Apple Watch sales fall 55 per cent as wearables market wanes

IDC data suggests people have lost interest, or are perhaps waiting for a major hardware refresh

The wearables market has seen a sizeable decline which has been blamed on a slump in Apple Watch sales.

Data from IDC claimed that sales of smartwatches fell to 3.5 million units in the second quarter of 2016, a 32 per cent dip compared with this time last year.

IDC pointed the finger of blame at Apple, saying that the company shipped 1.6 million smartwatches in Q2, down a sizeable 55 per cent compared with 3.5 million in 2015.

The Apple Watch picked up 47 per cent of the smartwatch market in the second quarter, down from 72 per cent this time last year.

Jitesh Ubrani, a senior research analyst at IDC, said: "Consumers have held off on smartwatch purchases since early 2016 in anticipation of a hardware refresh, and improvements in WatchOS are not expected until later this year, effectively stalling existing Apple Watch sales.

"Apple still maintains a significant lead in the market, and unfortunately a decline for Apple leads to a decline in the entire market."

The analyst firm expects things to pick up for Apple following the expected release of the Apple Watch 2 alongside the iPhone 7 in September.

IDC noted that every vendor "faces similar challenges", but Apple was the only firm to see a decline in smartwatch sales during Q2.

Samsung, which more than doubled its market share to 16 per cent, shifted 600,000 wrist-worn gadgets during the three-month period, while Lenovo sold 300,000 to claim nine per cent of sales.

LG was fourth in IDC's rankings with an eight per cent share of the market, while Garmin was fifth with four per cent.

Ramon T. Llamas, a research manager at IDC, said: "Continued platform development, cellular connectivity and an increasing number of applications all point to a smartwatch market that will be constantly changing. These will appeal to a broader market, ultimately leading to a growing market."