Report: Xiaomi gaining on Fitbit in wearable marketshare

By Aditi Pai
10:25 am
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IDC Q1 2015 Wearable shipmentsThe wearable device market grew in Q1 for the eighth consecutive year, according to a report from research firm IDC. Approximately 11.4 million wearables were shipped in the first quarter this year, which is a 200 percent increase from the 3.8 million wearables shipped in the first quarter last year.

"Bucking the post-holiday decline normally associated with the first quarter is a strong sign for the wearables market," said IDC Research Manager Ramon Llamas said in a statement. "...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. This will force the competition to up their game in order to stay on the leading edge of the market." 

Fitbit, which recently filed for an IPO, had the most shipments and a 34.2 percent market share, down from 44.7 last year in the first quarter.

Following Fitbit is Xiaomi, which had 24.6 percent market share even though the company had just started shipping devices during the second half of 2014. After Xiaomi, Garmin had 6.1 percent market share, Samsung had 5.3 percent, and Jawbone had just 4.4 percent.

Last month, a report from analyst firm Argus Insights suggested that, while Fitbit is the clear leader in the fitness tracking device space, within the larger market, which includes smartwatches, its market share may be slipping away. Argus doesn’t track unit sales or shipments, but instead draws on a variety of proprietary metrics to gauge consumer insight and adoption. The firm says its research is “derived from an analysis of wearables research based on information from more than 100,000 global consumers.”

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