Despite dropping sales, Apple continues to dominate the wearable and hearable global markets

Wearable shipments for the full year 2022 were down 7.7% compared to 2021, marking the first year of decline for the category due to challenging macroeconomic conditions and difficult comparisons to the strong results of 2021, according to IDC. Despite the downturn, overall shipments of 492.1 million units in 2022 were well above 2020 and 2019 levels.

Apple sold 46.6 million Apple Watches in the fourth quarter of 2022 for 33.6% market share. This compared to sales/market share of 59.7 million/34.9% in the fourth quarter of 2021 for an annual sales drop of 21.9%.

Every geographic region except Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan and China) (APeJC) and the Middle East and Africa (MEA) experienced a year-over-year decline in wearable shipments for the full year 2022. APeJC and MEA, like many emerging markets within the regions, remain underpenetrated and have yet to face the extreme levels of inflation that other markets have observed.

IDC says that, among the various product types, smartwatches grew 9.4% during 2022, reaching an all-time high of 148.6 million units with Apple in the lead. Huawei and Samsung captured the second and third positions in the smartwatch sub-market while India’s Nexxbase and Fire-Boltt rounded out the global top 5.

Hearables, the largest category of wearables, declined almost 10% as 2021 provided tough year-over-year comparisons while wrist bands, the third largest category, also continued to see shipments decline due to competition from smartwatches, according to IDC.

Apple sold 146.3 million AirPod devices in the fourth quarter of 2022 for 29.7% market share. This compared to sales/market share of 161.8 million/30.9% in the fourth quarter of 2021 for an annual sales drop of 9.6%.