Fitness Bands Remain Better Sellers Compared To Smartwatches

It is true that wearable devices have become more popular than ever. The relatively recent release of high profile smartwatches have contributed immensely in having consumers talk or develop an increased awareness for wearables. But on closer inspection, it appears that smartwatches are not as big a hit as previously thought. The real best sellers seem to be fitness trackers. 

According to a report published by business consulting firm IDC, fitness trackers have captured 85 percent of the entire wearable devices market from June until September of this year. Smartwatches are cool devices and all, but there is some compelling evidence that the less celebrated fitness trackers are actually the ones driving most of the growth when it comes to wearables. 

Alarmingly, the popularity of smartwatches seems to on the decline. As pointed out by Jitesh Ubrani, a senior research analyst at IDC, the more fancy smartwatch devices were previously expected to become the driving force in making wearables more accepted by the general public, but the reality is that basic wearable devices continue to be consistent sellers. 

Among IDC’s top five list of wearable device brands, Fitbit once again showed its dominance. The US based fitness tracker manufacturer is followed by Xiaomi, Garmin, Apple, and then Samsung. Most of these names are giants in tech, but they obviously could not keep up with Fitbit, whose latest wearable device offering, the Flex 2 (released in August earlier this year for a price of a hundred bucks), helped the company ship 5.3 million fitness trackers from June to September this year. Having already generated some momentum in the last few months, Fitbit is in a good position to make the most of the upcoming busy holiday shopping season. 

So how did Fitbit manage to one up powerhouse names like Apple, Samsung, and Xiaomi? According to Ubrani, the simplicity of Fitbit devices may have something to do with it. Although wearable devices have been in the market for some years now, not many people still actually know a big deal about them. Sure, the Apple Watch has done so much in putting smartwatches to the spotlight, but smartwatches remain largely sophisticated products, at least in the minds of the majority. Fitness trackers, on the other hand, are a lot easier to use, and therefore more likely to be adopted by a larger number of people. 

Of course, this could all change in the near future. But for now, Fitbit is making the most of its time at the top of the world.