How a Slow Wearable Market Has Affected Apple Watch Sales

Apple CEO Tim Cook stated that he expects Apple Watch to post record sales during the holiday season of 2016. As per Slice Intelligence, Apple (AAPL) accounted for 46.0% of the online revenue generated in the wearables market during this holiday period. That compares to 37.0% at the end of the last holiday season.

Apple’s closest competitor, Fitbit (FIT), saw its market share fall from 36.8% in 2015 to 31.9% this year. Garmin (GRMN) has also gained traction in the 2016 holiday season with its share rising from 7.2% in 2015 to 8.1% in 2016. Samsung (SSNLF) was the fourth-largest player despite falling revenue.

Revenue from the wearables market rose 10.0% YoY (year-over-year) and has outpaced revenue in the electronics segment.

According to IDC, wearable market shipments rose to 23 million units in 3Q16 from 22.3 million units in 3Q15. Apple’s unit shipments fell the most by 71% YoY (year-over-year) to 1.1 million units, whereas Samsung’s shipments rose 90% YoY to 1 million units in 3Q16.

Apple doesn’t release official Apple Watch sales figures. Instead, it mixes product sales with iPods and other accessories. In the smartwatch segment, Apple leads the market with a share of 41.3%, followed by Garmin and Samsung at 20.5% and 14.4%, respectively.

Unit shipments in the wearable market for 3Q16 rose 3.1% YoY. Fitbit has also had a difficult 2016 where shares of the firm fell significantly by 75%.