Half of all smartwatches sold last year were Apple Watches

Feb 28, 2019 06:37 GMT  ·  By

Apple Watch accounted for nearly half of all smartwatches sold last year, according to new data provided by Strategy Analytics.

Apple sold a total of 9.2 million devices in the fourth quarter of 2018, up from 7.8 million units in the same period of the year before. This brings the total 2018 count to no less than 22.5 million Apple Watches sold worldwide.

Fitbit, which is currently the runner-up, is far behind its Cupertino-based rival. The company sold just 2.3 million wearables in the fourth quarter of the year, while in 2018 overall, its shipments reached 5.5 million units.

Samsung is third with 2.4 million and 5.3 million units respectively, followed by Garmin and the rest of the industry.

Samsung’s growth

However, while these number highlight Apple’s impressive performance in the wearables market last year, the company’s market share actually dropped last year from 60.4% to 50%. This happened mostly because of the growth experience by Fitbit, which jumped from 1.7% to 12.2%, but also following the slight increase recorded by others, like Samsung.

“Apple shipped 9.2 million smartwatches worldwide in Q4 2018, rising 18 percent from 7.8 million units in Q4 2017. Apple’s global smartwatch marketshare slipped to 51 percent this quarter, down from 67 percent a year ago. Apple Watch is losing marketshare to Samsung and Fitbit, whose rival smartwatch portfolios and retail presence have improved significantly in the past year,” says Neil Mawston, Executive Director at Strategy Analytics.

Samsung itself also recorded a notable growth in 2017, as it managed to ship no less than 5.3 million units overall, up from 3.1 million units in 2017. This gets it closer to overtaking Fitbit and becoming the second largest manufacturer of wearables.

Garmin also increased shipments from 2.2 million units in 2017 to 3.2 million units last year, but it continues to be third in the charts.

Smartwatch sales in Q4 2018 and 2018 overall

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Apple tops smartwatch sales in 2018
Smartwatch sales in Q4 2018 and 2018 overall
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