Global smartwatch shipments increased 48 percent year-over-year in Q1

[Shawn Knight]

Bottom line: While features like heart rate sensors, GPS, pedometers and NFC are hot commodities in smartwatches, limited battery life remains a pain point according to Counterpoint Research Analyst, Satyajit Sinha. If manufacturers can figure out how to squeeze even more life out of their watches, sales will likely continue to climb.

Global smartwatch shipments climbed 48 percent year-over-year in the first quarter of 2019 with Apple leading the way by a wide margin.

The Cupertino-based tech titan may be experiencing depressed demand for its iPhones but the Apple Watch isn’t encountering similar struggles. According to Counterpoint’s Global Smartwatch Tracker, global shipments of Apple’s wearable grew 49 percent year-over-year in the most recent quarter.

One in three smartwatches shipped during the quarter was an Apple Watch, the firm said.

Exhibit 1: Global Smartwatch Shipments market share by brand in Q1 2018 vs Q1 2019

Senior Analyst Sujeong Lim, speaking on Samsung’s performance, said its success was due to the latest Galaxy watch series that came with a traditional round clockface and better battery life. The Galaxy also provides LTE connectivity, giving it a leg-up on some other devices targeting Android users.

Huawei also got some traction with its Huawei Watch GT thanks to a striking design and affordability. Counterpoint said Huawei is also leveraging its growing brand mindshare which is presumably more favorable in other parts of the world than it is in the US.

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[QuantumPhysics]

The lead that apple Watch has on Samsung is only evidence that the Apple Watch is the most desirable wearable on the market. It's a shame to see how hard Samsung tried to "one-up" apple with features such as independent calling - only to find themselves so far behind quarter by quarter.

It's better to be right than to be first.

 

[p51d007]

Jobs was SMART to introduce schools to the Apple ecosystem decades ago.
When those kids got out in the real world, they were familiar with the apple devices.
Yes they have good products, but I think most of it still is something of a "fashion trend".
You don't want your friends laughing at you for not having that apple logo on everything.

 

[QuantumPhysics]

Jobs was SMART to introduce schools to the Apple ecosystem decades ago.
When those kids got out in the real world, they were familiar with the apple devices.
Yes they have good products, but I think most of it still is something of a "fashion trend".
You don't want your friends laughing at you for not having that apple logo on everything.

What you're basically talking about is called: "brand implementation for later actualization". Younger people learn and grow with a product and become much more likely to buy/use that product in the future.

Google does the same thing with its web engine.

Here's the thing: Apple devices are so simple to use compared to Android devices that ultimately even elderly people have an easier time using them than an Android and they too prefer Apple to Android. The user interface in iOS is perfect for one-handed operation and virtually fool proof.

 

[himindedlolife]

My last comment to this article was deleted I suspect cuz I used a word on the naughty list. Here's the short version. For me it's the Huawei Sport 2 since with the Android ecosystem, I can run Python scripts on my phone in Termux that easily send certain data (what the data is about is why my comment didn't show up) back and forth to the watch. I could write a native app buy why go through all that when Termux and Python does what I need with a tiny fraction of the effort. For most people, Apple may be better. I do like my iPhone 6S when it has a SIM in it rather than collecting dust on the shelf.