The International Data Corporation has released its overview of the wearable device market for the fourth quarter of 2020. Global shipments of wearable devices hit 153.5 million, showing a 27.2% increase year-over-year.
The holiday quarter certainly played its role in this YoY increase. The IDC also points out that consumer spending on electronics increased as customers reallocated spending of disposable income from leisure activities due to the pandemic. Samsung remained third overall in the period under review.
Samsung shipped a ton of Galaxy Buds earbuds
Apple and Xiaomi occupy the top two slots with Samsung coming in at third. The company saw significant growth from its “hearables” category – that's another way of describing its Galaxy Buds lineup.
It shipped 8.8 million units of all the different types of wireless earbuds that it offers. The company's low-cost wristbands like the Galaxy Fit2 also saw greater traction even though a relatively low 1.3 million units were shipped. Samsung's total watch shipments declined to 2.9 million units in Q4 2020.
With a total of 13 million wearable devices shipped in the period under review, Samsung came in third with 8.5% of the total market share. Even though it saw a 20.5% growth in shipments after 9.5 million units were sent out in Q4 2019, the company's market share actually declined from the 9% it had in the same period that year.
The company did see a significant jump in shipments for the full year. It shipped 40 million units of wearable devices in 2020 compared to 31.4 million units in 2019. However, it could only manage fourth position in the market with these numbers. Samsung still has a bit of catching up to do, considering the fact that Apple shipped 151.4 million units of wearable devices last year.
