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    HomeIn MediaGadget NewsXiaomi Becomes King of Wearbles

    Xiaomi Becomes King of Wearbles

    Xiaomi may not be a household name, especially in the U.S., but the company has just turned #1 in the wearables market. Xiaomi completed the second quarter of 2017 with the highest market share of any individual wearables brand.

    What’s more impressive is that Xiaomi reportedly shipped 3.7 million wearables in the second quarter. This is compared to Fitbit who shipped only 3.4 million, followed by Apple at 2.8 million. This is a very different scenario from last year when Fitbit blew away the industry with 5.7 million shipments in that period, as compared to Xiaomi with only 3 million units shipped.

    Xiaomi marketshare is at top

    Xiaomi Marketshare

    What does this mean in terms of market share? It means that Xiaomi currently leads the industry with 17% marketshare, while Fitbit stands at just under 16% and Apple at 13%. The industry has grown eight percent year-over-year. All of this data comes from a Strategy Analytics reports.

    Xiaomi success comes from Mi Band 2 wearable

    How did Xiaomi do it?

    Xiaomi achieved this success thanks to the success of its inexpensive Mi Band fitness trackers. The Mi Band 2 ($25) is very inexpensive, but still has a feature set better than it’s competition, and that competition charges 4 and 5 times more than the Mi Band 2. Although the Mi Band 2 is not as popular state-side, it’s very successful in China.

    Because of Xiaomi’s low price point and high quality, the company has been able to grab market share from giants such as Fitbit. At the same time, Apple’s smartwatch has grown as well, selling a million Apple Watches in the second quarter of this year compared to last, which indicates that people are still willing to pay a significant premium for wearables.

    Xiaomi future looks bright in wearable market

     

    Wearable Future Landscape

    While encouraging for Xiaomi and Apple, for Fitbit…..not so much. Fitbit had announced their own smartwatch coming down the pipeline, but significant delays have pushed it back to the upcoming holiday season. Add to that the fact that Fitbit was forced to cut its workforce by six percent, which caused a serious dip in their marketshare, and obviously overtaken by the likes of Xiaomi and Apple. It will be interesting to see how the wearable market share ends up at the end of the year.

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    David Novak
    David Novakhttps://www.gadgetgram.com
    For the last 20 years, David Novak has appeared in newspapers, magazines, radio, and TV around the world, reviewing the latest in consumer technology. His byline has appeared in Popular Science, PC Magazine, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, Electronic House Magazine, GQ, Men’s Journal, National Geographic, Newsweek, Popular Mechanics, Forbes Technology, Readers Digest, Cosmopolitan Magazine, Glamour Magazine, T3 Technology Magazine, Stuff Magazine, Maxim Magazine, Wired Magazine, Laptop Magazine, Indianapolis Monthly, Indiana Business Journal, Better Homes and Garden, CNET, Engadget, InfoWorld, Information Week, Yahoo Technology and Mobile Magazine. He has also made radio appearances on the The Mark Levin Radio Show, The Laura Ingraham Talk Show, Bob & Tom Show, and the Paul Harvey RadioShow. He’s also made TV appearances on The Today Show and The CBS Morning Show. His nationally syndicated newspaper column called the GadgetGUY, appears in over 100 newspapers around the world each week, where Novak enjoys over 3 million in readership. David is also a contributing writer fro Men’s Journal, GQ, Popular Mechanics, T3 Magazine and Electronic House here in the U.S.

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