Global wearable shipments show more resilience than smartphones as people turn to health tracking
- Though growth was slower than the first quarter’s 29.7 per cent, the wearable devices market has proven more resilient than the smartphone market
Global shipments of wearable devices grew 14.1 per cent in the second quarter compared to the same period a year ago, bolstered by strong demand for hearables (headphones and ear buds) and continued interest in health tracking during the pandemic, according to a research report by IDC.
Apple, which leads the global wearables market, racked up 29.4 million shipments in the quarter ended June giving it a market share of 34.2 per cent, way ahead of its nearest competitor, according to Monday’s report.
Huawei Technologies, which took Samsung’s crown as the world No. 1 smartphone maker in the second quarter, recorded the fastest year-on-year growth of 58 per cent among top wearable vendors. It shipped 10.9 million units during the period, increasing its market share to 12.6 per cent from 9.1 per cent in the second quarter of 2019. Xiaomi, Samsung and Fitbit were among the top five vendors, behind Apple and Huawei.
“Around the world, many organisations have also started to use wearables to help the fight against Covid-19,” said Jitesh Ubrani, research manager for IDC mobile device trackers. “Not only are wearables being used to track symptoms, but also to warn wearers when social distancing isn’t being maintained.”
Though the growth was slower than the first quarter’s 29.7 per cent, the wearable devices market has proven more resilient than the smartphone market, where global shipments slipped 16 per cent in the second quarter of 2020, according to an earlier report from IDC.