Huawei is The Big Gainer in The Wearables Space in Q1 2019, as Apple Reigns Supreme

This is yet another set of data that proves how strongly Huawei was building up for a very strong 2019, before the US ban on the Chinese technology company kicked in. The latest numbers by research firm IDC for the wearables space in Q1 2019 suggests that Huawei was the biggest gainer, while Xiaomi and Samsung also saw massive gains. The first quarter this year saw as many as 49.6 million wearables shipped, which is a 55.2 percent increase over the 31.0 million units shipped in the same quarter last year.

Apple retains the top position in the market, with 12.8 million wearables shipped. This would include the Apple Watch, the AirPods wireless earphones and the new Beats earphones as well. Xiaomi strengthened its position in second place, seeing a 68.2 percent increase in the units shipped. The Chinese company shipped 6.6 million wearables, of which 5.5 million units were for the Mi Band fitness wearables. The biggest gainer by far has to be Huawei, which saw a massive growth of 282.2 percent, shipping 5 million wearables. The company’s wearable line-up includes the Huawei Watch GT and the Honor Watch Magic.

"The elimination of headphone jacks and the increased usage of smart assistants both inside and outside the home have been driving factors in the growth of ear-worn wearables," said Jitesh Ubrani research manager for IDC Mobile Device Trackers. "Looking ahead, this will become an increasingly important category as major platform and device makers use ear-worn devices as an on-ramp to entice consumers into an ecosystem of wearable devices that complement the smartphone but also offer the ability to leave the phone behind when necessary."

Samsung also saw an upturn in fortunes, shipping 4.3 million wearables. This is up from 1.7 million wearables the Korean company shipped in the same quarter in 2018. Samsung’s extensive wearables line-up currently includes the Galaxy Buds wireless earphones, the Galaxy Watch and the Gear Sport.

Fitbit is in fifth place, with 2.9 million fitness bands and watches shipped in Q1 2019, up from 2.2 million in the same period last year. This means Samsung has leapfrogged Fitbit this time around. This could be an interesting quarter for Fitbit, as the response to the lower priced products, including the Versa Lite smartwatch, will become clearer.