Apple Continues to Dominate Smartwatch Sales as per Q4 2018 Report

• Apple is still the market leader in the smartwatch segment with an impressive 51% market share as of Q4 2018.
• However, the company is rapidly losing market share to the likes of Samsung and Fitbit.
• The Cupertino tech giant will seek to solidify its position as the market leader with its 2019 Apple Watch with sleep tracking and other new features.

According to a report by Strategy Analysis, Apple continues to be the number one smartwatch maker in terms of sales as of Q4 2018. Apple saw 9.2 million Apple Watches being shipped last quarter resulting in 18% growth last quarter. In comparison, the company shipped 7.8 million units in Q4 2017.

The smartwatch market has been growing at a rapid pace with Strategy Analysis reporting a 56% growth last quarter. Over 18 million smartwatches were shipped globally with a number of successful products being launched last year like the Fossil Sport smartwatch and the Huami Amazfit.

Even though Apple is still at pole position in the smartwatch market, its dominance is slipping. From commanding an impressive 67% market share at the start of 2018, the tech giant currently owns 51% of the market share. The stakes are higher than ever, and Apple will have to impress with its upcoming Apple Watch that is rumored to come with sleep tracking capabilities. Unfortunately, the new feature will be exclusive to future devices and existing Apple Watches will not be capable of tracking sleep activity.

While there are no official figures to go by when it comes to the sales of Apple Watches, the Q1 2019 earnings call indicated that Apple Watch and AirPods were doing quite well. CEO Tim Cook revealed that the wearables revenue was comparable to that of a Fortune 200 company.

Samsung managed to beat fitness brands Fitbit and Garmin to take second place as per Strategy Analysis' figures. The Korean manufacturer’s Gear smartwatches have been highly successful amongst Android users. It is not only Samsung that Apple has to worry about with Google also set to launch its own Pixel smartwatch in the near future.

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