Worldwide wearable band shipments dropped four per cent to 41.7 million units in Q1 2022 but wristwatches grew 15pc to 32 million units according to Canalys.
Basic bands declined by 37pc- a sixth consecutive fall since Q4 2020 and shipments of these fell below 10 million for the first time.
The overall decline in the overall wearable band market has been eased by an increase in watch shipments.
Canalys research analyst Sherry Jin said: “Consumers are favouring watches over bands. With bigger displays, richer features and longer battery life, they believe watches are better able to fulfil their health-tracking and digital lifestyle needs.”
“Basic watches are positioned as an affordable step-up from basic bands, suitable for price-conscious consumers with growing expectations as to what wearables can do.”
Canalys expect that future consumer demand will shift away from basic bands to watches, which could affect vendors such as Xiaomi and Fitbit.
Apple sustained its lead in the wristwatch market as demand was there for the Watch Series 7.
Canalys analyst Cynthia Chen added: “Despite growing 53%, Samsung was beaten by Huawei for second place.
“Even with an improved device portfolio mix of basic and smartwatches, Huawei is on a declining trend as its smartphone business has been cut.”
“Xiaomi bounced back to fourth place on the back of increasing global availability of its Mi and Redmi basic watches, overtaking Garmin, which came fifth.”
