As at the First quarter of the year 2017, Apple was the top wearable vendor in the world leaving fitness tracker maker, Fitbit struggling behind it after almost two years. Research shows Wearable shipments reached 22 million units in the first three months of the year, which increased from 18.2 million in the same period in 2016. The table has taken a turn as Xiaomi becomes the first on the list as at this present quarter, the second.
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Xiaomi has managed to become the world’s top smartwatch brand in the second quarter of 2017 with an estimated shipments of 3.7 million units, according to the latest data from Strategy Analytics. According to Steven Waltzer, Industry Analyst at Strategy Analytics

Global wearables shipments reached 21.6 million units in Q2 2017, rising 8 percent annually from 20 million in Q2 2016. Strong demand for low-cost fitnessbands in China and premium smartwatches across the United States drove the uptick.

Xiaomi has also shared some statistics indicating that the company sold 3.6 million volume units occupying a market share of 14.7 percent. Apple also managed to sell 3.6 million in volume but had a market share of just 14.6 percent.

Xiaomi has a wide range of products that are priced competitively and feature heart-rate monitors and alerts — the Mi Band is priced as low as $14.99 in the U.S. — while the Apple Watch, at upwards of $269, is a more premium approach that’s packed with a fuller set of features. While they both stand for something at different ends of the market, Fitbit’s position is less certain.


At the moment, Apple has lost its wearables crown to Xiaomi but the question is for how long is it going to be?

As addressed by the Strategy Analytics Director, the upcoming Watch Series 3 launch with enhanced health tracking be what Apple needs to enable the company reclaim the top wearables spot later this year.

The wearables market is a tough space and we’re sure to see more than a few producers fall to the wayside in the not too distant future

source:http://techmobileng.com