Android Dominates Global Smartwatch Shipments

Android Dominates Global Smartwatch Shipments. Shipments reached 1.9 million units in 2013. According to Strategy Analytics, Android OS was used in 61 per cent of all smart watches shipped worldwide last year. “It is very early days, of course, but the smartwatch market is starting to take shape,” said Matt Wilkins, director at Strategy Analytics.

“We estimate less than 1 per cent of all smartphones shipped worldwide were bundled with smart watches.” global tablet shipments reached 51.7 million units in the first quarter of 2013. Android secured a robust 67 percent global share, while Apple iOS declined further to 28 percent. Windows also fell back but secured a 4.5 percent global share. The company also stated Samsung’s Galaxy Gear drove Android’s growth  primarily in the US, UK and South Korea.

At the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show a large number of new smartwatches were released from various companies such as Razer Inc, Archos, and several other companies, as well as a few startups. Some have begun to call the 2014 CES a "wrist revolution" because of the amount of smartwatches release and the huge amount of publicity they began to receive at the start of 2014.

“Android currently has several challengers in the smartwatch space, like Firefox and Pebble OS, but none of them are a major threat at this stage because of their relatively limited ecosystems and modest retail presence,” said Woody Oh, senior analyst at Strategy Analytics. “Android’s main risk to its smartwatch dominance in the future will come from Apple iOS, Microsoft, and perhaps Tizen or COS. These four brands have the potential scale or marketing power to offer a credible alternative to Google’s popular platform.”