The analyst firm, Canalys, has reported that the North American wearables market grew by 10% in the second quarter. Despite the growth in shipments, Canalys said that the market remained flat year-on-year due to the average selling price of devices declining by 11% to $235.
The firm said that the selling price of wearables was dragged down by an increased interest in low-end activity trackers and a 30% year-on-year growth for the Apple Watch Series 3. In the region, the Apple Watch Series 5 was the best-selling smartwatch reaching the same number of shipments as last year's Series 4.
With people’s incomes squeezed due to the coronavirus pandemic, consumers decided to turn to cheaper wearables from lesser-known brands. Discussing this phenomenon, Canalys Analyst Vincent Thielke said:
“Americans invested heavily in sub-US$50 trackers during the pandemic to stay accountable for the greater amount of time spent at home. Amazon’s Q3 introduction of the Halo tracker was timely, following two back-to-back quarters of strong activity tracker sales. Subscription-based companion apps helped Fitbit and less-familiar players like Whoop better differentiate themselves against the vast array of devices sold online. Turnkey service offerings proved a surprising pandemic winner as social distancing discouraged personal trainers and exercising in close proximity to others.”
In terms of market share in the region, Apple remained in first place at 37.6%, Fitbit remained in second place with a 19.3% market share but got hit hard overall. Garmin leapfrogged Samsung to take third place with 8.1% and Samsung fell to fourth place with 5%. In fifth place was Verizon Wireless on 1.9%. Other lesser-known brands made up the remaining 28.1%.
