San Francisco: Apple dominated the global wearables market in the second quarter of 2018 with a total share of 17 per cent as the market ticked up 5.5 per cent, an International Data Corp (IDC) report said on Wednesday.
Cupertino-based Apple maintained its top position in the wake of continued demand for its LTE-enabled Watch and shipped 4.7 million units, followed by Chinese player Xiaomi that shipped 4.2 million devices and grabbed a market share of 15.1 per cent.
According to IDC’s “Worldwide Quarterly Wearable Device Tracker” report, the overall shipment volume reached 27.9 million units and the market experienced similar gains in dollar value, growing 8.3 per cent year-over-year (Y-o-Y) to $4.8 billion in the second quarter.
This was fuelled by the continued popularity of smartwatches with their high price tags.
“Two key forces were at work during the quarter: stronger demand for smart wearables, and slower declines in the basic wearables market,” Ramon T. Llamas, Research Director, IDC’s Wearables Team, said in a statement.
“Users wanted more from their wearable devices and smart watches have met that demand. Additionally, relative newcomers to the smartwatch market like Fitbit and several Chinese vendors have seen steady growth,” Llamas added.
US-based wearables major Fitbit’s decline continued as the company largely relied on sales of basic wristbands in the past and was not able to maintain pace during the second quarter.
The company grabbed the third spot with 2.7 million shipemts, followed by Huawei and Garmin with 1.8 and 1.5 million wearable shipments respectively.
According to the market research firm, Huawei, like Xiaomi, has been heavily focused on the Chinese market though this is slowly changing as it starts to experience growth outside its home turf. (IANS)
