From CNET: The number of smartwatches sold over the past three months has declined 52 percent compared to the number sold in the same July-to-September period last year, according to a report by IDC wearables analysts.
Apple is still the leading smartwatch maker, but it has also seen fewer people interested in its tech-enabled timepiece this year than in 2015. It has lost significant ground to Garmin, thanks to the company's growing portfolio of fitness-focused smartwatches.
In 2015 Apple owned more than 70 percent of the smartwatch market and Garmin only 2 percent. Garmin now owns more than 20 percent, and Apple 41 percent.
Samsung has remained on pretty much an even keel, even though its newest watch, the Gear S3, hasn't yet gone on sale. Motorola, on the other hand, has been a victim of its own success, due to the fact that many vendors sold out of the first and second generations of its Moto 360 device. Autumn 2016 also marks the first time in several years that Motorola has not released a smartwatch in the run up to the holidays.
A major contributing factor to the decline in smartwatch shipments is Google's decision to hold back Android 2.0, said IDC wearables research manager Ramon Llamas. "Collectively, this left vendors relying on older, ageing devices to satisfy customers."
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