According to IDC the global wearable device market sees an 8th consecutive quarter of "steady" growth in Q1 2015 as shipments grow by 200% Y-o-Y to reach 11.4 million units, up from the 3.8m shipped in Q1 2014.
"Bucking the post-holiday decline normally associated with Q1 is a strong sign for the wearables market," the analyst says. "It demonstrates growing end-user interest and the vendors' ability to deliver a diversity of devices and experiences. In addition, demand from emerging markets is on the rise and vendors are eager to meet these new opportunities."
Such results come before the Apple Watch actually hits the market-- post-launch the Apple take on wearables will probably (if not surely) become the standard all other such devices will be judged against, and as such should force the competition to up their game.
The Watch should also test whether customers are actually willing to pay high-end prices ($300+) for a wearable, seeing how according to the analyst 40% of devices making the category are priced under $100.
On the vendor rankings, fitness wearable maker Fitbit leads the Q1 2015 market with 44.7% market share and shipments reaching 3.9m units, thanks to the popularity of both new (Charge, Charge HR and Surge) and old (Flex, One, Zip) devices. Xiami follows as Mi Band shipments total 2.8m units, an impress feat seeing how the device only hit the market on H2 2014.
Garmin reaches 3rd place through a portfolio of popular GPS-enabled wearable health and fitness trackers, Samsung makes it to 4th place as Gear smartwatch shipments amount to 600000 and Jawbone caps off the top 5 (beating Pebble and Sony) with UP MOVE and UP24 clocking at 500000 units.