FitBit, Samsung and Jawbone new wearables kings, as tech gets fitThe wearables market grew a whopping 684% during January-June globally, this year.
6 million smart watches and basic fitness bands that measure everything from heartrate, kms ran, calorie intake and take calls, were sold in H1.
However basic bands from the likes of FitBit and Jawbone Up are more popular , selling over 4 million compared to under 2 million pricier smartwatches like Samsung Galaxy Gear, according to analysts’ Canalys.
However, Samsung are the new smartwatch leader with the release of Gear 2, Gear 2 Neo and Gear Fit in Q2, and more to come this year. Smartwatches connect to a smartphone and which are capable of run third-party fitness applications, check e-mails, make calls.
These smart bands work with Samsung smartphones, so its little wonder the worlds No. 1 phone maker came out tops.
Pebble is No. 2 behind Samsung, with Steel helped Pebble keep its momentum and its app store continues to grow. Meanwhile Sony, the creator of one of the first smart bands, came in at No. 3.
However,fitness bands are more popular than smartwatches as they are cheaper. One million wearables have already been sold in Australia, to date. This phenomenal growth in wearables is likely to accelerate further this year.
Fitbit and Jawbone are the most popular fitness bands, devices that don’t runs mobile apps and are much cheaper. However, Nike’s market share has fallen, showing that tech companies are taking the lead in the fitness race over sportswear makers, according to Canalys data.
‘Fitbit and Jawbone have very successfully grown and strengthened their relationships with channel partners internationally to grow global shipment volumes’ said Canalys analyst Chris Jones.
‘Samsung must improve device sell-through otherwise it will again have to resort to heavy discounting through promotions to move inventory.’
Nike’s market share has fallen as it cut resources, while Garmin is chasing third place with the new vivofit band.
In July, Samsung released its fifth smart band in less than a year, Gear Live running on Google’s Android Wear platform, as are LG’s G Watch and Motorola’s Moto 360 launching on Android Wear, all devices that could make impact in 2014.
But things are also heating up in the Aussie wearables market with newcomer Kogan, who entered the market with cheaper fitness bands Fortis, in July costing $49.
Google will also undoubtedly continue to refine and improve the Wear platform but all eyes will be on Apple tipped to launch a smart wearable band, iWatch, which shake up the wearable market later this year.
Canalys expects iWatch to innovate on wireless charging, waterproofing, and display and battery technologies.
New wearables will be launched at IFA next month, but most tech companies are waiting to see what Apple will do first.
