Fitbit, Apple Lead In Wearables, But Other Brands Gaining Fast

By | May 16, 2016

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Fitbit ( FIT ) continues to lead in wearable fitness devices and Apple ( AAPL ) remains atop the smartwatch market, but a host of little-known brands are rapidly taking market share, research firm IDC reported Monday . San Francisco-based Fitbit grabbed 29.4% of the basic wearables market in Q1, with worldwide shipments of 4.8 million devices. It grew unit shipments by 25.4% year over year, but the overall market jumped 65.1%, IDC said. Fitbit’s market share fell from 38.7% in Q1 2015. China-based Xiaomi came in second in basic wearables with a 22.8% market share, followed by Garmin ( GRMN ) with 5%. But both of those companies lost market share compared with Q1 2015, IDC said. Jumping into the top five for basic wearables in Q1 were China-based BBK and Lifesense, each with about 4% market share, up from nothing a year earlier. BBK sells devices under the XTC brand. Meanwhile, all other vendors in the basic wearables market grew unit shipments by 98.2% and increased their collective market share to 34.5% in Q1 from 28.7% a year earlier. In the smartwatch market, Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple took the top spot with worldwide shipments of 1.5 million Apple Watch units in Q1, giving it 46% market share. It launched the Apple Watch in Q2 2015. Samsung came in second with 700,000 units shipped and 20.9% market share, followed by Motorola with 400,000 units and 10.9% market share. China-based Huawei jumped into fourth place with 200,000 units and 4.7% market share. Garmin placed fifth with 100,000 smartwatches shipped and 3% market share. Unlike the basic wearables market, the ranks of other vendors in smartwatches dwindled in Q1. Other vendors accounted for 14.5% market share in the first quarter, vs. 52% in the same period a year ago. Unit shipments among the other smartwatch vendors dropped 44.2%. The overall smartwatch market grew unit shipments by 100.2% to 3.2 million units in Q1, from 1.6 million units in Q1 2015. “There’s a clear bifurcation … within the wearables market,” IDC analyst Jitesh Ubrani said in a statement . “Smart watches attempt to offer holistic experiences by being everything to everyone, while basic wearables like fitness bands, connected clothing, or hearables (smart headphones) have a focused approach and often offer specialized use cases.” RELATED: Apple Watch Still Preferred By Dudes; Fitbit Liked By Ladies Fitbit Fails Q1 Physical, Stock Collapses On Q2 Guidance How Many Watches Did Apple Sell Last Quarter? Scalper1 News

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