Smartwatches might still not be as essential as smartphones, but the market is growing, and it’s not just the Apple Watch that’s benefiting.
According to Counterpoint’s Q1 2019 global smartwatch shipment data, overall smartwatch shipments have grown 48% year-on-year. Apple, as you might expect, continues to be number one, with a 35.8% market share.
But that’s only up a tiny bit from its 35.5% share this time last year, while some other companies – most notably Samsung – have seen a much bigger growth in share.
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Samsung’s smartwatch market share currently stands at 11.1%, up from just 7.2% the previous year, and elevating it from third to second place. With impressive wearables like the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active and Samsung Galaxy Watch – the latter of which sits at first place on our best smartwatch ranking – it’s no wonder Samsung is doing well.
Fitbit and Huawei have also seen substantial gains this year, though they still lag well behind Apple and even Samsung watches overall, with 5.5% and 2.8% market shares respectively.
Most other brands meanwhile – including Garmin and Fossil – have seen a drop in their market share, but with overall smartwatch shipments up by so much that doesn’t necessarily mean that their sales have dropped.
The upshot of all this being that the smartwatch market looks to be in a fairly healthy place overall, and while one in three people still want an Apple Watch, this could soon turn into a much more even race.
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Via Fast Company
