The smartwatch market may not be as strong as let’s say smartphones, but Apple has just become the new king of wearables this Q1 of 2017.
According to Strategy Analytics, Apple is now the world’s top wearable vendor with 3.5 million devices shipped during the first quarter of this year. Apple grabbed 16% market share, overtaking Fitbit.
Not far behind is Xiaomi with 3.4 million shipments followed by Fitbit with 2.9 million. In terms of market share, they captured 15.5% and 13.2%, respectively. Compared to same quarter from the previous year, Fitbit’s numbers have dropped massively while Xiaomi is slowly declining.
Let’s keep in mind, though, Xiaomi mostly ships smart bands, Fitbit has a variety of fitness trackers and smartwatches while Apple only ships full-blown smartwatches that work great if you have an iPhone.
It’s interesting to see how competitive the market of wearables for now despite the slow adoption it gets from consumers. Let’s see again in 2018 if there will be a new top wearable vendor.
Source: Strategy Analytics
Strictly speaking, it is only shipped. It doesn’t say “sold”. Canalys reported about the increase in Android wear sales and it did not mention anything about apple’s smartwatch. Smartwatches and other wearable gadgets are struggling in sales but the sales is increasing slowly (and surely).
Personally, I prefer the traditional watches over smartwatches. It’s unpleasant to charge your watch a few times a week. Not to mention that it will not last as long as mechanical watches.
Yes, they shipped a lot–but the question is, are people actually wearing that ugly, overpriced watch of theirs?