International Data Corporation (IDC) today reported that global shipments of wearable devices fell 18.9 percent year-over-year to about 140 million units in the fourth quarter of 2022.
The report pointed out that under the severe macroeconomic situation, the full-year shipments in 2022 will drop by 7.7% compared with 2021, which is difficult to compare with the strong performance in 2021. This is the first year of decline in shipments of this category. Despite the downturn, overall shipments in 2022 will reach 490 million units, well above 2020 and 2019 levels.
It is learned from the IDC report that in 2022, the shipments of wearable devices in the Asia-Pacific region (excluding Japan and China), the Middle East and Africa will all experience a year-on-year decline. Like many emerging markets, these regions remain underpenetrated but face what could be extreme inflation.
Among various products, smart watches will grow by 9.4% in 2022, with Apple topping the list with sales of nearly 150 million units, an all-time high. Huawei and Samsung followed in the second and third places in the smartwatch market, while India’s Nexxbase and Fire-Boltt made it into the top five globally with price-oriented products sold in India. The largest category of wearables, ear-worn devices, fell nearly 10% year-over-year, while shipments of the third-largest category, wrist-worn devices, also continued to decline due to competition from smart watches.
