Apple leads world’s wearable market: IDC

In 2017, Apple outranked several traditional Swiss-watchmakers to become the world’s numero uno wearable brand. Since then, it has maintained the lead and now, it has widened the gap between the rivals, says the latest International Data Corporation (IDC) report on the quarter ending in December 2020.

It said worldwide shipments of wearable devices reached 153.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2020 (4Q20), a year-over-year increase of 27.2 per cent.

Thanks to the high demand for Apple Watch Series 6 (review), Watch SE (2020) and Watch Series 3, the Cupertino-based company was able to witness 46.6 per cent increase in wearable shipments over the previous quarter and hearables such as AirPods, which are also included in wearables segment, shipments surged during the quarter although year-over-year growth slowed to 22%, down from 28% and 29% in the previous two quarters.