Apple Watch Outsold All Competing Smartwatches Combined Last Year

[MacRumors]

Apple Watch continues to be the world's most popular smartwatch by a significant margin, according to analysts.

IDC estimates Apple Watch shipments totaled eight million units worldwide last quarter, which also makes it the best selling wearable device during that period.

The research firm says one in every five wearables shipped last quarter was an Apple Watch, on the strength of new Series 3 models launched in September.

By comparison, Fitbit reported sales of 5.4 million wearables last quarter, while Xiaomi shipped 4.9 million units over that time, according to IDC. An estimated 41 percent of smartwatch shipments came from smaller vendors grouped into an Others category.

The wearables market includes several inexpensive fitness trackers from the likes of Fitbit and Xiaomi, while the Apple Watch starts at $249 for Series 1 models, so it's really an apples to oranges comparison.

For that reason, MacRumors also reached out to IDC for data specific to smartwatches, which it defines as wearables that can run third-party apps natively.

The data shows that Apple Watch accounted for an estimated 61 percent of worldwide smartwatch shipments last quarter, with no single competitor coming anywhere close. Samsung's market share was just 8.4 percent, according to IDC, despite the quarter encompassing the lucrative holiday shopping season.

For perspective, the estimated 17.7 million Apple Watches shipped in 2017 was more than all competing smartwatches combined last year. Samsung, Garmin, Fossil, Chinese kids smartwatch maker Continental Wireless, and other vendors shipped an estimated 15.6 million smartwatches cumulatively last year.

"Consumer preferences have shifted to more sophisticated devices and towards well recognized brands," like the Apple Watch, said Jitesh Ubrani, senior research analyst at IDC. "It's due to this that the wearables market has seen healthy double-digit growth in average selling prices since 2016."

Apple doesn't break out Apple Watch sales like it does with iPhones, iPads, and Macs. Instead, it groups the wearable under its "Other Products" category, alongside Apple TVs, AirPods, Beats, iPods, accessories, and soon HomePods.

On an earnings call last month, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the Apple Watch had its best quarter ever during the fourth quarter of 2017, with over 50 percent growth in revenue and units sold for the fourth quarter in a row, and strong double-digit growth in every geographic segment that Apple tracks.

Cook added that sales of Apple Watch Series 3 models were also more than twice as high as Series 2 models in the year-ago quarter.

Apple analysts, who closely examine Apple's earnings reports and other clues to estimate Apple Watch sales, have similar totals as IDC. Ben Bajarin of Creative Strategies estimates Apple Watch shipments totaled 17.4 million last year, while Horace Dediu of Asymco comes in at 17.7 million.

Apple Watch shipments outpaced all Swiss watch brands combined for the first time last quarter, according to IDC's Francisco Jeronimo.? In other words, Apple is now the biggest watchmaker in the world.

Article Link: Apple Watch Outsold All Competing Smartwatches Combined Last Year

 

[dannyyankou]

It's just a gimmick they said, it'll never take off they said

 

[HalfNelson]

The Series 1 Apple Watch starts at $249. It is the Non-Cellular Series 3 watch that is $329.

 

[44267547]

It's just a gimmick they said, it'll never take off they said

Others said the same about the Airpods being a gimmick to, and look at the success of both of these products. The Apple Watch can only get better from here with health related advancements like glucose monitoring. This is just the start of what is to come for the Apple Watch future. It does so many things well already, but the health aspect of Apple Watch is a staple.

 

[plexdk]

It's just a gimmick they said, it'll never take off they said

Yep.. that’s how it has been since the first iPod Announcement

 

[NinjaHERO]

Add Bluetooth 5 to version 4 and I’m in.

 

[MarkB786]

Yes, it's a slick watch, but, I do like my Samsung Frontier Gear S3 better. I owned two iterations of the A-Watch, and have found the Gear to be more intuitive and useful for my purposes. And I think it looks a lot better for me.

Still the, A-Watch is nice and I look forward to watching as the two brands make things even better.

 

[nfl46]

Apple has no competition when it comes to smartwatches and tablets.

 

[miniyou64]

Well my Series 0 that Ive taken excellent care of barely functions now. Software or hardware it doesn’t matter Im not impressed.

 

[vic_w]

When Apple gets a winning product in a category that has draw, they kill it!

 

[kironin]

still find them very ugly

 

[DocMultimedia]

Apple Watch is a disaster. Sell all your AAPL now.

Or not. My 2nd gen is awesome. Patiently waiting for the 4th gen.

 

[AppleScruff1]

Apple has no competition when it comes to smartwatches and tablets.

Can’t argue with that.

 

[newellj]

It's just a gimmick they said, it'll never take off they said

That was how I saw the original two versions. I bought a Series 3 last year sort of on a bet with myself and knew within a couple of days that I was definitely keeping it. It's like the iPhone 4. It's not that everything is perfect and nothing can be improved, but the whole usability/functionality spectrum just came together to make a genuinely useful (for me) tech tool. I bet the sales numbers include a lot of new owners like me.

 

[44267547]

Apple has no competition when it comes to smartwatches .

If you think about it, the iPhone is massively popular and of course the main choice with the iPhone is the Apple Watch. Naturally, the Apple Watch should have success if somebody wanted a smart watch if they own an iPhone and the obvious decision would be the Apple Watch.

But then you factor in how Apple executed the band switching, which is another seamless feature with endless customization.

 

[Joe Rossignol]

The Series 1 Apple Watch starts at $249. It is the Non-Cellular Series 3 watch that is $329.

Whoops. Canadian problems. Forgot to switch to the US site. Fixed that, thanks!

 

[rpat701]

Apple has no competition when it comes to smartwatches and tablets.

Not true. As an outdoors enthusiast, the Garmin Fenix watches are much better.

 

[azentropy]

I had a Series 0 that was replace with a Series 1 when the battery became swollen (for free). I've come to accept it for what it is; A good notification display and activity/fitness tracker. I completely gave up using any "apps" on it as they were all just awful and slow (might as well just pull out my iPhone). Maybe the 3 changes all of that but not going to upgrade until this one physically breaks again.

 

[44267547]

Not true. As an outdoors enthusiast, the Garmin Fenix watches are much better.

Can you elaborate why the Fenix is better? You telling another forum member “Not true” doesn’t explain your reasoning.

 

[Return Zero]

I don't think there was ever a question of whether or not Apple could dominate this market. The question was always just how big could the smartwatch market actually be. Nearly everyone carried a cell phone well before iPhone was released. The same could not be said about watches, but by now it's starting to look like one of Apple's smarter long-term plays.

 

[Mack813]

still got my series 0 still waiting for an updated model worth buying dont need LTE since my phone is always on me and dont really care for the processor speed boost since i barely do anything intensive on my watch.

Where can i get that watch band in that photo?

 

[OllyW]

Where can i get that watch band in that photo?

From Apple but it only comes with a watch.

 

[lowendlinux]

I'm an other just like I've always been go 15%

If you have an iPhone the smart call is the Apple Watch, for the rest of us there's so many to choose from it's kinda cool

 

[44267547]

still got my series 0 still waiting for an updated model worth buying dont need LTE since my phone is always on me and dont really care for the processor speed boost since i barely do anything intensive on my watch.

Where can i get that watch band in that photo?

You can’t purchase that band separately. It’s paired with the Hermes Apple Watch and it’s called the Noir Gala Leather Single Tour starting at $1299.00.

https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-watch/apple-watch-hermes/silver-stainless-steel-noir-single-tour

 

[Will.O.Bie]

Others said the same about the Airpods being a gimmick to, and look at the success of both of these products. The Apple Watch can only get better from here with health related advancements like glucose monitoring. This is just the start of what is to come for the Apple Watch future. It does so many things well already, but the health aspect of Apple Watch is a staple.

Pretty soon, others will start to imitate that and even copy it's aesthetics. I'm glad I waited to skip two generations and pulled the trigger on the AW3. You're absolutely right, it can only get better from here since they are focusing more on the health aspect of the Watch. I have found it very useful in terms of kicking my arse to get up and get active, some people just needs that slight zap from the wrist.