Android Wear devices are still not a big hit as expected. A latest report from Canalys has revealed that out of 4.6 million wearables shipped in 2014, over 720,000 of them were Android Wear smartwatches.
The report stated that Motorola’s Moto 360 was the leading seller among the Android Wear smartwatches thanks to its traditional watch design with a round face and leather band. LG’s G Watch R also performed significantly better than the original G Watch. Asus and Sony entered the market with their own Android Wear devices. Pebble shipped a total of 1 million units from its 2013 launch through to the end of 2014, according to Canalys.
“Samsung has launched six devices in just 14 months, on different platforms and still leads the smart band market. But it has struggled to keep consumers engaged and must work hard to attract developers while it focuses on Tizen for its wearables.”
said Canalys VP and Principal Analyst Chris Jones.
Analyst Chris Jones said the Android wearables suffer from poor battery life and software that was not tailored for the devices. Wearable smart bands made for fitness and movement tracking like those from FitBit and the Xiaomi’s Mi Band seem to be leading the market in terms of volume, with the latter company selling over 1 million units of its wearable that launched in July of 2014.
Canalys forecasts Apple will sell some 16 million smartwatches in the first year. The company will launch the watch in April and pose a challenge to early players in the smart wearable band business. Another Canalys Analyst, Daniel Matte said that Android Wear will need to improve significantly in the future, and we believe it will do so.