LONDON: Research firm IDC says the global wearable devices market recorded its eighth straight quarter of steady growth with shipments touching 11.4 million units in the January-March quarter.
According to IDC, vendors shipped a total of 11.4 million wearables in the first quarter of 2015, a more than two-fold jump from 3.8 million wearables shipped in the year-ago period. “Bucking the post-holiday decline, normally associated with the first quarter, is a strong sign for the wearables market,” IDC Research Manager (Wearables) Ramon Llamas said.
It demonstrates growing end-user interest and the vendors’ ability to deliver a diversity of devices and experiences, he added. “In addition, demand from emerging markets is on the rise and vendors are eager to meet these new opportunities,” he said.
FitBit led the market with 34.2 per cent share of shipment, followed by Xiaomi at 24.6 per cent and Garmin at 6.1 per cent. Samsung had a 5.3 per cent share, while Jawbone held 4.4 per cent of the wearables market.
“What remains to be seen is how Apple’s arrival will change the landscape. The Apple Watch will likely become the device that other wearables will be measured against, fairly or not,” Llamas said. This will force the competition to up their game in order to stay on the leading edge of the market, he added.
“As with any young market, price erosion has been quite drastic. We now see over 40 per cent of the devices priced under USD 100 (about Rs 6,400), and that’s one reason why the top 5 vendors have been able to grow their dominance from two-thirds of the market in the first quarter of last year to three-quarters this quarter,” IDC Senior Research Analyst (Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers) Jitesh Ubrani said.
Despite this price erosion, Apple’s entrance with a product priced at the high-end of the spectrum will test consumers’ willingness to pay a premium for a brand or product that is the centre of attention, he added.
