Apple continued to lead the global wearables market in Q4 2020, according to a new report from the International Data Corporation (IDC).
The report reveals that worldwide shipments of wearable devices reached 153.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2020, which was a 27.2 percent year-over-year increase. Shipments for the full year grew 28.4 percent to 244.7 million units.
“While the holiday quarter was largely driven by new devices and lower prices, the broader trend for 2020 was the surge in consumer spending for electronics as disposable income was reallocated from leisure activities during the pandemic,” the report notes.
Apple led the market with a 36.2 percent share of Q4 2020 shipments. The tech giant’s watch shipments increased by 45.5 percent.
“Hearables shipments also surged during the quarter although year-over-year growth slowed to 22 percent, down from 28 percent and 29 percent in the previous two quarters. The slowing growth reflects the huge amount of adoption that the market has seen in recent quarters.”
Xiaomi came in second place with a five percent year-over-year increase. The company’s overall growth was driven by the expansion of its hearables line, which grew 55.5 percent since last year. IDC notes that the company is expected to benefit from Huawei’s decline.
Samsung held the third position and saw traction with its low-cost wristbands and managed to compete with Chinese vendors in a few markets.
Huawei fell to fourth place as it continued to deal with the U.S. sanctions. Although its shipments within China grew by 9.4 percent, shipments declined in non-domestic markets.
Source: International Data Corporation
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