Share of global wearables sales 2019-2020, by category

The share of global wearable unit sales by category has shifted from wristwear to earwear in the year 2020. In 2020, earwear accounted for 62 percent of wearable unit sales worldwide.

Wearables sales share – additional information

Wearable technology is a growing and promising trend within the consumer electronics industry. More than 230 million units of wrist worn wearables are forecast to be shipped worldwide by 2024. The main categories of wearables are smartwatches, health and fitness trackers, wearable cameras, wearable headsets, and smartglasses. Out of these, earwear is the most popular wearables worldwide; in 2020, around 327 million units of these devices were sold that year, accounting for 62 percent of the market share. Thanks to the popularity of this type of device, Apple, a company that needs no introduction, was the top-ranked wearable vendor in 2020. Apple's market share was about 33 percent, whereas its closest competitors, Huawei and Samsung, accounted for close to 10 percent share each. Despite the current popularity of earwear, smartwatches are expected to become the most popular category of wearables.

Apple- the market leader

As of 2021, Apple was the leading wearable vendor, successfully introducing the Apple Watch and the AirPods to the market. The smartwatch market is a promising segment within the wearable industry, as global smartwatch shipments are expected to increase from around 42 million units in 2017 to more than 115 million units by 2022. Apple shipped nearly 151 million units worldwide in 2020, holding a market share of about 10 percent that year. Apple faces tough competition from many vendors entering the market, especially from China, offering a broad range of wearables in a low to mid-range budget.