Google’s Wear OS is clinging to relevance today after new research showed the company’s smartwatch market share is dwindling further.
While the likes of Apple, Fitbit and Samsung are all experiencing growth in sales and US market share, according to research from Canalys, Google’s platform is going in the opposite direction. The major Wear OS watch purveyor Fossil currently has a 4.1% share of the smart wearables market in mid-2019, with around 300,000 sales during Q2 (via Android Central).
On the contrary, Samsung has enjoyed a solid change in fortune over the last year, with growth up 121% according to Canalys, and now has a 10.6% share of the market (up from 6.7% in 2018).
The big winners are the Apple Watch and Fitbit, the research says. Apple’s smartwatch has a whopping 37.9% share of the market with 2.9m sales during the previous quarter. That’s up from 2.2 million shipments in Q2 2018.
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Fitbit has almost a quarter of the current market at present, with a 24.1% share of the smart wearable band sales. Sales year-on-year are up from 1.6m this time last year to 1.9m in the last quarter.
That news comes after it emerged the Fitbit Versa Lite smartwatch had not sold as well as the fitness-focused company had hoped, leading to a 27% fall in its smartphone sales. We can only assume a boost in sales of the company’s other smart wearables is making up for the shortfall.
Garmin’s fitness trackers and sports watches are on 7%, which is actually down from the 8.4% share it held last year. This might explain the reports form earlier this week that Garmin is planning a massive refresh of its wearable deices at IFA 2019.
The rest of the market is comprised of “Other” brands, according to Canalys. That 16.1% might be Google’s saving grace when it comes to Wear OS. Sales of devices from the likes of TicWatch, Misfit and Huawei could bring the Wear OS tally up somewhat.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
