Once thought to be the next big thing, sales of smartwatches plummet
Do you wear a smartwatch? If not, you鈥檙e far from alone.
The International Data Corporation recently released its quarterly stats on wearable devices. Compared to this time last year, sales are . Of the five largest vendors, just two managed to improve their sales.
The slumping numbers may suggest that smartwatches just aren鈥檛 catching on. In the third quarter, that issue was compounded by the absence of new models on the market, as well as the release of Apple鈥檚 new watch only late in the quarter.
Though smartwatches have been a focus of media attention, relatively few people actually own the devices. This time last year, just 3 percent of Americans . Why aren鈥檛 more Americans interested? The watches were too expensive and consumers didn鈥檛 understand why they needed them, the Kantar Worldpanel survey found.
Of course, there鈥檚 plenty you can do with a smartwatch 鈥� thousands of apps can run on the devices, with as many different functions. Users can answer emails and texts without having to pick up their phone.
But is the potential convenience worth the cost? For 41 percent of users, the answer to that question last year was "no." And since then, the technology , leaving vendors 鈥渞elying on older, aging devices to satisfy consumers,鈥� said Ramon Llamas, research manager for IDC's Wearables team. So perhaps low sales suggest that customers are waiting to see if new technology makes the watches look like a better investment.
Meanwhile, companies that focus on more niche markets have seen significant growth. Garmin, which placed second behind Apple for overall sales in the third quarter of 2016, more than tripled its market share from a year earlier thanks to its focus on fitness.聽
Apple鈥檚 second-generation watch, which is now water-resistant and features user-requested improvements such as GPS, was available only聽in the last two weeks of the quarter. If it takes off, that success will be reflected in next quarter鈥檚 numbers 鈥� unlike last year, when the Apple Watch was released to the mass market for the first time, boosting the company鈥檚 numbers in the third quarter.
Other companies have also delayed putting their new products on the market. Google has held back its Android Wear 2.0 platform, affecting those vendors that use Android. And the Samsung Gear 3 watch, which was unveiled in Germany in September, has yet to hit the market. Samsung鈥檚 year-on-year growth was 9 percent, thanks to its full-time cellular connectivity, a rarity among the watches. The company may hope that the new watch can build upon the success of the S2.
Low sales growth hasn鈥檛 stopped other brands jumping on smartwatches as a way to boost sales and diversify their brand. Michael Kors announced a new line of luxury smartwatches in September, saying in a statement that customers will 鈥渁ppreciate having social connectivity and health and fitness tracking all within a great-looking accessory.鈥澛�
They might be , however: The Verge鈥檚 Dan Seifert described the watches as 鈥渦ncomfortably large and heavy.鈥�
