IDC is out with its quarterly count of the fitness tracker market, and it's finding that basic models are growing fast, while more advanced gadgets aren't. The market researcher breaks the world down into "basic" and "smart" wearables; the latter supports third-party apps, the former doesn't. If you accept those definitions, and we think it's a little simplistic, IDC's count … [Read more...]
Xiaomi’s CEO Announces Launch for Mi Band 2 — in China
It’s a good news, bad news kind of thing. Good news is that the Mi Band 2 fitness tracker will be available with an LED screen to consumers June 7, according to Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun. Bad news is that it will be available only to Chinese consumers. However, other Xiaomi products have launched China-only and were seen in other markets within months of the Chinese launch. The … [Read more...]
IDC Says Apple Shipped 11.6M Watches Last Year, About Half of Analysts’ Guesses
iCharts Research firm IDC reported last week that Apple sold about 11.6 million watches in 2015, a figure that's about half of what stock analysts had been expecting. For the full year, the company was in third place in the consumer wearables market, following Fitbit and Xiaomi. As a whole, IDC said, the wearables market jumped 127 percent in the 4Q15, and 172 percent … [Read more...]
Samsung Drops Out of Top Five Fitness Tracker List, says IDC
IDC's 3Q15 wearables figures are out, and Fitbit is the big winner while Samsung the big loser. The market research firm says Fitbit sold 4.7 million devices in the third quarter, twice as many as it sold in the same period last year. It accounts for 22.2 percent of the global market. Apple, IDC said, sold 3.9 million Apple Watches, for 18.6 percent of the market. It was … [Read more...]
Apple Watch a Close Number 2 Behind Fitbit, Says IDC
We've been saying for months that we won't judge the Apple Watch a success or failure until we see hard numbers from a company like IDC. Now, the market intelligence company says Apple shipped 3.4 million units in 2Q15 -- the first quarter of its availability -- compared to Fitbit's 4.4 million. The wearables industry as a whole shipped 18.1 million units, up 223 percent from … [Read more...]
IDC Puts Fitbit Number 1 in Trackers, with Xiaomi in Second
IDC says Fitbit is the world's top vendor of fitness trackers for the first quarter of 2015, with Chinese Xiaomi in a strong second thanks to its $15 Mi Band. Overall, the world market for trackers was 11.4 million, up 200 percent from the year previous. IDC analysts say that 40 percent of trackers sold in the first quarter sold for under $100 -- not surprising given the … [Read more...]
Misfit Lands $40M Series C, Eyes China Expansion
Misfit, maker of the Shine wearable, has closed a $40 million round of funding, including the first US investment from Chinese cellphone maker Xiaomi, TechCrunch reports. Sonny Vu, Misfit's chairman, told TechCrunch that his company didn't need the money; it still has $15 million from its last raise and is breaking even on hardware sales. More important was the partnerships … [Read more...]