14 DAY TRIAL // The worldwide wearables market reached a new all-time high of 33.9 million units shipped in the last quarter of 2016, according to a new study by research firm IDC. The market grew 16.9% year over year, while 102.4 million devices were shipped in 2016, 25% more compared to the previous year.
Apple Watch Series 1 and Series 2 recorded the best quarter ever, as Apple shipped an estimated 4.6 million Apple Watch devices in Q4, up from 4.1 million in Q4 2015. The company landed on the third place in the last quarter of 2016, aided by the lower entry price and the inclusion of GPS on the Series 2.
“Apple is one of the few companies that has been able to quickly refocus its watch to gain traction in the consumer market and has also been leading the charge on introducing the smartwatch category to the commercial segment,” the report says.
Fitbit continues to hold the lead position, followed by Xiaomi
Fitbit recorded one of the largest declines ever in the fourth quarter, after shipping 6.5 million units, down from 8.4 million in Q4 2015. The company’s market share dropped from 29% to 19.2%, while Xiaomi managed to capture a market share of 15.4%. Xiaomi managed to ship 5.2 million units and increased its market share from 9.1% in the last quarter of 2015.
Samsung was the fifth largest wearables vendor in the market with 1.9 million shipments and 5.6% market share. Its Gear S3 Classic and Frontier devices managed to raise the company’s market share from 4.7% in 2015, recording a 37.9% year-on-year growth.
Samsung is the only major company that offers cellular-enabled wearables, which certainly increased the company’s sales. The South Korean company also sells the Gear Fit 2 and IconX, but these two wearables recorded lower than expected shipment volumes.
Garmin recorded a slight decline and landed on the fourth position in Q4 2016, with a 6.2% market share and 2.1 million shipped units.
