A recent report by IDC shows that the latest Apple Watch Series 4, which was launched last quarter, recorded worse sales during the quarter ending in September than its predecessor, Apple Watch Series 3. Although the new device has a larger display and more advanced features that monitor health, the reduced price of Apple’s one-year-old smartwatch Series 3 and some new functions that came with watchOS 5 convinced users to choose the cheaper option.
Only Xiaomi sells more smartwatches than Apple
According to IDC, Apple sold some 4.2 million smartwatches in Q3, recording a 54 percent increase from 2.7 million that the company shipped in Q3 last year. This gives Apple a 13.1 percent share of the global market of smartwatches, placing it on the second position behind Xiaomi, which sold around 6.9 million units (21.5 percent share of the global market). The Chinese company managed to regain the first position mostly thanks to its Mi Band 3 and to the fact that it extended its activity beyond China.
Who occupies the positions behind Apple
When it comes to the next position on the list, Fitbit reached the third place with 3.5 million smartwatches sold (10.9 percent share of the market). The fourth position belongs to Huawei (1.9 million units shipped) and fifth to Samsung (1.8 units shipped).
The huge growth of the smartwatch market
The overall growth of the smartwatch market was made possible by the expanse of the smartwatches’ features, which resemble more and more those of a smartphone. According to Jitesh Ubrani, a senior research analyst at IDC, “many of the new basic wearables include features like notifications or simple app integrations that bleed into smartwatch territory. This has helped satiate consumer demand for more capable devices while also maintaining average selling prices in a market that faces plenty of downward pressure from low-cost vendors and declining smartwatch pricing”.
Frances might be just at the beginning of her career, but after attending a technical school, she has a fresh perspective on today’s technology. She contributes to the site with tech news.
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