“Apple led the market with 43.4 million units shipped in the fourth quarter of 2019” — IDC
From “Shipments of wearable devices soar in 4Q19, says IDC” posted Friday by Digitimes:
The worldwide market for wearable devices grew 82.3% in the fourth quarter of 2019, reaching a new high of 118.9 million devices shipped, according to IDC.
The stunning growth was largely due to the proliferation of hearables, which captured 55.3% of the entire market. Other popular categories that also experienced growth during the quarter included smartwatches (15.3% on year) and wrist bands (17.7% on year)…
Apple led the market with 43.4 million units shipped in the fourth quarter of 2019 thanks to its refreshed AirPods, AirPods Pro, and Apple Watch as well as its Beats products spanning multiple price points. However, as the company’s products did well overall during the quarter, Apple Watch shipments declined 5.2% on year as the company experienced supply shortages.
IDC’s spreadsheet (click to enlarge):
My take: Cue the video…
Not only has Apple proven they can thrive will smaller market share, they now dominate the next big category.
Even the above does not go far enough. We can only imagine what Apple can do in the next ten years leveraging their wearable technology leadership. In this area, 5G is UNDER-hyped.
Just as Microsoft missed SmartPhones, Google missed wearables.
• iPhone
• WATCH
• AirPods/Pro
Look out.
According to a report by respected analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who correctly predicted the release of the upgraded Apple AirPods and the AirPods Pro in 2019, the wireless headphones will launch alongside a number of new products in the first half of 2020.
That means we could see the Apple over-ear headphones at WWDC in June. Saying that, Apple has been known to hold launches far earlier in the year, revealing Apple Arcade and Apple TV Plus in March 2019, as well as the upgraded AirPods.
A March release date would make sense, considering that a recent Target product listing has gone live, possibly accidentally leaking the rumored Apple headphones, and revealing a $399 (about £300 / AU$699) price tag.
Saying that, icons for the new Apple headphones have been discovered in iOS 14, which is due to release between September and November this year – so we may be waiting a little longer.
These aren’t the only new Apple headphones rumored to launch in 2020. The AirPods Pro Lite will apparently be an entry-level version of the noise-cancelling AirPods Pro, and we’ve recently seen a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) filing that shows a diagram of the upcoming Beats Powerbeats 4. (Spoiler alert: they look a lot like the Powerbeats 3.)