A recent data from the global research firm International Data Corporation (IDC) shows that total worldwide shipments of smartwatch units have declined in the third quarter of 2016. There were 5.6 million units shipped in the third quarter of 2015. The figure went down to only 2.7 million units in the same time period this year.
Meanwhile, Apple is still the leader in the said market. But it also has the second worst year-over-year growth.
The Downfall Of The Smartwatch Market
The smartwatch market is suffering from a glaring 51.6 percent decrease in shipments. According to the Business Wire, the Research Manager for IDC's Wearable's team Ramon Llamas has explained the sharp decline.
He mentioned that the new offerings of smartphone vendors such as Apple, Google and Samsung may have come a bit late that it should have been. Llamas added that this had caused the said vendors to rely on their older devices. Customers could take an issue out of that.
It should also be noted that the fate of Google's Android Wear 2.0 is uncertain. A definite date of the said smartwatch launch is not yet set. On the other hand, Samsung's Gear S3 is yet to be released in the market too.
Another problem that Senior Research Analyst for IDC Mobile Device Trackers Jitesh Ubrani has pointed out is smartwatches are not for everyone. They have certainly been useful for fitness reasons. However, this might not stand in the long run against what smartphones can offer to users. The distinction between these devices is significant.
Apple Still Tops Other Smartwatch Vendors
Apple was able to ship 3.9 million smartwatch units in the third quarter of 2015. The given figure dropped to 1.1 million units by the third quarter of this year. It accounts for 71.6 percent decline in its year-over-year growth, the second largest only behind Lenovo. IDC said that a lot of these shipped units were the first-generation Watches.
Apparently, Apple's Series One and Series Two were not a big help. However, IDC predicts that the fate of Apple will be different in the fourth quarter of 2016. A better figure will be caused by lower price points and improved experiences.
The next in the list of the top smartwatch vendors is Garmin. Its smart watch shipment has increased from 0.1 to 0.6 million units. That's a whopping 324.2 percent year-over-year growth. It's the largest among the smartwatch vendors.
According to TechCrunch, most of it is due to Garmin's ConnectIQ-enabled smartwatches. The Fenix Chronos was also a decent addition.
Completing IDC's list are Samsung, Lenovo (Motorola) and Pebble.
