Chinese electronics maker Xiaomi has overtaken Apple to become the world’s largest wearables vendor, capturing 17 per cent of the global wearable tech market.

According to a report by marketing consulting company Strategy Analytics, the Chinese manufacturer sold 3.7 million wearables in the second quarter (Q2) of 2017 – a 23 per cent increase on Q2 2016 sales figures – whereas Apple sold 2.8 million wearables worldwide over the same period of time.

Strategy Analytics’ director Cliff Raskind blamed Apple’s leadership loss on “a lack of presence in the sizeable fitness band subcategory.”
He added that “the rumoured upcoming Watch Series 3 launch with enhanced health tracking could prove to be a popular smartwatch model and enable Apple to reclaim the top wearables spot later this year.”

Neil Mawston, executive director at the marketing consultants, said: “Xiaomi’s Mi Band fitness trackers are wildly popular in China, due to their highly competitive pricing and rich features such as heart-rate monitors, step-counters and calendar alerts.”

Fitbit also outsold last year’s wearables leader, Apple, shipping 3.4 million wearable devices in Q2 2017. However, unlike Xiaomi, Fitbit’s Q2 2017 wearable sales figures showed a dramatic fall from the 5.7 million units sold in Q2 2016.

Mawston warned: “Fitbit is at risk of being trapped in a pincer movement between the low-end fitness bands sold by Xiaomi and the fitness-led, high-end smartwatches sold by Apple.”

The report, titled Global Wearables Vendor Market Share by Region: Q2 2017, defined wearables as “smartwatches, fitness bands and smartglasses.” It also shows that the global wearable market has grown by eight per cent since Q2 2016, with 21.6 million wearables shipped in Q2 2017.