Wearables such as fitness trackers have been around for the past couple of years, with Apple only officially launching their own wearable, the Apple Watch, earlier this year. However it seems that Apple’s brand and reputation is enough to give it a huge advantage because according to the IDC, Apple is now the second-largest wearable maker.
This puts them behind the likes of Fitbit who is still the largest wearable maker, and it also seemingly displaces Xiaomi who a couple of months ago, was considered to be the second-largest wearable maker. According to Jitesh Ubrani, Senior Research Analyst for IDC Mobile Device Trackers, it seems that Apple’s arrival had the greatest impact on the wearables category.
Ubrani states, “About two of every three smart wearables shipped this quarter was an Apple Watch. Apple has clearly garnered an impressive lead in this space and its dominance is expected to continue. And, although Fitbit outshipped Apple, it’s worth noting that Fitbit only sells basic wearables – a category that is expected to lose share over the next few years, leaving Apple poised to become the next market leader for all wearables.”
Apple has yet to officially reveal exactly how many Apple Watches they have sold to date, so for now all these numbers are considered unofficial, but so far estimates have put the number of devices sold in the millions, so hopefully we will hear the official numbers from Apple soon so we can stop speculating.
Filed in . Read more about Apple Watch, Fitbit, Smartwatch, Wearable Tech and Xiaomi.