Apple Watch poised to overtake Fitbit in wearables shipments

“Our analysis of review volume for the wearables market correlates directly with unit sales volume, and we have seen a significant slowing in consumer demand for both wearables in general and fitness bands in particular”, said John Feland, CEO and founder, Argus Insights. Apple was within striking distance of market leader Fitbit, which sold an estimated 4.4 million fitness trackers in the second quarter.

According to the report, the Apple Watch stole consumer interest from Fitbit and other wearables at the time of its announcement in September 2014, as potential buyers waited to determine whether they wanted the Apple Watch. According to IDC, the number of wearables shipped in the quarter were 18.1 million units, up from 5.6 million units from the same period a year ago. Due to the drastic difference in average selling price between models of Apple Watch and other wearables however, Apple is highly likely to be far ahead in terms of profits.

Consumer interest in wearable electronic devices has dropped significantly from its holiday-season peak, and is still driven by cheaper fitness trackers despite the splashy debut of several smartwatches, a research firm reported Thursday.

“Anytime Apple enters a new market, not only does it draw attention to itself, but to the market as a whole”, noted Ramon Llamas, Research Manager for IDC’s Wearables team.

IDC ranks behind Apple, Xiaomi, Garmin and Samsung.

Once the Apple Watch was officially announced, sales in Fitbit and other smartwatches climbed through the holiday season as many consumers didn’t seem too impressed with what Apple had to offer to the wearables market. “Consumers expect their wearables to do more than simply count steps, just as they expect to do more than just make phone calls with their handsets”. The Apple Watch is already a platform with 3.6 million devices.

The report acknowledged a similar dip in interest in wearables in early 2014, following a spike during the preceding holiday season, but pointed out that demand eventually rebounded, ultimately peaking by the end of the year.

The Apple Watch is the ideal holiday gift and the upcoming WatchOS 2 will give Apple Watch apps the much needed boost.