Analysis firm Canalys has released data on shipments in the wearable band market for both the fourth quarter of 2022 and the entire year. The market suffered through an 18% decline in shipments on a year-over-year basis resulting in the shipment of 50 million units for the quarter. This was the first double-digit decline in shipments during what is usually a strong fourth quarter that includes the holiday shopping season.
Fourth quarter wearable band shipments declined 18% year-over-year
During October-December, smartwatch shipments declined 17% and basic bands reported its 9th consecutive decline with a 43% plunge in deliveries. Shipments of basic bands rose only 3% today mostly due to a slowdown in demand for these devices in India.
Apple continued to lead the wearable band market in shipments during Q4
Smartwatch shipments rose 3% during 2022
Apple was the only manufacture to show growth in the wearable band market last year
Samsung’s deliveries declined only 4% on an annual basis dropping to 14 million units giving it a 7.7% market share. Google, which includes Fitbit, saw shipments for 2022 decline 22% for the year to 11.8 million units giving the company a 6.4% share of the market.
For all of 2022, 182.8 million wearable bands were shipped, a 5% decline from 2021. Smartwatch shipments rose 3% from 2021 to 2022. Basic watch shipments were up 21%, and basic band shipments were down 39%.
Canalys Analyst Cynthia Chen said, “The wearable band market is expected to grow at a modest 2% in 2023. While we expect basic bands to continue declining, basic watches and smartwatches will grow, but growth will be capped below 10%. Vendors remain vigilant and will emphasize quality rather than quantity given some recovery in consumer spending.”
Canalys expects to see smartwatch shipments rise 8% in 2023 which will top the 6% growth in basic watch deliveries estimated for this year. Canalys says that “Further development will center on smartwatch OS, with more chances of connectivity and tracking features supported by pragmatic use-cases to debut on smartwatches, backed by consumers’ rising interest in advanced watches.”
