Xiaomi is Now the World’s No.1 Wearables Vendor

With global wearables shipments reaching 22 million units in the second quarter of 2017, Xiaomi has overtaken Fitbit and Apple to became the world’s largest wearables vendor for the first time ever, with 17% marketshare. According to Strategy Analytics, strong demand for low-cost fitnessbands in China and premium smartwatches across the United States “drove the uptick”.

The report notes that global wearables shipments reached 21.6 million units in Q2 2017, rising 8% annually from 20.0 million in Q2 2016. Xiaomi shipped 3.7 million wearables worldwide in Q2 2017, rising 23% annually from 3.0 million units in Q2 2016. Xiaomi’s Mi Band fitness trackers are wildly popular in China, due to their highly competitive pricing and rich features such as heart-rate monitors, step-counters and calendar alerts.

Neil Mawston, Executive Director at Strategy Analytics, said, “Fitbit is at risk of being trapped in a pincer movement between the low-end fitnessbands sold by Xiaomi and the fitness-led, high-end smartwatches sold by Apple.

Apple has for now lost its wearables leadership to Xiaomi, due to a lack of presence in the sizeable fitnessband subcategory. However, the rumored upcoming Watch Series 3 launch with enhanced health tracking could prove to be a popular smartwatch model and enable Apple to reclaim the top wearables spot later this year.”

Fitbit shipped 3.4 million wearables for 16% marketshare worldwide in Q2 2017, while Apple shipped 2.8 million wearables growing 56% annually from 1.8 million in Q2 2016