IDC is out with its latest quarterly numbers for the smartwatch industry, and it shows a whiplash kind of decline. Overall, shipments fell 32 percent in the second quarter of 2016 compared to a year previous, with Apple’s sales dropping by 55 percent.
Even at “only” 1.6 million watches shipped, Apple remains far and away the market leader, with 47 percent of the market. Samsung’s sales went from 400,000 last year to 600,000 this year; Lenovo (Motorola) and LG from 200,000 to 300,000; and Garmin holding at 100,000. With Apple’s sharp decline, though, everyone else’s market share more or less doubled.
This may be less apocalyptic than it seems, though. Remember that the Apple Watch was a white-hot glowingly new product a year ago; it’s hardly surprising that sales dropped off. And it’s still selling three times as well as its nearest competitor. Then again, everyone on this list besides Apple have been improving and updating their product lines, while Apple’s introduced, well, some new colors and an improved operating system that hasn’t shipped yet.