Samsung shipped almost 500,000 units of smartwatches in the first three months of 2014, capturing 71 percent of the global smartwatch market, according to data published by Strategy Analytics. As the Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo launched in April, the data includes only the first-generation Galaxy Gear and is therefore not that impressive, but Samsung's total market share is an indication of just how big the company is in the smartwatch industry as well. True, only Sony is the other big name manufacturer making smartwatches other than Samsung, but Samsung's existing popularity and huge marketing push for the Galaxy Gear are likely responsible for its wide lead.
There's no telling how popular the Gear 2 is proving to be, but we're sure that info will pop up in the coming months. With LG, Motorola and others gearing up to launch smartwatches running Android Wear, Google's wearables platform, later this year, Samsung's reign in the smartwatch market might take a hit, but we're sure the Korean manufacturer will move quickly to counter any competition, including launching its own version of a smartwatch powered by Android Wear.
