According to new report from International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Wearable Device Tracker, shipments of wrist-worn wearables, including smartwatches, basic watches, and wrist bands, reached 34.2 million units, up 28.8% during the second quarter of 2019. The top 5 companies – Xiaomi, Apple, Huawei, Fitbit, and Samsung – captured 65.7% of the market, an almost 12-point gain from last year, reports Business Wire.
“Health is now at the forefront for these devices since companies have started providing actionable insights and prescriptive measures for end users,” said Jitesh Ubrani, research manager for IDC Mobile Device Trackers. “Beyond health, mobile payment is also starting to become a mainstay as roughly two out of five wrist-worn wearables now include NFC, and many more simply use QR codes to complete transactions.”
Read more Children are Becoming Major Driving Force Behind the Wearable Market Growth in China
Top 5 companies highlighted are:
Xiaomi. This Chinese wearable maker maintained the top position thanks to its latest Mi Band 4. China remains the most active market for Xiaomi's products though expansion outside China continues to be a priority.
Apple. The Cupertino tech giant ranked second in terms of units although the company outpaces all others in terms of dollar value as the average selling price for an Apple Watch was $448 during the quarter. IDC anticipates shipments of the Apple Watch to grow by 10.8% by the end of 2019 and capture 38.9% of all smartwatches shipped during the year.
Huawei. This Shenzhen, Guangdong-based company took the third position with its dual brand strategy aimed at capturing the mass market with the Huawei brand and a younger audience with the Honor brand. Many of the company's wearables are bundled with its smartphones, thereby putting the company in a challenging position given all the recent uncertainty around its smartphone business.
Read more IDC Report: Xiaomi Tops Apple and Fitbit with 21.5% Global Wearable market share in Q3 2018
Fitbit. The wrist-worn wearables market pioneer, ranked fourth in the recent quarter. Though its smartwatch business declined, thanks to poor reception of the Versa Lite, the company did manage overall growth due to the popularity of the newly launched Inspire wristbands.
Samsung. The South Korea-based multinational conglomerate rounded out the top 5 and achieved the highest growth rate amongst the top 5 due to the introduction of its low-cost wrist bands, the Galaxy Fit and Galaxy Fit e, and the popularity of the Galaxy Watch.
