Xiaomi Beats Apple in Wearable Devices Shipments in Q3 2018: IDC

As to how the rest of the smartwatch landscape shook out last quarter, IDC's research found that Xiaomi came out ahead with a market share of 21.5%, followed by Apple at 13.1% and Fitbit at 10.9%. The results for the third quarter of 2018 show Xiaomi's incredible growth: the company obtains 80% of its revenues in China, but it is now establishing its presence on the European markets - as we saw with the opening of its first shop in the United Kingdom and other European countries earlier this year - but also in India, the Middle East and Africa. Especially with last year's Apple Watch Series 3 - an update which at long last introduced cellular functionality - Apple's wearable has slowly but surely morphed from a niche product into something of a mainstream device. In addition, it appears that the increased focus on healthcare-based apps and features (mainly offered by Apple and Fitbit) is opening up new avenues of demand in the market for wearable devices. "This has helped satiate consumer demand for more capable devices while also maintaining average selling prices in a market that faces plenty of downward pressure from low-priced vendors and declining smartwatch pricing", remarked Jitesh Ubrani senior research analyst for IDC Mobile Device Trackers. IDC also reported that the Chinese firm also shipped 6.9 million units in this market, 1.7 million more than Apple, who remained in the #2 spot from 3Q2017 to 3Q2018.

"As more features get added and as the price differential between basic trackers and smartwatches narrows, brands could potentially move consumers upstream to smartwatches", he added.

Apple managed to launch its Series 4 Watch, its first watch approved for medical use, towards the end of the quarter. But the latest model, which starts at $399, accounted for only 20 percent of Apple Watch Q3 shipments, according to figures published by International Data Corporation (IDC).

With that said, consider this: during the September quarter of 2016, Apple's Other Products category generated $2.37 billion in revenue.

Samsung closed some of the gap with Huawei and stretched its lead past other contenders, capturing the fifth position for the quarter.