Leading market research firm IDC has released its market tracker for the wearable market for the fourth quarter of 2019 as well as the entire 2019. The data shows that Apple maintained its leadership of the market with 43.4 million wearables shipped in Q4 2019. Apple owes this impressive quarterly shipment to its refreshed AirPods, AirPods Pro, and Apple Watch as well as its Beats products spanning multiple price points. However, as the company’s products did well overall during the quarter, Apple Watch shipments declined 5.2% year over year but this was due to Apple’s inability to meet up the demand for the product.
Xiaomi ranked second shipping 12.8 million wearables in Q4 2019. 73.3% (9.4 million) of the entire shipments were wristbands. Compared to its Q4 2018 shipments, the wristbands shipment fell but overall, hearables came to the rescue. This is an indication that the market forces are shifting to hearables.
Korean tech giant Samsung emerged in the third place thanks to a strong portfolio of products as well as multiple brands under its belt, including JBL and Infinity. The Galaxy Active and Active 2 smartwatches contributed to Samsung’s ranking. Another key to Samsung’s surge is its strategy to bundle wearables with its smartphones, which further developed its distribution with carriers.
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Huawei was able to ship 63.4% of its wearables despite the challenges occasioned by the US sanctions. Wristbands accounted for the vast majority of Huawei’s shipment volume but growing the most were its watches with several kids’ watches and the GT2. Huawei also added several new hearables to its portfolio, keeping its selection aligned with the other market leaders.
Fitbit completed the top five as its shipments rebound for the first time following two consecutive years of declining volume. The company still relied on its fitness trackers to drive volume but shipped a record six million units of its smartwatch in 2019 thanks to the release of its Versa 2 and discounted Versa Lite and Ionic.
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