14 DAY TRIAL // Some time ago, a survey provided by Strategy Analytics revealed Samsung smartwatch efforts was apparently paying off. According to the information, the Korean tech giant managed to snatch 71% of the global market in the first quarter of the year.
Now, an even fresher report made available by the NPD Group shows the effects Samsung’s intelligent timepieces have on the US market. Their numbers are showing Samsung and Pebble are currently the top two smartwatch manufacturers leaving a distinctive mark on the ecosystem. The report takes into account a time period starting with October 2013.
“The smartwatch market is poised to continue to grow in 2014, with nearly $100 million in US sales in less than a year, the category is off to a promising start with just two major brands.”
NPD says almost half a million smartwatches were sold in the United States since October, with Samsung taking up 78% of the game, while Pebble settled for just 18%.
Adding up these numbers, it results that other smartwatch manufacturers like Sony managed to take control of only 4%, making them quite irrelevant in the US market, at least.
The previous report provided by Strategy Analytics showed us Samsung shipped 500,000 units of its Galaxy Gear smartwatch around the world in Q1, thus capturing 71% of the global market and now NPD is narrowing it down for us, focusing in the US market.
NPD also adds that 20% of customers are now interested in purchasing a smartwatch, which isn't exactly a whole lot. For the time being users are just probing the market, but they aren't yet convinced or ready to actually purchase one of these devices.
However, this trend my soon all change, with the introduction of the first Android Wear smartwatches, coming from Motorola and LG. The new products should be upon us as soon as this summer and Apple’s heavily rumored iWatch should also make an appearance too, an event expect to drive smartwatch sales up.
Samsung is currently the leader in the US market, but the Korean tech giant wants to maintain the trend as much as it can.
With this purpose in mind, Sammy will probably roll out a standalone smartwatch capable of placing phone calls by itself, without needing a smartphone to do so. Moreover, the company should also put out its first Android Wear device this summer.
Wearables seem to be turning into a big deal for Samsung. The manufacturer has also announced the Simband platform, a system meant to monitor health-related parameters in real time.