Smart watches will see a huge sales boom, with Apple Watch leading the way

According to the technology website PhoneArena, as the concept of smart wearable devices gradually takes root in people's minds, smart watches will usher in a golden period of development in the next few years. The total shipment volume will reach 88.3 million units in 2019, of which Apple will occupy half of the market and become a well-deserved leader. IDC said that under the strong leadership of Apple Watch, the smart watch market will usher in a big explosion in the next few years.

IDC releases smartwatch market research data

IDC predicts that Apple Watch will ship 13 million units this year, making it the undisputed leader in the smartwatch market with a market share of 61.3%. Android Wear is close behind, with shipments of 3.2 million units and a market share of 15.2%. Pebble also performed well, with shipments of 1.8 million units, while Samsung's Tizen smartwatches sold 1.7 million units.

IDC said that with Apple's huge fan base and rich application selection, Apple Watch has a unique competitive advantage. "With Apple's strong influence, Apple Watch has become the benchmark for smart watches in a very short period of time. Although it still has a lot of room for improvement, its relatively complete functions are enough to keep it in the leading position in the smart watch field."

IDC predicts that the compound growth rate of devices equipped with WatchOS will reach 36.5% from 2015 to 2019. This will allow it to continue to occupy half of the smartwatch market, taking 51.1% of the market share. In addition, Apple's smartwatch shipments will reach 45.2 million units in 2019.

Android Wear devices will also have a huge room for growth. With the huge sales of Android devices and the favorable conditions for traditional watch companies to enter the field of smart watches, the compound growth rate of Android Wear will reach an astonishing 80.5% between 2015 and 2019. Its shipments in 2019 will reach 34.3 million units, grabbing 34.3% of the market share.

In the battle of smart watches, Tizen is definitely a dark horse. This operating system installed on Samsung Gear S and S2 is likely to challenge the position of Android Wear in the future. IDC predicts that in 2019, the shipment volume of smart watches based on Tizen system will exceed Pebble, reaching 25 million units, while Pebble will follow closely behind, reaching 23 million units.

Ramon Llamas, head of wearable device research at IDC, said that smart watches will be very different in the future, equipped with 4G networks, health monitoring sensors and rich third-party applications. It is expected that the shipment of smart watches will reach 21.3 million this year, and this number will exceed 32.3 million next year. Between 2015 and 2019, the compound growth rate of the market will reach 42.8%, and the shipment will reach 88.3 million in 2019.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.