• by Chuck Martin , February 12, 2019

Dollar sales of smartwatches in the U.S. increased 51% totaling nearly $5 billion in sales, according to a new forecast from the NPD Group.

Unit sales increased 61% from the previous year for the 12 months ending in November 2018.

The top three brands, Apple, Samsung and Fitbit, comprised 88% of smartwatch unit sales during the timeframe while traditional watch makers such as Fossil and Garmin expanded their product lines into the smartwatch category.

“Over the last 18 months smartwatch sales gained strong momentum, proving the naysayers, who didn’t think the category could achieve mainstream acceptance, had potentially judged too soon,” stated Weston Henderek, director, industry analyst for NPD Connected Intelligence. “The ability to be truly connected via built-in LTE without the need to have a smartphone nearby proved to be a tipping point for consumers, as they now recognize the value in being able to complete a wide range of tasks on the device including receiving notifications, messaging, accessing smart home controls, and more.”

Increasing from 12% the previous year, 16% of U.S. adults now own a smartwatch, according to NPD. Fifteen percent of smartwatch owners now claim to use their devices to control home automation devices.