Discounts boost wearables

Abacus-shuffler IDC has finished moving the beads back and forth and concluded that 19.7 million units in 2016's first quarter, an increase of 67.2% from the 11.8 million units shipped in 1Q15.

Which sounds like cause for celebration, until you consider the analyst's assertions that the quarter also featured discounts (especially for Apple's Sports Watch), the debut of new types of wearable that pumped up sales (perhaps not sustainably) and the demise of several startups.

"The wearables that we see today are several steps ahead of what we saw when this market began, increasingly taking their cues from form, function, and fashion,” said Ramon Llamas, research manager for IDC's Wearables team. "That keeps them relevant. The downside is that it is becoming a crowded market, and not everyone is guaranteed success."

Indeed, Llamas sees just two thriving segments: smart watches and “basic” wearables like fitness bands. And watches aren't going great: Apple sold 1.5m of its Watch in the quarter to lead the market. The company sells that many iPhones on a busy weekend.

Fitbit leads the market with 4.8m shipments, IDC says, with Xioami not far behind on 3.7m. Apple's third, Garmin's 900,000 devices sees it occupy fourth and Samsung's having a hard time converting Galaxy phone sales into wearable sales as its 700,000 product movements is equal with Chinese WatchPhone maker BBK which targets parents with an offering that allows them to track kids. ®