According to the latest data released by IDC, the global wearable device market fell for the first time in the first quarter of 2022, with a total shipment of 105.3 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 3% The main reason for the decline was the cooling of demand, because after years of rapid growth, consumers began to spend more on categories other than wearable devices, and these increases further expanded during the epidemic.
Despite the overall decline, not all wearable categories have the same fate. Hearables, the largest category by share, declined slightly, with a growth rate of only 0.6%. Wearable devices have also experienced one of the biggest booms in the industry, because work at home and study at home activities have led to a sharp increase in demand, which has now fallen back from the high level driven by the pandemic. Wristbands, the leading category in wearable devices, fell by 40.5% as supply shortages and weak demand jointly hindered growth. On the positive side, watches grew by 9.1% during this period and accounted for 28% of the total market share.
Jitesh ubrani, research manager of IDC mobility and consumer device trackers, said: "consumers are paying more and more attention to their health and have more pricing options. It seems that everyone can use watches. With small brands launching basic health and fitness tracking watches at the low end, and Google, Samsung and other wear OS partners finally compete with [Apple] in the high-end market( https://apple.pvxt.net/c/1251234/435400/7639?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.apple.com%2Fcn%2Fmusic%2F ) More competitive, competition is intensifying.
Ramon T. llamas, director of mobile devices and ar/vr research at IDC, pointed out: "the slowdown in demand will force the company to further realize differentiation. As most functions become more and more common in different devices, the company must convince customers to upgrade with a first-class experience because they know that there are many choices to choose from. This will require new hardware, software and services, both of which will surprise and delight customers and keep them engaged." 。
Performance of major companies in Q1 2022:
● apple
Due to the performance of Apple watch, especially the amazing sales volume of Apple watch se (more than 2million units shipped), apple achieved a year-on-year growth of 6.6% in this quarter. At the same time, as the company faces more competition from low-cost products, the shipment volume of airpods was flat in this quarter.
● Samsung
Although its unit shipments fell by nearly 10% compared with last year, Samsung still ranked second. Samsung usually relies on strong smartphone sales to bundle wearable devices (especially ear worn devices) in many markets.
Like apple, the company is not immune to competition from low-cost suppliers, and the competition under the hearables category is more intense. Additional competition and slowing smartphone sales led to a decline in shipments of hearables devices.
Wristbands also fall with the overall category. However, the latest Galaxy watch 4 series continued to be popular, as the company's watch shipments increased by 32.7% in the quarter.
● millet
The decline of Xiaomi was entirely due to the weakness of the wristband category. In other words, the company continues to make progress in watches and earrings, and adopts the same low-cost, high-value strategy.
● Huawei
Although the overall shipment volume fell by 10.8% in this quarter, Huawei still maintained the fourth position. Although the company's business in Europe has been growing over time, the company still focuses on the local market in China. In other words, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has brought great downward pressure to the European market, so Huawei's sales in the region may be negatively affected in the next few quarters.
● Imagine Marketing
Because of its large business in India, image marketing once again maintained its position in the top 5 in the world, although they may be experiencing early signs of saturation, as the growth of audible devices fell by 3.8% in this quarter. Therefore, although the overall shipment is still far below 1million pieces, the company has been expanding its influence in the watch category.
