All the anti-Apple fake news prognostications that Apple Watch would fail look silly with the news that Apple is now the world’s largest wearables vendor.
Remember those fake news stories that Apple Watch would fail and become irrelevant?
The people who thought that are probably now very surprised to discover that, according to the latest research from Strategy Analytics, Apple is now the world’s largest wearables vendor.
The company repots that global wearables shipments reached 22 million units in the first quarter of 2017, with Apple capturing 16% marketshare, overtaking Fitbit to become the new number one.
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Steven Waltzer, Industry Analyst at Strategy Analytics, said, “Global wearables shipments reached 22.0 million units in Q1 2017, rising 21% annually from 18.2 million in Q1 2016. Stronger demand for new smartwatch models in North America, Western Europe and Asia drove the uptick.”
Neil Mawston, Executive Director at Strategy Analytics, said, “Apple shipped 3.5 million wearables worldwide in Q1 2017, rising 59% annually from 2.2 million units in Q1 2016.
“Apple captured 16% global marketshare and overtook Fitbit to become the world’s largest wearables vendor.
“The new Apple Watch Series 2 is selling relatively well in the US, UK and elsewhere, due to enhanced styling, intensive marketing and a good retail presence.
“Xiaomi shipped 3.4 million wearables for 15 percent marketshare worldwide in Q1 2017. Demand for its popular Mi Band fitness range was broadly flat across its core markets of Asia.”
Cliff Raskind, Director at Strategy Analytics, said, “Fitbit shipped 2.9 million wearables worldwide in Q1 2017, falling a huge 36% annually from 4.5 million in Q1 2016.
“Fitbit has lost its wearables leadership to Apple, due to slowing demand for its fitness bands and a late entry to the emerging smartwatch market. Fitbit’s shipments, revenue, pricing and profit are all shrinking at the moment and the company has a major fight on its hands to recover this year.”
Naturally, Strategy Analytics has a full report available to relevant parties at relevant prices.
The report is entitled “Global Wearables Vendor Market Share by Region: Q1 2017”, and is published by the Strategy Analytics Wearable Device Ecosystems (WDE) service.
Here's Research Analytics' chart:
