Apple Watch, the smartwatch from Apple, was responsible for almost three-quarters of all smartwatch shipments in Q3 2015, a new report from research firm Strategy Analytics confirms. Despite the Apple watch’s availability being limited to just a few markets, that did not stop it from being the top grosser in the third quarter beating competing products from rivals including Samsung in a period that saw smartwatch shipments increase by 510% when compared to a similar period in 2015.
Apple Watch’s 4.5 million units shipped in Q3 2015 were enough to grant it 74% market share. Korean electronics giant Samsung which just started heavily promoting its latest Gear smartwatch, the Gear S2, came a distant second as it managed to only ship about 600,000 smartwatch units down from the 700,000 it was able to ship in Q3 2014. Combined, Apple and Samsung account for almost all the smartwatch units shipped in Q3 2015 as they sold all the other smartwatch makers by accounting for 8 out of every 10 smartwatches shipped.
It is interesting to note that in Q3 2014, Apple’s Watch had yet to go on sale and Samsung was going it all alone even as reports showed then that sales of smartwatches running on Android Wear, Google’s platform for wearables, were not performing well. The Apple Watch had those for lunch early on and it has gone on to have Samsung’s dinner as well.
Q4 will be an interesting one to watch though since Samsung is aggressively pushing the $300 Gear S2 which features a new design and polished software. On the other side, Android Wear devices like the LG G Watch Urbane can now be paired with iPhones, a development that may lead to more uptake of smartwatches other than the Apple Watch whose sole advantage is the low price point.
