U.S. Smartwatch Market Dominated By Pebble And Samsung [Report]

We have seen consumer interest in smartwatches increase significantly over the past year. Several major manufacturers have jumped into the market, competing against crowdfunded startups, some of which already have their products out in the market. But it looks like a duopoly has already been established in the market. A report from NPD reveals that Samsung and Pebble account for 96 percent of all smartwatch sales in the U.S. since October 2013.

NPD pegs total smartwatch sales between this period at $96 million. Samsung is found to have a lion’s share with 78 percent whereas Pebble comes second with almost 18 percent of all sales. Its unclear which companies make up the remaining percentage of sales but its believed that Qualcomm and Sony both account for fractions of the market.

A recent poll conducted by NPD found that the public has yet to truly warm up to smartwatches. Only 20 percent of those polled said that they were interested in purchasing a smartwatch. For others price was the biggest deterring factor.

Its relatively easy for Samsung to move units as opposed to Pebble since it can tie them up with its smartphones and also spend insane amounts on marketing and advertising. Pebble doesn’t have that big of a checkbook, but even despite that it controls a respectable percentage of the U.S. smartwatch market.

However the dynamic might change once Apple comes out with its much rumored iWatch. Not only will it compete directly against Samsung’s smartwatches, but given the massive hype surrounding the device, it may rake in the bulk of all U.S. smartwatch sales shortly after launch.

Adnan Farooqui
Categories: Gadgets
Tags: pebble, Samsung, Smartwatches, Wearable Tech