introduced a follow-up version, the MiBand HRX, smart footwear Mijia Smart Shoes and its second watch for kids, the Mitu Kids' Watch 2. Xiaomi's focus still remains within its home region of China with less than 15 percent of its volumes heading elsewhere.

Garmin posted a slight increase in shipments for the year. While sales of more basic devices have generally slipped, Garmin (grmn) got a boost from both its lesser line of Vivo branded fitness trackers and its more expensive Fenix-branded smartwatches in the quarter. However, the focus on China has been somewhat detrimental as shipments of the company's wearables declined by 2 percent in other markets, making it even more hard for Huawei to become a worldwide brand.

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