Technology companies such as Xiaomi, Apple and Fitbit have shipped 24.7 million (+17.9 percent) wearable devices during Q1 2017, said IDC.
Xiaomi, which started 2017 as the co-leader of the wearables market alongside Apple after spending several years as the number two or three company, has shipped more than 96 percent of – mainly fitness tracking wristbands – in China.
Xiaomi has shipped fitness tracking wristbands as part of smartphone bundles to consumers. The company is branching out from wristwear after announcing its 90 Minutes Ultra Smart Sportswear shoes powered by Intel’s Curie.
Apple recorded the second highest year-over-year growth among the leading companies. The Series 1 and 2 have been a welcome change from the higher priced and undifferentiated experience found on the original Apple Watch from a year ago.
Fitbit is in third place in Q1 2017. The company believes there is market need for fitness trackers with the launch of its Alta HR and continued popularity of its Charge 2 wristband and Blaze watch. Its recent acquisitions of Coin, Pebble, and Vector are expected to translate into the company’s first smartwatch.
Samsung led all companies in growth, nearly doubling its wearables volumes. Samsung Gear S3 Frontier and Classic smartwatches, as well as its IconX headphones and Gear Fit 2 fitness band are driving volumes.
Garmin’s shift from basic wearables to smart wearables assisted the company to gain market share. Vivo- and Fenix-branded smartwatches address citizen athletes and outdoors enthusiasts with third party applications beyond health and fitness. Fenix 5, a smaller size watch, became accessible to a wider audience.
Fitbit finds itself in the midst of a transformation as user tastes evolve from fitness bands to watches and other products.
“This allowed Xiaomi to throttle up on its inexpensive devices within the China market and for Apple to leverage its position as the leading smartwatch provider,” said Ramon Llamas, research manager for IDC’s Wearables team.
Xiaomi and Apple have supplanted Fitbit, the next question is whether they will be able to maintain their position.
“The second phase of development will be all about putting user data to good use. This is when step counts translate into healthier hearts and minds,” said Jitesh Ubrani senior research analyst for IDC Mobile Device Trackers.
