Believe it or Not, Smartwatches Are Having a Moment

Turns out, a lot of people are here for smartwatches.

Market research firm IDC reports that the market for smartwatches like the Apple Watch and Android Wear devices grew nearly 60.9 percent during the second quarter of 2017 compared to the same period last year. Overall, wearable tech makers shipped 26.3 million gadgets worldwide during the quarter, a 10.3 percent year-over-year increase.

An interesting shift is currently taking place in the market: consumers are increasingly opting for smartwatches instead of basic wearables that don't run third-party apps, IDC says.

"The transition towards more intelligent and feature-filled wearables is in full swing," according to IDC Senior Research Analyst Jitesh Ubrani. "For years, rudimentary fitness trackers have acted as a gateway to smartwatches, and now we're at a point where brands and consumers are graduating to a more sophisticated device. Previous niche features such as GPS and additional health tracking capabilities are quickly becoming staples of the modern smartwatch."

About 41.7 percent of all wearables today have an embedded GPS, up from just 24.5 percent a year ago," Ubrani says.

Meanwhile, IDC Research Manager Ramon Llamas says the rise of smartwatches can largely be attributed to a "growing number of models aimed at specific market segments, like the fashion-conscious and outdoor enthusiasts in addition to the technophile crowd, lower price points, and a slowly warming reception from consumers and enterprise users alike."

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China's Xiaomi took the No. 1 spot in the wearables market last quarter with 13.4 percent share, but runner-up Apple, which logged nearly 50 percent year-over-year growth, wasn't far behind with 13 percent. Fitbit came in third, followed by Garmin and Fossil, IDC says. Check out the chart below for more.