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Apple Watch Grows Leadership Position in Q218 from 13% to 17% Share Y/Y
September 10, 2018
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IDC says demand for its LTE-equipped Series 3 device largely drove Apple’s wearable sales last quarter, and the device received a number of discounts at big-box retail storesthat may have led to a surge in consumer purchases. Refurbished versions of the Apple Watch Series 3 also went up for sale on Apple’s retail site starting in February. Comments from IDC, which reported the results

• Apple maintained its position atop the wearables market with market-beating growth and continued demand for its LTE-enabled Watch. This makes it a welcome addition to many telco channels worldwide. Now that the company has unveiled watchOS 5, it has also begun to chart out potential replacement cycles, as the latest version of Apple’s smartwatch platform will be compatible only with Series 1 and later. 
• Xiaomi held the second position and has successfully diversified its product portfolio to include shoes, kid's watches, and multiple variants of the Mi Band, each priced at the low end of the market. The company also grew its brand awareness across Europe and the Middle East through the success of its smartphone lineup and other tech products and it is only a matter of time before this brand awareness leads to further success in wearables. 
• Fitbit's decline continued as the company largely relied on sales of basic wristbands in the past and was not able to maintain pace during the second quarter. However, with the launch of the Versa, the fitness giant has successfully expanded its user base and emerged as the second largest smartwatch brand during the quarter with 1.1 million smartwatches shipped. Fitbit is also one of the few OEMs that continue to actively target the commercial market and remains a market leader in this space. 
• Huawei, like Xiaomi, has been heavily focused on the Chinese market though this is slowly changing as the company starts to experience growth outside its home turf. The dual brand strategy has also been paying off as Honor accounts for a little over half of all the wearables shipped by Huawei. 
• Garmin extended its lead over Samsung to maintain its position as the number five vendors worldwide and saw its shipment volume of smartwatches extend their lead over its basic wearables. This further underscores the growing appetite for smart wearables over basic wearables. Still, the company continues to benefit from the success of its fitness-oriented Vivo line and the launch of its new golf-centered Approach S10. 

Table 1: Wearable Shipments, Share and Growth by Supplier

Source: IDC