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

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?

A Half-Dozen Charts Make Medical Equipment Group One To Watch

A number of stocks in the medical equipment industry group are tracing bullish patterns, making the group one to watch closely. The group itself has been a market leader, ranked in the top 30 of 197 IBD groups for several weeks. Investors will find in it an attractive mix of stocks in buy range or still forming bases. Cantel Medical ( CMN ) is forming a base-on-base pattern with a 72.79 buy point. Shares have behaved well, making relatively small price fluctuations each day as they form the base. That’s considered a strong foundation, and suggests that the stock won’t have problems forming the rest of the pattern. Despite softening earnings growth (up 17% to 42 cents a share in the latest quarter), the maker of equipment to prevent and control infections in hospitals and other medical facilities still has one of the highest EPS Ratings of 32 companies in the group. It gets a 95 EPS Rating out of a maximum 99 from IBD Stock Checkup . Intuitive Surgical ( ISRG ) is rising from a pullback to the 10-week moving average. That makes it the first follow-on buy area for the stock since it broke out of a base in March. (In a follow-on area, investors add a smaller number of shares than the number they acquired on a breakout.) With strong Relative Strength and Accumulation/Distribution Ratings, the stock has a better chance to keep rising. The main risk for Intuitive Surgical and any other stock is the market, which can quickly obliterate even the best charts. How do you quickly check Intuitive’s proprietary IBD rankings? Go to Stock Checkup. Cynosure ( CYNO ) also is finding support at the 10-week average, but the stock is barely rising from that level. The company’s noninvasive fat-reduction system is driving growth. Masimo ( MASI ) broke out of a saucer base May 5 and is still in buy range from the 46.10 buy point. The breakout was nearly flawless: Shares surged 8% in nearly five times average volume as the company’s earnings topped estimates. Although shares closed below the buy point on the day of the breakout, it didn’t stop Masimo from advancing. Masimo makes equipment to monitor body functions, and has developed technology that can test blood without having to draw it by needle. Idexx Laboratories ( IDXX ) is at new highs. A long-term chart shows the stock is in buy range from the 84.35 buy point of a base more than a year in length. Another entry could be identified at 78.59. The maker of veterinary diagnostic equipment went to new highs after it reported results April 29. Idexx raised its full-year sales and profit guidance, citing success with new products and its strategies. Idexx has a lower EPS Rating than many other companies in the group, yet the market has cheered its outlook. Nevro ( NVRO ) is one of the newest stocks in the group, having gone public in November 2014. Shares have made quite a climb from the IPO price of 18 a share, and now are near a potential buy point at 70, from a cup-with-handle base. As a startup, Nevro has not made a profit yet and analysts expect losses this year and next. Investors seem to be drawn to the company’s fast sales growth, including a 114% spike in 2015 sales to $70 million. Redwood City, Calif.-based Nevro specializes in spinal cord stimulation systems to treat pain.

Google Waze Takes On Uber With SF Bay Area Carpooling App

Alphabet ( GOOGL )-owned Waze is taking on ride-booking app Uber with a new carpool service in Silicon Valley to “reduce cars on the road and greenify your daily commute,” less than two years after Uber launched its own car-sharing function. Waze Carpool is in beta testing with specific Bay Area employers after a soft launch in Israel last July. The app matches riders with drivers based on their home and work addresses, and like Uber, it arranges payment ahead of time. Uber launched uberPOOL in September 2014 and has since expanded that service to 11 cities globally, including New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Beijing and Shanghai. Uber estimates 100,000 people use uberPOOL every week. But Waze downloads significantly outnumber Uber downloads, according to Google Play, which put the estimated installations at 100,000-500,000, and 50,000-100,000, respectively. Waze is a popular traffic-navigation app which smartphone owners can use to try to avoid traffic jams and find the fastest routes, though it’s sparked controversy by spurring increased traffic in some residential areas not used to handling many cars. Neither Uber nor Google responded to a request for comment Monday. Waze Carpool was unveiled Monday in a YouTube video from Waze Labs. The video emphasizes the cost, time and ecological benefits of carpooling. “Just by pitching in for gas, riders get a comfortable and affordable ride,” Google Waze says. “And drivers cover their gas costs just by helping someone on the way.” Drivers must be 21, but riders can be 18. The pilot program was developed to meet the needs of congested Silicon Valley, Google Waze says in its release. Rides are only available during commuting hours. Google and parent Alphabet are based in the central Silicon Valley city of Mountain View, Calif. “We’re focused on reducing traffic when it’s at its worst — which is rush hour — so Carpool is restricted to morning and evening commute hours,” the release said, with Waze suggesting  users request a ride a day in advance. In afternoon trading on the stock market today , Google stock was up 1%, near 732, but shares are down 6% this year.