After launching its Apple Watch Series 3 on the 10th anniversary of the iPhone, Apple has regained position as market leader in smartwatch sales.
According to new data released by Canalys, Apple shipped 3.9 million Apple Watch unites for the July through September quarter. Of those, 800,000 were likely Apple Watch Series 3 GPS + Cellular units.
“Strong demand for the LTE-enabled Apple Watch Series 3 has dispelled service providers’ doubts about the cellular smartwatch not appealing to customers,” said Canalys analyst Jason Low. The smartwatch apparently did not reach its full potential in the quarter, with Low suggesting it suffered “limited availability” as demand outstripped supply in some major markets, with some service providers apparently underestimating demand for the new model.
“In China, customers with high expectations are being driven away by the service disruption fiasco in the country,” advises Low, warning operators they should work on “improving their remote service provisioning systems to cater for the expected higher demand in Q4.”
Xiaomi and Fitbit shipped 3.6 million and 3.5 million wearable bands, respectively, an increase from the previous quarter for both.
Apple‘s figures are a big jump from the 2.8 million shipments last year. It also gave Apple 23 percent of the smartwatch market share, putting it fractionally ahead of the 21 percent for Xiaomi, the Chinese firm that was briefly top of the industry for the first time in the previous quarter.
Apple CEO Tim Cook commented on its smartwatch sales in the company’s most recent earnings report. He said that watch sales increased by 50 percent for the third consecutive quarter as people are more inclined toward health services.
