Wearables market has always been on the mellow side with consumers losing interest, but it seems to have grown regarding market share. According to the research coming in from IDC, the wearable market has seen a growth of 16.9 percent in Q4 2016 with 33.9 million units shipped.
Despite a decline in the number of units shipped, Fitbit still leads with a market share of 19.2 percent, which is a 9.8 percent decrease from the same quarter last year. The company has shipped over 22.5 million units in 2016 of which, 6.5 million fitness trackers in the fourth quarter. This sudden decline in the market is due to its heavy focus on the US market which is approaching saturation limit in fitness trackers.
Slowly and steadily, Xiaomi is gaining the momentum with their low-cost Mi Band offering. The company has shipped over 5.2 million units in the fourth quarter and 15.7 million in 2016. Xiaomi’s current market rate is at 15.4% and has grown 31% year-over-year. Though the company is stuck in the low-cost segment and has tried their luck with heart rate monitoring and a mildly higher priced, Mi Band 2.
Moving to Apple, the company has shipped over 10.7 million Apple Watch units in 2016 and 4.6 million shipped in the fourth quarter alone. Garmin with its 6.1% market share and Samsung shares the market with 4.4% surviving the top list.
Jitesh Ubrani, Senior Research Analyst, IDC Mobile Device Trackers said:
As the technology disappears into the background, hybrid watches and other fashion accessories with fitness tracking are starting to gain traction.
