On Tuesday, the International Data Corporation (IDC) announced Xiaomi’s top position with 21.5 market share in the global wearable segment in the third quarter as Apple came second with 13.1 percent share.
With the great success of the Mi Band 3 in India and other markets beyond China, Xiaomi has gone to grab the top position in the global wearable market as Apple came down to the second spot with 13.1 percent share. According to IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Wearable Device Tracker, the global shipment of the wearable devices touched 32 million units in the third quarter of 2018, making it 21.7 percent up from the previous year.
New products from the likes of Fitbit, Garmin, and Huawei helped the basic wearables category return to growth during the quarter. Another driving factor was the growing demand in markets like Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan), which accounted for more than half of all shipments and grew 21.4% over the previous year.
The Xiaomi’s growth in shipment volume to 6.9 million units is attributable to two main factors: the Mi Band 3 and expansion beyond China, where the company has historically done most of its sales. In the third quarter, only 61 percent of Xiaomi’s shipments were to China, down from over 80 percent in typical quarters, as sales expanded further into Europe, India, and the Middle East/Africa territories ideal areas for affordable wearables.
By contrast, Apple opted to release the Apple Watch Series 4 at a higher price than before and declined to drop an earlier Series 1 or Series 2 model down to the sub-$200 price point that might dramatically expand its market share.
Fitbit also saw a 3.1 percent decline in shipments from the year-ago quarter, hitting 3.5 million units, thanks largely to sales of its Versa smartwatch. In fourth place, Huawei jumped over 20 percent to 1.9 million units.
While Samsung fared rather poorly, on the other hand, experienced the largest year-over-year decline since Gartner began tracking smartphone sales globally. It managed to close some of the gaps with Huawei and stretched its lead past other contenders, capturing the fifth position for the quarter. The company launched its next-generation smartwatch, the Galaxy Watch, marking the first time that a wearable device moved away from its traditional “Gear” moniker to the “Galaxy” sub-brand, said IDC.
