Apple Watch Controls Half The World Wearable Market

The Apple Watch accounted for 52 percent of all wearable devices shipped during 2015, according to research from analyst firm Juniper Research, making the device far and away the most popular of the year, despite only launching in April.

Apple’s biggest rival, the Google-developed Android Wear operating system, only recorded less than 10 percent of sales for the year, with Samsung’s own Tizen OS also lagging far behind.

Snappy

Juniper’s found that the wearables market has so far been dominated by low-cost devices. This is largely due to the fact that, with the exception of the Apple Watch, many premium devices still lack a strong use case, offering only basic functions that can be found on cheaper devices.

However analysts still believe the entire smartwatch ecosystem is growing rapidly, encouraged by the emergence of a range of dedicated software companies to supply both games and productivity-based apps.

“The smartwatch is now a category waiting for a market,” research author James Moar commented.

“Newer devices have offered more polished looks and subtly different functions, but no large changes in device capabilities or usage. With smartwatch functions established, it is now up to consumers to decide if they want them, rather than technology companies providing more reasons.”

The wearable market is expected to continued to grow in 2016. IDC recently estimated that 45.7 million wearable devices would be sold this year, up 133.4 percent from last year’s figure. By 2019, the research firm predicts 126.1 million units will be sold each year.

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