Research firm Canalys has revealed its report for wearables during Q2 2021. Globally the market grew 5.6 percent year on year with 40.9 million units shipped during the quarter.
Interestingly, it is the more expensive and better specced smartwatches that have buoyed this growth, with the Apple Watch in particular dominating the space.
Unlike the smartphone segment for example, where more affordable devices led the way as a result of consumer spending habits during the pandemic, for wearables consumers are looking for feature rich devices instead of basic ones as Canalys terms them.
“Wristwatch shipments overtook those of basic bands for the first time in Q4 2020, and this trend has continued since then, with wristwatches accounting for over 60% of all wearable band shipments for three consecutive quarters to date. Canalys expects wristwatches to be the key growth driver for the wearable band category for years to come,” noted the firm in its report.
While Apple was the dominant player in the smartwatch space, looking at basic bands, it is Xiaomi which has claimed the top spot, with the release of the Mi Smart Band 6 being a key contributor to its success.
“Xiaomi made a wise move to hasten the release of the Mi Band 6, which is a more compelling device than its predecessor. Xiaomi’s quick pivot to basic watches also helped the company boost its wristwatch shipments by 1.3 million units this quarter,” explained Canalys research analyst Cynthia Chen.
Looking forward, the research firm notes that the moves being made by the likes of Samsung in collaborating with Google on Wear OS could yield dividends in future quarters. As such, it will be interesting to see what impact the newly unveiled Galaxy Watch 4 series has in that respect.
“Vendors are attempting to make a big generational leap in smartwatch technologies. To stand out, they are improving the fundamentals, such as user experience and battery life, creating their own distinct UIs and leveraging their respective ecosystems to draw out new and unique use cases,” said Canalys research manager Jason Low.
“But health tracking is the most prominent use case for smartwatches. The ability to deliver cutting-edge health-tracking features and to offer users meaningful data and actionable health insights will set winners and losers apart,” he concluded.
