“About two of every three smart wearables shipped this quarter was an Apple Watch“, said Jitesh Ubrani, senior research analyst for IDC Mobile Device Trackers, in the statement.
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Based on analysts at Worldwide Knowledge Corp, Apple shipped sufficient models of its new smartwatch to just about overtake market chief FitBit within the final quarter.
“People need to get extra out of their units”, stated IDC’s Ramon Llamas in an interview. “It’s kind of like the way smartphones overtook basic phones”.
With Apple choosing not to disclose the actual sales, the estimation provided by IDC is a very educated guess on the commercial performance of the Apple Watch. After the corporate issued its last monetary report, through which Apple lumped watch gross sales right into a broader class it calls “different merchandise”, many analysts estimated Apple bought between 2 million and 3 million watches through the quarter that led to June. IDC also tracks shipments of personal computers, smartphones and other computer products. Its reviews on these merchandise, together with estimates from rival analysis agency Gartner, are extensively cited within the business. Llamas said that now seems unlikely.
Apple occupies the second position among the top five wearable vendors across the world.
Note that the IDC report includes shipment numbers for both fitness bands as well as devices that the firm refers to as “smart wearables“, which are devices that can install third-party apps. On the other, it remains to be seen if other smartwatch makers such as LG, Samsung, or Sony will be able to compete with the Apple Watch in terms of commercial performance.
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Apple shipped 3.6 million units of Apple Watch in the second quarter of this year, falling short of market leader Fitbit’s 4.4 million units by just 0.8 million, according to an global Data Corporation study. Counting other manufacturers, IDC estimated 18.1 million wearable gadgets were shipped in the quarter.
