Lower Pricing Fueled 32% Growth in Q2 Wearables, Says IDC

Global wearables shipments grew 32% year over year to 114.2 million in Q2, as hearables and smartwatches each grew 39%, said IDC Tuesday. Wristband trackers remained flat, it said, due to a lack of notable product launches in recent quarters and consumers' continued transition to smartwatches. The $200-$300 smartwatch segment gained 10 percentage points year on year, driven by demand for the Apple Watch SE and Series 3, Fitbit Versa 3 and Samsung Galaxy Watch Active2, said analyst Jitesh Ubrani. Apple led the market with 28.2% share on 32.2 million shipments, but growth slowed to 9.3% year on year on an “aging product lineup” and tough comparable sales vs. a Q2 2020 surge, said IDC. Fourth-place Samsung followed Xiaomi and Huawei, with 8.5% share and shipments of 9.7 million as it has secured a spot as the “de facto choice of wearables for Android users.” India-based boAt, Huawei, JBL and JLab Audio buoyed the sub-$100 hearables category with premium features including active noise cancellation. A good-better-best portfolio strategy with staggered price points allowed companies to reach more customers, said analyst Ramon Llamas. High-end features will continue to make their way to mid-tier and mainstream products, said Llamas, which will “lure people to upgrade or purchase their first devices.”