• by Chuck Martin , March 5, 2019

Shipments of wearable devices grew 31% during the fourth quarter, hitting a new high of 59 million devices, according to a new forecast by the International Data Corporation (IDC).

Shipments for the entire year grew 28% from the previous year, with 172 million wearables shipped.

For the quarter, smartwatches grew 55%, accounting for 34% of the overall market. Wrist bands accounted for 30% and ear-worn devices accounted for 22%.

Apple continued its market lead, shipping 16 million devices, of which 10 million were Apple Watches with the rest being AirPods and Beats headphones.

Xiaomi in China followed Apple, shipping 8 million devices for 13% market share. Huawei and Fitbit each shipped 6 million devices and Samsung shipped 4 million in the quarter.

For the year, Apple leads in market share (27%), followed by Xiaomi (14%), Fitbit (8%), Huawei (7%) and Samsung (6%).