Apple Continued to Dominate Wearables Market Across 2020

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.

applewatchseroundup
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.

wearable devices idc q4 2020
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.

wearable devices idc 2020
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.

Tag: IDC

Popular Stories

iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Coming Soon: New Features for Your iPhone and Release Date

Monday October 27, 2025 7:55 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more. Below, we outline key details about iOS 26.1. Release Date Given that Apple has yet to seed an iOS 26.1 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, the...
iOS 26 Maps Glass

Apple Reportedly Moving Ahead With Ads in Maps App

Sunday October 26, 2025 6:22 am PDT by
Apple Maps could feature integrated ads as soon as next year, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports. In his latest "Power On" newsletter, Gurman said that Apple's plan to bring more ads to iOS is moving "gaining traction," with the Maps app being next in line. The project will apparently give restaurants and other businesses the option to pay to have their details featured more prominently in...
maxresdefault

Apple TV 4K Could Still Launch Before 2025 Ends: All the Rumored Features

Monday October 27, 2025 4:51 pm PDT by
Apple is designing an updated version of the Apple TV 4K, and rumors suggest that it could come out sometime in the next couple of months. We're not expecting a major overhaul with design changes, but even a simple chip upgrade will bring major improvements to Apple's set-top box. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. We've rounded up all the latest Apple TV rumors. ...
iOS 26 Battery Glass Feature

iOS 26.1 Beta Liquid Glass Battery Drain Test: Tinted vs Clear Mode

Friday October 24, 2025 2:30 pm PDT by
In the fourth iOS 26.1 beta, Apple added a "Tinted" option that reduces the translucency of Liquid Glass for those who prefer a more opaque look. I saw some comments wondering whether the setting might preserve battery life, so I thought I'd do some testing. Test Settings I did four separate tests using the iPhone 17 Pro Max, and I kept the parameters as similar as possible. Here are the...
M6 MacBook Pro Feature 1

M6 MacBook Pro: Release Date, Pricing, and What to Expect

Monday October 27, 2025 9:15 am PDT by
Apple this month refreshed the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with its new M5 chip, and higher-end 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips are expected to follow in early 2026. However, these machines will represent the final update to the current design, with Apple reportedly developing a completely new version of the MacBook Pro packed with next-generation hardware...
iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Coming Soon With These 8 New Features for Your iPhone

Wednesday October 22, 2025 6:15 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more. iOS 26.1 is currently in beta testing. The update will likely be released in the first half of November, and it is compatible with the iPhone 11 series and newer, but some...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS Tahoe 26.1 Release Candidates

Tuesday October 28, 2025 1:07 pm PDT by
Apple today provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate versions of upcoming iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, macOS Tahoe 26.1, tvOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, and visionOS 26.1 updates for testing purposes. The RCs betas come a week after Apple released the fourth betas. The new betas can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software...
swift for android

Developers Can Now Make Android Apps With Apple's Swift

Sunday October 26, 2025 4:23 am PDT by
The first preview release of the Swift SDK for Android was published this week, allowing developers to build Android apps in Swift with official tooling and making it easier to share code across iOS and Android. The SDK enables Android apps to be built in Swift using officially supported tooling rather than community workarounds. In June, it was announced that Apple's Swift programming...
ios 26 digital id passport wallet

Apple Says U.S. Passport Feature on iPhone is Coming Soon

Monday October 27, 2025 7:41 am PDT by
You will "soon" be able to add a digital version of your U.S. passport to your iPhone, according to Jennifer Bailey, vice president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet. Bailey reiterated that the feature is coming soon during her keynote at the Money20/20 USA conference in Las Vegas on Sunday. On its iOS 26 page, Apple says the delayed feature will be "coming later this year." Apple's...

Top Rated Comments

farewelwilliams Avatar
60 months ago

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".

Really?
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
farewelwilliams Avatar
60 months ago
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.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ani4ani Avatar
60 months ago



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.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
farewelwilliams Avatar
60 months ago

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.

Talk about fanboyism. ?‍♂️ ?‍♂️ ?‍♂️
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Apple_Robert Avatar
60 months ago
I think Apple will continue to dominate the wearables market. I use it more than I do my phone.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
farewelwilliams Avatar
60 months ago

Samsung just has a different approach. And is very successful by the way
They're only successful by copying ideas. That's their different approach. Sure.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)