Apple continued to have a dominant hold on the wearables market in the fourth quarter of 2020, according to new shipment estimates shared today by IDC. Apple shipped 55.6 million wearable devices during the quarter for 36.2 percent market share.
That's the same market share Apple held in the fourth quarter of 2019, but overall device shipments were up from 43.7 million in Q4 2019. Apple's competitors don't even come close. Xiaomi shipped an estimated 13.5 million wearable devices for 8.8 percent market share, followed by Samsung at 13 million devices and Huawei at 10.2 million devices.
Apple Watch shipments rose an estimated 45.6 percent thanks to the different pricing intervals of the Apple Watch Series 6, SE, and Series 3, and "hearables" shipments of AirPods, AirPods Pro, and AirPods Max surged during the quarter.
Across all of 2020, IDC believes Apple shipped 151.4 million wearable devices for 34.1 percent market share. Xiaomi was the number two wearable device manufacturer in 2020 with 50.7 million devices shipped, followed by Huawei and Samsung with 43.5 million and 40 million devices shipped, respectively.
Apple does not provide specific breakdowns of the number of Apple Watch and AirPods models shipped, so IDC's data is based on estimates. During a January earnings call, Apple said that wearables set a new revenue record in fiscal Q1 2021, which corresponds to the fourth calendar quarter of 2020. Apple's wearables business is the size of a Fortune 120 company.
Thursday November 13, 2025 11:35 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple today released new firmware designed for the AirPods Pro 3, the AirPods 4, and the prior-generation AirPods Pro 2. The AirPods Pro 3 firmware is 8B25, while the AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4 firmware is 8B21, all up from the prior 8A358 firmware released in October.
There's no word on what's include in the updated firmware, but the AirPods Pro 2, AirPods 4 with ANC, and AirPods Pro 3...
Thursday November 13, 2025 6:48 am PST by Joe Rossignol
iOS 26 extended pinned conversations in the Messages app to CarPlay, for quick access to your most frequent chats. However, some drivers may prefer the classic view with a list of individual conversations only, and Apple now lets users choose.
Apple released the second beta of iOS 26.2 this week, and it introduces a new CarPlay setting for turning off pinned conversations in the Messages...
Tesla is working to add support for Apple CarPlay in its vehicles, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports.
Tesla vehicles rely on its own infotainment software system, which integrates vehicle functions, navigation, music, web browsing, and more. The automaker has been an outlier in foregoing support for Apple CarPlay, which has otherwise become an industry standard feature, allowing users to...
Friday November 14, 2025 10:02 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Starting with the upcoming tvOS 26.2 update, currently in beta, additional profiles created on the Apple TV no longer require their own Apple Account.
In the Settings app on the Apple TV, under Profiles and Accounts, anyone can create a new profile by simply entering a name and indicating whether the profile is for a kid. The profile will be associated with the primary user's Apple Account,...
Friday November 14, 2025 6:20 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple recently teamed up with Japanese fashion brand ISSEY MIYAKE to create the iPhone Pocket, a limited-edition knitted accessory designed to carry an iPhone.
iPhone Pocket is available to order on Apple's online store starting today, in the United States, France, China, Italy, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. However, it is already completely sold out in the United...
Wednesday November 12, 2025 11:42 am PST by Joe Rossignol
While it was rumored that Apple planned to release new versions of the HomePod mini, Apple TV, and AirTag this year, it is no longer clear if that will still happen.
Back in January, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple planned to release new HomePod mini and Apple TV models "toward the end of the year," while he at one point expected a new AirTag to launch "around the middle of 2025." Yet,...
Tuesday November 11, 2025 9:48 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple released the first iOS 26.2 beta last week. The upcoming update includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, including a new Liquid Glass slider for the Lock Screen's clock, offline lyrics in Apple Music, and more.
In a recent press release, Apple confirmed that iOS 26.2 will be released to all users in December, but it did not provide a specific release date....
Monday November 10, 2025 1:08 pm PST by Juli Clover
Today marks the fifth anniversary of the Apple silicon chip that replaced Intel chips in Apple's Mac lineup. The first Apple silicon chip, the M1, was unveiled on November 10, 2020. The M1 debuted in the MacBook Air, Mac mini, and 13-inch MacBook Pro.
The M1 chip was impressive when it launched, featuring the "world's fastest CPU core" and industry-leading performance per watt, and it's only ...
Walmart's Black Friday sale has officially kicked off today, with an online shopping event that's also seeing some matching deals in retail locations. There are quite a few major discounts in this sale, including savings on headphones, TVs, and more.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Walmart. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us...
Wednesday November 12, 2025 3:29 pm PST by Juli Clover
Apple today provided developers with the second beta of iOS 26.2, which adds a few new features worth knowing about.
Measure App
Apple's Measure app now features a Liquid Glass design for the level, with two Liquid Glass bubbles instead of white circles.
Games App
There's now an option to sort games in the Games app Library by size, in addition to Name and Recent.
CarPlay
The...
You should work for Samsung. Then you can tell them all the things they are doing wrong and how to fix it. Instead of making comments about how they are doing it wrong, be a part of the solution. But I get it. It’s much easier to complain and call people names then it is to actually do something.
What a stupid idea.
That's like saying "if you don't like butterfly switch keys or touchbar in MacBooks, go work at Apple and change it yourself".
Keep in mind, Samsung heard rumors of the Apple Watch back in 2012 and created 5 smartwatches in a span of 2 years before Apple released their first one.
Then, Samsung took the circular screen from the Moto 360 and took the rotating input mechanism from the Apple Watch to make their new smartwatches. They can't come up with good ideas on their own. They never will.
This goes to show you Samsung has no clue what they're doing. Apply the same logic to folding phones, smart tags, wireless earbuds, etc...being first doesn't mean it's going to be good and today's market proves it.
Keep in mind, Samsung heard rumors of the Apple Watch back in 2012 and created 5 smartwatches in a span of 2 years before Apple released their first one.
Then, Samsung took the circular screen from the Moto 360 and took the rotating input mechanism from the Apple Watch to make their new smartwatches. They can't come up with good ideas on their own. They never will.
This goes to show you Samsung has no clue what they're doing. Apply the same logic to folding phones, smart tags, wireless earbuds, etc...being first doesn't mean it's going to be good and today's market proves it.
Even by Apple fanboys standards, this is fantasy! The "rotating input mechanism" err otherwise known as the crown has been the method used by watches for 500 years. The wrist wrapping mechanism was also not invented by Apple..or though the fantastical pricing of said item made in "special" silicon was.
The "rotating input mechanism" err otherise known as the crown has been the method used by watches for 500 years.
Yet, Samsung didn't use it in their first 5 attempts at a smartwatch until *after* Apple Watch used it.
Did I say Apple invented the crown? Nope. You completely failed to understand what I'm saying. Either that or you're intentionally mischaracterizing what I'm trying to say because you don't really have much facts to base your accusations on.
