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Market researcher IDC said on Thursday that it expects the Watch to gobble up 61.3 percent of the global smartwatch market in 2015, with 13 million units shipped during the year. This is in spite of the fact that the Watch was only released in April, long after many rivals debuted smartwatches. "Apple's watchOS will lead the smartwatch market throughout our forecast, with a loyal fanbase of Apple product owners and a rapidly growing application selection," IDC said. That forecast stretches until 2019, when Apple will hold 51.1 percent of the market and ship 45.2 million units.
Android Wear will see big gains. Going from a 15.2 percent market share this year to 38.8 percent in 2019. Samsung's Tizen operating system will shrink from 8.2 percent in 2015 to 2.8 percent in 2019, according to IDC. But IDC is also hedging a bit with Samsung, saying that the Tizen OS is the "dark horse of the smartwatch market and poses a threat to Android Wear." And cites "benefits" such as "a QWERTY keyboard on a smartwatch screen [and] cellular connectivity." The share of the Pebble OS, popular this year, will slowly shrink over time, according to IDC.
The total global wearables market, including fitness trackers, will reach 111.1 million devices in 2016, up from the expected 80 million units in 2015, according to IDC. In 2019, the total wearables market will be about 215 million units, IDC said.
The Apple Watch is undeniably a popular wearable, offering a mostly-satisfying combination of smartwatch and fitness tracker. But what's going to drive the Watch forward is apps. Lots of apps, as IDC points out. In September, Apple said that more than 10,000 apps had been developed for the Watch. On the flipside, drawbacks include so-so battery life and a high price, starting at $349.
The Samsung Gear S2 did't make Argus Insights holiday shopping list (U.S.-based), though Samsung did make it into IDC's top 5 global smartwatch vendor rankings forecast for 2015. It's worth noting that the Gear S2 generally gets good reviews (and here). The S2 boasts an innovative rotating bezel for navigating menus, health tracking, and good battery life. The Tizen operating system is polished and the watch works with other Android phones. It does have one glaring strike against it: limited number of third-party apps because of the proprietary Tizen OS. It starts at $249.99.
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Not to be forgotten is the Pebble Time Steel (not an Android watch), an attractive alternative with plenty of battery life (up to a week) and it works with Android devices and the iPhone. The Pebble Time Steel has an msrp of $249.99.
