Apple And Fitbit Lose Ground In Wearables Market, Says Canalys

A new report by Canalys claims that the total worldwide wearable band market has grown 8% year-on-year in Q2 2017.

According to Canalys Research Analyst Mo Jia, “the hype surrounding smartwatches has been short-lived and the market must now focus on compelling use cases to stimulate demand. Vendors in China, including Xiaotiancai and 360, have released Android-based smartwatches running on LTE networks, enabling parents to keep tabs on their children.”

The bulk of the growth here has been led by Xiaomi with shipments of 3.5 million units. Although this was closely followed by Fitbit (who shipped 3.3 million units), it’s still a 34% year-on-year decline for the latter.

Canalys also noted that Apple fell to third place with 2.7 million Apple Watch shipments. However, they predict that the smartwatch market will receive a boost in the second half of 2017, driven by cellular-enabled smartwatches.

“With Apple widely expected to include cellular capabilities in the next revision of its Apple Watch, it will secure its position as the key driver of smartwatch growth in the second half of 2017,” they say.

Looking forward, Canalys expects premium LTE-enabled smartwatches in China to grow rapidly as vendors build new features on top of the basic tracking and calling capabilities.