Nearly 1 in 4 young adults in U.S. now own a smartwatch

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Apple
The Apple Watch is the 'clear market leader,' too.
Photo: Apple

Among the all-important 18-34 year old age demographic, almost one quarter of U.S. adults reportedly own a smartwatch. And the Apple Watch is likely to be the device they own.

According to The NPD Group, U.S. smartwatch unit sales increased 61 percent during the 12-month period concluding in November 2018. The amount of money raked in was also, unsurprisingly, up — by almost $5 billion.

Overall, the report suggests that 16 percent of U.S. adults, across the age spectrum, own an Apple Watch.

This marks an increase from 12 percent from the same period one year earlier. NPD believes that, “as newer health focused devices such as the Apple Watch Series 4 continue to take hold in the next year, expect to see a big boost in penetration among older segments.” It also suggests that 15 percent of smartwatch owners now use their devices to control smart home devices.

The top three brands of Apple, Samsung, and Fitbit dominated overall smartwatch sales in the United States. Together, they accounted for 88 percent of smartwatches sold. Apple is listed as the “clear market leader” out of these companies.

The Apple Watch is great for Apple

In some places, the Apple Watch is still cast as a failure because it’s not matching the once-in-a-generation sales of the iPhone. But it’s been a pretty massive hit for Apple all the same. As we noted last month, Apple Watch is now a much bigger business for Apple than the iPod ever was. The iPod may be an afterthought today, but there was a time when it was far and away Apple’s top earner.

Apple has yet to release Apple Watch unit sales. However, during its Q1 earnings call in January, Apple noted that its “Wearables” business grew 50 percent during the last quarter.

That’s no doubt related to the impressive Apple Watch Series 4, which boasts some dazzling new abilities. But it’s also linked to the AirPods, which have become Apple’s second fastest-selling new product category in history.

Source: NPD Group

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