Wearables Market Sees First Decline at Beginning of 2022 as Demand Normalizes, According to IDC

NEEDHAM, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#FitnessTracking–The global wearables market faced its first-ever decline during the first quarter of 2022 (1Q22) as unit shipments totaled 105.3 million units, down 3.0% year over year, according to new data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Wearable Device Tracker. The decline is largely attributable to cooling demand as consumers begin to spend more in categories outside of wearables following years of precipitous growth that were further amplified during the pandemic.

Despite the overall decline, not all wearable categories shared the same fate. Hearables, the largest category by share, declined slightly with growth down just 0.6%. Hearables also experienced one of the biggest booms in the industry as work-from-home and learn-from-home activity led to a sharp increase in demand that has now come down from the pandemic-driven high. Wristbands, the pioneers of the wearables category, declined 40.5% as supply shortages and weaker demand combined to hamper growth. On the bright side, watches grew 9.1% during the period and grabbed 28% share of the overall market.

“Consumers are increasingly becoming aware of their health and with more pricing options, there seems to be a watch available for everyone,” said Jitesh Ubrani, research manager for IDC Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers. “Competition is also on the rise as smaller brands ramp up their basic health and fitness tracking watches at the low end, and as Google along with Samsung and other Wear OS partners finally become more competitive with Apple at the high end of the spectrum.”

“Cooling demand will force companies to further differentiate themselves,” noted Ramon T. Llamas, research director, Mobile Devices and AR/VR at IDC. “With most features becoming increasingly common among the different devices, companies will have to convince customers to upgrade with best-in-class experiences knowing that there are plenty of alternatives available. This will call for new hardware, software, and services that will both surprise and delight, and keep customers engaged.”

1Q22 Company Highlights

• Apple managed to grow 6.6% year over year during the quarter thanks to the performance of Apple Watches with the Apple Watch SE showing surprising resilience (over 2 million shipped) for a device that is more than one and half years old. Meanwhile, shipments of AirPods were flat during the quarter as the company faced more competition from low-cost products.
• Samsung ranked second although its unit shipments dropped nearly 10% compared to last year. Samsung has typically relied on strong smartphone sales to bundle wearables (especially hearables) in many markets. Like Apple, the company was not immune to competition from lower priced vendors and the sheer number of brands offering hearables. The additional competition combined with slowing smartphone sales led to a decline in shipments for hearables. Wristbands also declined along with the overall category. However, the latest Galaxy Watch 4 series continues to remain popular as the company’s watch shipments grew 32.7% during the quarter.
• Xiaomi’s decline was solely due to the weakness in the wristband category. That said, the company continues to make progress with watches and hearables and employs the same low cost, high value strategy.
• Huawei retained the fourth position even though overall shipments declined by 10.8% during the quarter. The company remains heavily focused on the local Chinese market although its presence in Europe has grown over time. That said, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has put a lot of downward pressure on the European market so Huawei’s sales into the region could be negatively impacted in the next few quarters.
• Imagine Marketing once again held its position within the global top 5 due to its large presence in India although they may be experiencing early signs of saturation as growth within hearables declined 3.8% during the quarter. As a result, the company has been growing its presence in the watch category even though overall shipments remain well below 1 million units.

In addition to the table above, a graphic illustrating worldwide shipments for the top 5 wearables companies over the previous five quarters is available by viewing this press release on IDC.com.

About IDC Trackers

IDC Tracker products provide accurate and timely market size, vendor share, and forecasts for hundreds of technology markets from more than 100 countries around the globe. Using proprietary tools and research processes, IDC’s Trackers are updated on a semiannual, quarterly, and monthly basis. Tracker results are delivered to clients in user-friendly Excel deliverables and on-line query tools.

For more information about IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Wearable Device Tracker, please contact Kathy Nagamine at 650-350-6423 or knagamine@idc.com.

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About IDC

International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. With more than 1,200 analysts worldwide, IDC offers global, regional, and local expertise on technology, IT benchmarking and sourcing, and industry opportunities and trends in over 110 countries. IDC’s analysis and insight helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community to make fact-based technology decisions and to achieve their key business objectives. Founded in 1964, IDC is a wholly owned subsidiary of International Data Group (IDG), the world’s leading tech media, data, and marketing services company. To learn more about IDC, please visit www.idc.com. Follow IDC on Twitter at @IDC and LinkedIn. Subscribe to the IDC Blog for industry news and insights.

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Contacts

Jitesh Ubrani

jubrani@idc.com
416-873-0315

Ramon T. Llamas

rllamas@idc.com
508-935-4736

Michael Shirer

press@idc.com
508-935-4200