Global wearable device shipments have increased by 9.9% in Q3 2021

The demand for wearable devices has been on the rise and grew 9.9% during the third quarter of 2021 (3Q21) reaching 138.4 million units, which has increased to 26.5 percent, Unsurprisingly, the shipments for earphones, including the TWS earbuds, increased 26.5 percent, according to new data from the International Data Corporation (IDC). For the first time, the shipments of smartwatches surpassed the shipments of fitness trackers.

With this, smartwatches have now become the second-biggest category in wearable devices, accounting for a 4.3 percent increase. Although the pandemic has driven interest in health and fitness tracking, wrist-worn wearables such as watches and wristbands faced challenges during the quarter as these devices were not immune to the supply constraints and shifting demand brought about by the pandemic.

While the category has recently been led by Xiaomi's low-cost bands, the company was dethroned by Apple and Huawei in 3Q21 as they tied for first place in the wrist-worn segment. The reason behind the increased shipments of smartwatches is being said to be due to the users’ demand for more powerful features and functions and thus they are gradually shifting towards smartwatches. Also, there isn’t a huge price difference between a smartwatch and a fitness tracker, which is also a factor for the change.

Demand has been slowly shifting away from wristbands towards watches as consumers increasingly want a more capable device as the gap in pricing narrows," said Jitesh Ubrani, research manager for IDC Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers. "The number of watches sold for under $100 is now equal to wristbands, which have dominated this price band in the past. Growth amongst Indian and Chinese brands has been leading the low-end watch space while Apple, Huawei, and Samsung maintain a hold at the high-end.

Coming to the companies, Apple is dominating the market with a 28.8 percent market share and shipments of 39.8 million units. However, the company’s shipments for the Apple Watch dropped by 35.5 percent, but it managed to maintain its lead with AirPods. Samsung grabbed the second spot with a 9.2 percent market share and 12.7 million shipments.

Xiaomi also recorded the same numbers, sitting along with Samsung for the second rank in the third quarter. Huawei and India-based Imagine Marketing grabbed the fourth and fifth position with 7.9 percent and 7.2 percent market share, respectively. Huawei shipped around 10.9 million units while Imagine Marketing, which sells products under the boAt brand, managed to ship around 10 million units in Q3 2021.