It’s Official: The Apple Watch is Dominating the Competition

Apple takes the leadApple has only been selling its smartwatch since April, and already the company has sold 7 million units, according to data from Canalys. That’s more smartwatch sales than all of Apple’s competitors combined, over the previous five quarters.

Image credit: Apple.

Pebble falls behindOne of Apple’s closest smartwatch competitors is Pebble, which released the Pebble Time Steel watch in the third quarter. The new watch was a relative success and helped Pebble sell 200,000 total units, but fell short of the iMaker. Canalys said that Apple was the only vendor to sell more than 300,000 units in the third quarter. Image credit: Pebble.

Even if we look at worldwide smartwatch data provided by Strategy Analytics, Apple’s maintains its lead. The research firm estimated that Apple shipped 4.5 million smartwatches in the third quarter, while Samsung shipped just 600,000. If those estimates are correct, they give Apple 74% of the global smartwatch market.

Samsung slips

Image credit: Samsung.

Why Apple is dominatingSimply put, the company has a huge retail presence. But Strategy Analytics says Apple will need to expand into new markets quickly to help maintain its lead. The research firm also believes that the holiday season could help boost Samsung’s smartwatch market share.

“Global smartwatch growth is being driven by consumer demand across North America, Western Europe and Asia for the much-hyped Apple Watch

model.”

- Strategy Analytics

Increasing competitionSamsung isn’t the only smartwatch maker Apple needs to fight off. New devices from LG, Motorola, Fossil, and Tag Heuer could pose threats as well. The increasing competition may be why Apple is falling short of Strategy Analytics’ full-year estimates for Apple Watch shipments, which were initially set at 20 million. “That looks out of reach now,” the research firm recently said. Image credit: Motorola.

Leading until 2020But research firm Tractica says that the Apple Watch will retain its lead in the smartwatch market through 2020, when it will hold about 54% of unit shipments. Image credit: Apple.

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