Xiaomi Passes Apple for Second in Wearables Market, Fitbit Still First

According to the latest data from International Data Corporation (IDC), worldwide wearables market grew 67.2% in Q1 2016 with total shipment volumes reaching 19.7 million units, as compared to 11.8 million units shipping during the same period last year (via BusinessWire). Regarding marketshare, Fitbit took first place again while Xiaomi managed to steal second place from Apple.

“The good news is that the wearables market continues to mature and expand,” IDC’s Ramon Llamas said in a statement. Since this is still a young market, the top five vendors will shift places almost every quarter. Fitbit began 2016 the same way it finished 2015, as the undisputed leader in the wearables market. Xiaomi lost market share slipping 3.4 points, though it shipped an additional 1.1 million units. Apple meanwhile debuted at 7.5 percent, shipping just 1.5 million units.

Xiaomi supplanted Apple in 1Q16 and captured the number 2 position. The company expanded its line of inexpensive fitness trackers to include heartrate monitoring and also recently launched a kids’ watch to help parents track their children. It should be pointed out that its success is solely based on China, and expanding beyond its home turf will continue to be its largest hurdle.

According to Apple CEO Tim Cook, the Watch has met the company’s expectations. Its total volumes and revenue trailed far behind its iPhone, iPad, and Mac product lines, and did little to stem their declines. Until the next version of the Watch comes out, it would appear that Apple will continuously update its watch bands to keep the product relevant.

While we can’t compare year-over-year growth, it’s worth noting that the Apple Watch has held second place for the first three quarters of its existence.