Apple sold 6.8 million Apple Watch units in the third quarter of 2019, as per a new report by Strategy Analytics. This is more than the combined number of smartwatches and wearables that Fitbit and Samsung sold, which is 3.5 million. All other vendors had combined shipments of 3.9 million. Apple's year-over-year shipments increased by 51%, while Samsung and Fitbit increased their shipments by 73% and 7% respectively.
Apple also achieved 47.9% global market share for smartwatches in Q3 2019, compared to Fitbit's 11.3% and Samsung's 13.4%. Fitbit, which was recently acquired by Google, lost 3.7% market share compared to last year. All other manufacturers, which include the likes of Garmin, Huawei and Xiaomi, had a market share of 27.5%, which is 1.5% less compared to last year.
As per Strategy Analytics:
Apple shipped 6.8 million smartwatches worldwide in Q3 2019, rising an above-average 51 percent from 4.5 million in Q3 2018. Apple Watch remains a long way ahead of the chasing pack and its global smartwatch marketshare has grown from 45 percent to 48 percent in the past year. Apple Watch continues to fend off strong competition from hungry rivals like Fitbit and Samsung. Apple Watch owns half the worldwide smartwatch market and remains the clear industry leader.
As per these numbers, Apple Watch is growing in both sales and revenue. Apple Watch Series 5 started shipping on September 20, so these numbers don't include much of the sales data for the new update. It'll be interesting to see how it impacts Q4 2019 numbers.
Interestingly, Apple Watch is giving tough competition to other Apple products too. As per analyst Horace Dediu, Apple Watch revenue has overtaken peak iPod revenue.
The Watch has overtaken peak iPod. Question is when will AirPods do the same. pic.twitter.com/jNGN3rGg0l
— Horace Dediu (@asymco) November 5, 2019
Apple's wearables revenue, which includes Apple Watch, AirPods, Beats headphones, HomePod, Apple TV and accessories, is also set to overtake the Mac line-up. Services revenue is already twice that of Mac, which should not be a surprise as Apple has been launching more services.
Wearables overtook the iPad and are about to overtake the Mac in revenues. Services now about double the Mac. pic.twitter.com/C66OmAVsQE
— Horace Dediu (@asymco) November 5, 2019
These reports and numbers confirm that Apple Watch continues to grow, despite tough competition from other manufacturers, who are selling their smartwatches at lower costs and a wider variety of models. Some are even shamelessly copying Apple Watch's design. It is important to note that smartwatches by other manufacturers work with both iPhone and Android, while Apple Watch is only compatible with the iPhone. This gives Apple a smaller audience compared to competitors, yet it continues to lead the market.
