Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has emerged as the largest company grasping the wearable technology industry in the global market, the position that had been held by Fitbits for quite a long time. Apple pushed its sales to the top of the wearable industry in the initial three months period starting January up to March 2017.
In the first quarter of 2017, wearable industry global sales volumes attained 22 million units up from the previous 18.2 million attained in the same period last year. Apple secured up to 16% of the figure surpassing the fitness tracker manufacturer, Fitbit. With more than 3.5 million units sold in only the first quarter of the year, Apple Inc got a prime start of the year.
The data obtained from the Strategy Analytics shows that Apple Watch global distributions grew to over 60% in the first quarter of the year making it the largest shareholder of the wearable tech market. The U.S. based technology company secured the top mark for once ever since 2015 during the last quarter of the year.
Fitbit which has maintained its leading position in the wearable tech market for years fell drastically at the beginning of this year. The company shipped 2.9 million wearable gadgets in the first three months of the year which fell 35% from the previous year. Fitbit’s market shares also fell from last year’s 24.7% down to 13.2% in the first quarter of 2017, leaving the company to take the third position after the Chinese electronics manufacturer Xiaomi that attained 15.5% shares on the market.
Fitbit has been encountering financial challenges that saw the company dismissing more than 110 employees in January this year. However, Fitbit remained firm that they are still restructuring their plans and the company will soon regain its leading position in the industry.
But the industry analysts affirms that it will take Fitbit a long time for them to beat the stiff competition as other strong rivals enter the market. Other competitors such as Apples have focused their efforts on creating eco-friendly products overtaking Fitbit.
