Smartwatches and fitness bands are putting Swiss watchmakers on notice, but the latest IDC report sheds more light on why this is the case. The final results have been tallied for 2015, with wearables seeing a 171.6% increase in Sales as opposed to all of 2014. Sales increased 127% from the same Q4 just one Year earlier.
Leading the wearables adoption is Fitbit, whose fitness bands have become a popular go-to for those who prefer something smaller and thinner than smart watches.
Apple enjoyed more of its dominant success in 2015, with holiday sales rather high in the smart watch market for Q4 2015. Samsung's own fortunes improved, with the Korean giant having propelled itself back to fourth place - a massive improvement from being unranked as of late in the market.
The numbers do not tell us much, except to say that smartwatches and fitness bands are becoming more of an option for consumers who are wanting a smart wrist wearable to match their smartphone. At the same time, however, every new purchase in the smart wearables market is one less purchase in the luxury market, and it is this trend that is starting to (and should) make luxury smartwatch makers nervous.
