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Activity Tracker Sales Dominate Wearables in Q1

London — Activity trackers dominated worldwide sales of wearable devices in the first quarter, outselling smart watches by 4-to-1, with 2.35 million devices shipped, according to study by ABI Research.

Fitbit remains the market leader, with a majority share, but will face more competition in Q2 and over the course of the year, ABI said, especially with Samsung about to launch the hybrid Samsung Gear Fit.

“Activity trackers are currently the most viable consumer electronics wearable device category, because they have a clear use case that cannot be matched by smartphones, in contrast to smart watches,” said ABI senior practice director Nick Spencer. “End users have been happy to ditch their watches and use smartphones to tell the time, so extending smartphone functions to the watch is a weak use case and retrograde step.”

Smart watch sales dropped significantly in Q1 compared with Q4 2013, due in small part to the seasonal effect of Christmas, but largely due to the imminent launch of Samsung’s Gear smart watches and Gear Fit activity tracker, the report said. The Samsung Gear dominated sales in Q4 2013 — mainly through bundles with the Samsung Galaxy Note III — but retailers and distributors were looking to clear their Samsung Gear 1 channel inventory in anticipation of the upgrade in Q2 2014, the report states.

“We shouldn’t dismiss smart watches, which are an evolving and, if you believe in reincarnation, a nascent category,” added Spencer. “Smart watches will develop rapidly in 2014 and 2015, with hybrid activity tracker/smart watches soon to hit the market, more specialized components being developed and most importantly the use case improving through a growing applications ecosystem. As the value proposition of smart watches increases, however, the price will still need to decrease to balance with end-user expectations.”

ABI Research expects 10 million activity trackers to be shipped in 2014 and 7 million smart watches.

Activity Tracker Brand Market Share, Q1 2014

(Total Units Shipped: 2.35 million)

1. Fitbit        

2. Garmin    

3. Nike                     

4. Jawbone  

5. Others      

Smart Watch Brand Market Share, Q1 2014

(Total Units Shipped: 510,000)

1. Samsung

2. Sony

3. Pebble

4. Casio

5. Others

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