Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi Helped Wearables Market Grow in Q1 2020 Amid COVID-19 Crisis: IDC

The wearables market saw a steady growth in the first quarter of 2020, with a 29.7 percent year-over-year increase, according to the latest research by International Data Corporation (IDC). The hearables segment, in particular, seemed to have not been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and it grew 68.3 percent in the first quarter of 2020. Apple still takes the biggest slice in the wearables segment with 29.3 percent market share, and the company shipped 2.12 crore wearable units in total. This includes the Apple Watch lineup, the Beats range, and the AirPods lineup as well.

IDC says that a total of 7.26 crore wearable units were shipped during the first quarter of 2020, a huge increase from the 5.6 crore units shipped during the same period last year. Undeterred by the COVID-19 crisis, the wristband category grew 16.2 percent, whereas the hearables segment grew by 68.3 percent. Because of this increase, the research firm claims that the hearables segment now accounts for 54.9 percent of the global wearables market shipments.

As mentioned, Apple managed to take the top position once again in the wearables segment with 29.3 percent of the market share. Xiaomi took the second spot, having shipped 1.01 crore wearable devices in Q1 2020, raking in 14 percent of the market share. Samsung and Huawei grabbed in 11.9 percent and 11.1 percent of the market share, respectively.

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Samsung's hearables business did very well and reportedly accounted for 74 percent of its total Q1 wearables 2020 shipments, up from 58.9 percent in Q1 2019. IDC notes that the company managed to ship 40 lakh units of the Galaxy Buds and Galaxy Buds+ during the first quarter.

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Huawei, on the other hand, managed to ship a total of 81 lakh units of wearables in the first quarter, and this includes units from its subsidiary Honor as well. Huawei, IDC notes, has been growing its footprint in Europe, Latin America, and the other Asian markets.

Fitbit saw a 26.1 percent decline in shipments Y-o-Y, and it managed to ship only 22 lakh wearable units in the first quarter. This is lower than the 29 lakh units it managed to ship in the first quarter of 2019. IDC explains that Fitbit faced supply issues for multiple weeks during the first quarter as its production was based in China.

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Wearable brands like Garmin and Huami also managed to attain a healthy growth thanks to expansion in markets like US, Europe, and Asia, IDC claims.

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