Apple Watch Sales Top Smartwatch in Q1, But Trail Wearables Such as Fitbit

Apple Watch sales are estimated to be around 1.5 million units, making it the top selling smartwatch, but still lags behind basic wearables from companies such a Fitbit according to the latest data, according to research firm IDC.

The 1.5 million units made the Apple Watch the number one selling smartwatch, nearly double the amount of watches sold by Samsung at 0.7 million units and more than triple the amount of smartwatches sold by Motorola at 04 million units. Unfortunately, Fitbit and Xiami are still way ahead, selling 4.8 million units and 3.7 million units respectively.

This doesn’t come as much of a surprise though. The Apple Watch starts at $299, while most Fitbit and Xiaomi products top out at around $150. The Fitbit Blaze, however, is going toe-to-toe with the Apple Watch and starts $199, which is still a fully $100 cheaper than the Apple Watch.

I honestly believe that Fitbit’s lead is going to be short lived. As the Apple Watch gains more functionality and becomes more independent, the Fitbit products are slowly going to feel like dumb phones when compared to smartphones. It’s also possible that not everyone wants a smartwatch, in which case I could see Fitbit doing OK in the short term. The problem, of course, is if Apple decides to make a stripped down, Nano-like version of the Apple Watch and sell it for much less, perhaps $149. What’s Fitbit going to do then?

During Apple’s recent earnings call, Tim Cook said that he expects to see Apple Watch sales follow a similar pattern to iPod sales with stronger sales during the Holiday quarter. This suggests that Apple is going to move to a Fall introduction of a new version, something that’s been rumored for some time.

With WWDC less than a month away, it’s also going to be interesting to see what Apple has learned a year into Apple Watch and how the software can be improved. Until then, all we can do is wait.