Apple Continues to Dominate North American Wearables Market

[MacRumors]

Apple continued to dominate the North American wearables market in the second quarter of 2020, with a growth of nine percent year-on-year, according to a new report by Canalys.

The shipments of wearables in the North American market grew 10 percent in the second quarter of 2020, but the value of the market remained flat year-on-year. A boom in low-end activity trackers meant that the average selling price of a wearable declined by 11 percent to $235. The surge in more basic devices offset the United States' third consecutive quarter of smartwatch decline.

In spite of this, the Apple Watch Series 5 was America's best-selling smartwatch, matching last year's Series 4 model for shipments. Demand for the Apple Watch Series 3 also grew by 30 percent.

Recent IDC research similarly showed Apple's ongoing dominance of the global wearables market. North America was one of only two regions to demonstrate sustained consumer demand for wearables with quarter-on-quarter growth.

Canalys predicts that going into 2021, medical-oriented devices will move certain products into an elevated tier, creating much stronger differentiation between casual fitness devices and those that offer advanced health tracking. The upcoming Apple Watch Series 6 will likely contribute to this by offering new health-tracking features such as blood oxygen monitoring.

Article Link: Apple Continues to Dominate North American Wearables Market

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

This is great news. But Apple 6 is needed and hope It gets announced next week.

 

[Ds6778]

Wasn’t this posted like three days ago?

 

[djcerla]

And Fitbit starts the big drop following Google’s acquisition. They will write it down in two years.

 

[alpi123]

I wonder how much it will grow if Apple allowed using the Apple Watch without an iPhone.

 

[appleguy123]

I wonder how much it will grow if Apple allowed using the Apple Watch without an iPhone.

They have a very strong incentive not to do this. Apple Watch is a product that keeps you locked to the iPhone (most of Apple's revenue) and their services ecosystem.

Switching to Android becomes a lot harder when you have to give up your apps, iCloud storage, HomePod and $300+ Watch.

 

[jmgregory1]

They have a very strong incentive not to do this. Apple Watch is a product that keeps you locked to the iPhone (most of Apple's revenue) and their services ecosystem.

Switching to Android becomes a lot harder when you have to give up your apps, iCloud storage, HomePod and $300+ Watch.

Or, they would open up the Watch to non-iPhone owners, which is a huge number of people, who would then get a [hopefully positive] taste of the Apple eco-system and potentially increase the chances of getting more people to switch to iPhone. It’s how Apple grew its Mac business, by getting people comfortable with Apple products like the iPod, iPhone and iPad, who then wanted a Mac for work / school / personal use.

 

[CarlJ]

Wow, Apple is quite a bit ahead of the next 4 competitors combined.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Apple Watch for the win. It truly amazes me how many people I see a day wearing an Apple Watch. Apple hit the jackpot with the watch. And a lot of credit needs to be lauded at developers who, in my opinion, have taken the watch to stronger sales. I am not sure sales would be as strong with just stock apps available.

 

[russell_314]

Only because Samsung and Fitbit haven't produced anything that compares to the Apple Watch. They're playing catch up.

 

[CarlJ]

I wonder how much it will grow if Apple allowed using the Apple Watch without an iPhone.

They keep taking steps in that direction. I don’t think it’s a matter of permission, it’s a matter of them getting it to where they feel it can stand on its own. Now its got LTE, Software Update, and the App Store. I’d say it’s pretty close.

 

[Red Oak]

So, "Other" is one-third the market and grew 50% last year? I call BS on this whole report

Also, a market share report is useless unless it reports $ market share as well

 

[ss2cire]

I love my apple watch series 3 but it really is starting to show its age.... i need to get a new one soon. watchOS 8 i suspect won't support the series 3.
Can't wait until i save enough to get the next one

 

[Cosmosent]

Had NO idea that the Numbers are so low Across the Board !

Esp. for AAPL with their next update, #6, out soon !

They may have taken market share away from others, but it doesn't look like much of a market to pursue !

AAPL may simply be in the smartwatch market for the Hype benefit !

 

[Apple_Robert]

Had NO idea that the Numbers are so low Across the Board !

Esp. for AAPL with their next update, #6, out soon !

They may have taken market share away from others, but it doesn't look like much of a market to pursue !

AAPL may simply be in the smartwatch market for the Hype benefit !

Given the Pandemic and financial instability in many sectors, the growth for Apple while modest, is still a good sign, in my opinion. The other aspect that may reflect slower than expected numbers is technology is not where many want to see it with the Apple Watch. As such, many are holding on to their watches longer.

 

[alexanderkilts]

This is by vendor, not by product? If Verizon's on there with no wearable of their own AFAIK, would Amazon and other stores be included under Other?

 

[44267547]

This is by vendor, not by product? If Verizon's on there with no wearable of their own AFAIK, would Amazon and other stores be included under Other?

Amazon primarily sells for third-party vendors as a gateway. It’s not that often that they have ‘shipped and sold by Amazon’, when it’s more like ‘Shipped and fulfilled by XYZ vendor’.

 

[chucker23n1]

Or, they would open up the Watch to non-iPhone owners, which is a huge number of people,

Is it? How many people are willing to spend $200-$1400 on a smartwatch and don't have an iPhone?

They exist, no doubt, but they're probably not as huge a number as you think they are.

who would then get a [hopefully positive] taste of the Apple eco-system and potentially increase the chances of getting more people to switch to iPhone. It’s how Apple grew its Mac business, by getting people comfortable with Apple products like the iPod, iPhone and iPad, who then wanted a Mac for work / school / personal use.

But the iPhone business wouldn't grow the same way the Mac business did. It has basically hit a market ceiling years ago.

 

[Agit21]

Spotify offline + 4-5 days battery life, those things are needed! Otherwise no buy Tim.

 

[KB24Slam]

I’ve always had an Apple Watch but recently switched to a Garmin for more detailed fitness data and I don’t think I’ll ever go back. I was starting to feel way too connected to the Apple Watch and it was an amazing watch but just not for me.

 

[44267547]

I’ve always had an Apple Watch but recently switched to a Garmin for more detailed fitness data and I don’t think I’ll ever go back. I was starting to feel way too connected to the Apple Watch and it was an amazing watch but just not for me.

Garmin Makes a great product with excellent hardware quality standards. But their downfall is where Apples strongest link is, and that their OS is absolutely terrible. That, and they have limited support. But if you’re somebody that serious with the likes of marathons, track running, any type of triathlon, Garmin is the pinnacle in terms of durability/accuracy of measurements, but it doesn’t come with a short falls of horrible OS with sketchy support.

 

[Baymowe335]

Spotify offline + 4-5 days battery life, those things are needed! Otherwise no buy Tim.

4-5 day battery life isn’t possible without giving up a ton of features that make the Apple Watch better.

Plus, almost anyone is willing to charge at night, meaning a day is plenty of battery life.

 

[DeepIn2U]

Most impressive!

Fitbit lost .2% and Samsung lost .5% marketshare respectively. Looking forward to the Apple Watch S6 SS/Nike+ ! For me, next job timing will affect my purchase of launch date or a few weeks after. This year will be the first time that In-Store pickup may not be an option for me.

PS: Apple needs to fix Canadian in-app ApplePay purchases, seems to be broken when you select a specific time for in-store pickup (a bug) - and reverts to needing to scan the card used for ApplePay, which defeats the purpose of ApplePay.

I wonder how much it will grow if Apple allowed using the Apple Watch without an iPhone.

It can pretty much run without the iPhone for the most part:
App Store direct purchases/downloads/updates for WatchOS Apps,
Sync over Wi-Fi/LTE for iMessage/SMS or phone calls.

For 'cut-the-cord' from complete setup to full activation and enable FindMy ... I'm thinking better battery life, more efficient & much smaller SoC's (3nm) and a larger screen is needed. Somehow Voice-to-Text seems much more efficient and accurate using the watch than the iPhone 8 that I'm using, very odd.

Praying the Nike+ S6 can come in SG+SS and stronger glass not just the Ion-X Glass.

 

[rdy0329]

They keep taking steps in that direction. I don’t think it’s a matter of permission, it’s a matter of them getting it to where they feel it can stand on its own. Now its got LTE, Software Update, and the App Store. I’d say it’s pretty close.

I second this assessment. There are clues on the software side of things. First when they allowed apps to run natively and WatchOS 7 being able to manage battery health, install apps on device and check software updates.

faster wireless and battery life is the last pieces of the puzzle which the next Watch is expected to improve upon.

Optionally, they can partner up with many of the global eSim provider and create an Apple Watch plan for true roaming (Not synced to your mobile #).

coupled with CoreBT notifications/syncing functions, any android phone can at least be usable with an Apple Watch while the watch perform updates and app installs by itself.

 

[Hastings101]

Had NO idea that the Numbers are so low Across the Board !

Esp. for AAPL with their next update, #6, out soon !

They may have taken market share away from others, but it doesn't look like much of a market to pursue !

AAPL may simply be in the smartwatch market for the Hype benefit !

Apple sold about 30 million total watches in 2019, not really too bad of numbers for a niche device that they’re spinning as a fitness add on most of the time when it’s mentioned. I also think they suffer from the same problem as Macs, iPads and now iPhones where people don’t replace them for many years so the sales don’t boom year after year.