Apple shipped 29.4 million wearables in the second quarter of this year, up 25.3% from the year ago quarter, reports IDC.
The market for wearable devices grew 14.1% during the second quarter of 2020 (2Q20), thanks to strong demand for hearables and continued interest in tracking health metrics during these dire times. While the total market ballooned to 86.2 million units during the quarter, the growth was unevenly spread across the various form factors according to new data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Wearable Device Tracker.
"Hearables show much stronger and broader demand than smartwatches and fitness trackers," said David Myhrer, research vice president for IDC's Consumer Technology Strategy Service. According to data from IDC's U.S Consumer Technology Purchase Index survey, self-reported consumer spend in the U.S. on hearables built throughout the quarter and into July, up 7% over the April benchmark. Comparable self-reported spend on smartwatches and fitness trackers was down by about a third.
Product Highlights
● Hearables* grew 32.6% and accounted for 60% of all wearables during the quarter. Apple led the charge here as it managed to ship 23.7 million Airpods and Beats products, followed by Samsung and Xiaomi. This category continues to be dominated by smartphone brands as the opportunity to bundle remains high while traditional headphone makers such as Sony, Bose, Jabra, and others rank lower but focus on the premium end of the market. Earworn wearables continue to be popular as people work/learn from home and require hearables to maintain privacy while remaining connected with their various devices and services.
● Watches and Wristbands represented 39.2% of all shipments, down from 46.8% in the second quarter of 2019. Combined, shipments for these devices declined 4.4% from last year and totaled 33.7 million units. The top vendors – Apple, Huawei, and Xiaomi – gained share and dominance while many other vendors struggled to convince consumers that these devices are "must haves" during an economic downturn. That said, there have been signs of positivity as some brands, such as Fitbit, invest in disease detection while others, such as Samsung, have deployed wearables to track physical distance between wearers in order to encourage social distancing.
● Other wearables, such as clip-on devices or connected clothing, did not fare well during the quarter as the category declined 58.7% year over year. The one bright spot was Oura, which was recently adopted by the NBA in an effort to track players' health during the pandemic. While the deployment has been relatively small and its efficacy remains unproven, it has nonetheless brought attention to wearables as a whole and may lead to a short-term bump for the entire category.
Take a look at the charts below and hit the link for the full report!
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The market for wearable devices grew 14.1% during the second quarter of 2020 (2Q20), thanks to strong demand for hearables and continued interest in tracking health metrics during these dire times. While the total market ballooned to 86.2 million units during the quarter, the growth was unevenly spread across the various form factors according to new data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Wearable Device Tracker.
"Hearables show much stronger and broader demand than smartwatches and fitness trackers," said David Myhrer, research vice president for IDC's Consumer Technology Strategy Service. According to data from IDC's U.S Consumer Technology Purchase Index survey, self-reported consumer spend in the U.S. on hearables built throughout the quarter and into July, up 7% over the April benchmark. Comparable self-reported spend on smartwatches and fitness trackers was down by about a third.
Product Highlights
● Hearables* grew 32.6% and accounted for 60% of all wearables during the quarter. Apple led the charge here as it managed to ship 23.7 million Airpods and Beats products, followed by Samsung and Xiaomi. This category continues to be dominated by smartphone brands as the opportunity to bundle remains high while traditional headphone makers such as Sony, Bose, Jabra, and others rank lower but focus on the premium end of the market. Earworn wearables continue to be popular as people work/learn from home and require hearables to maintain privacy while remaining connected with their various devices and services.
● Watches and Wristbands represented 39.2% of all shipments, down from 46.8% in the second quarter of 2019. Combined, shipments for these devices declined 4.4% from last year and totaled 33.7 million units. The top vendors – Apple, Huawei, and Xiaomi – gained share and dominance while many other vendors struggled to convince consumers that these devices are "must haves" during an economic downturn. That said, there have been signs of positivity as some brands, such as Fitbit, invest in disease detection while others, such as Samsung, have deployed wearables to track physical distance between wearers in order to encourage social distancing.
● Other wearables, such as clip-on devices or connected clothing, did not fare well during the quarter as the category declined 58.7% year over year. The one bright spot was Oura, which was recently adopted by the NBA in an effort to track players' health during the pandemic. While the deployment has been relatively small and its efficacy remains unproven, it has nonetheless brought attention to wearables as a whole and may lead to a short-term bump for the entire category.
Take a look at the charts below and hit the link for the full report!
Read More