Apple controls the majority of smartwatch sales, but Samsung is climbing up the ranks and may be able to catch the Apple Watch next year. In an interview with TechRadar, VP of mobile and IT, Conor Pierce, said that “sales are up several hundred percent on last year.”
That is a huge gain for Samsung, and it might be all to do with the Gear S2. Announced earlier in the year, the company was selling 2,000 units per day on average in South Korea last month, much more than the original Gear S.
Samsung might also be riding the bandwagon of smartwatch interest from the launch of the Apple Watch, which has sold 7 million units since launch. The Gear Fit, Gear S, and Galaxy Gear 2 are all currently on sale, alongside the Gear S2.
Figures from Strategy Analytics point to a rather grim gap between Apple and every other smartwatch vendor last quarter, with Apple selling 4.5 million wearables and Samsung selling a measly 600,000. The gap might get smaller in the fourth quarter with the launch of the Gear S2 worldwide, but we doubt it will be enough to surpass Apple’s lead.
Pierce claims Samsung will also use its wearables to interact with the smart home:
“Smartwatches will only become more useful. Thinking about smart home going forward, you’ll be able to use it as a remote control for your home.”
Smartwatches take up 40 percent of the entire wearable market, according to a report from IDC earlier in the year. Fitbit and Apple are the two largest wearable providers, followed by Xiaomi. Samsung and Garmin come fourth and fifth, but we suspect in the next few months the South Korean giant will break away from Garmin and start competing for third place.
