Fitbit still remains king, as fitness tracker spending doubles
Research group NDP reports sales of fitness trackers have doubled in a year.
The market experienced $1.46 billion in sales in 2015, up from $692 million the previous year. This is despite the average selling price increasing from $96 to $109 and industry factors like the release of high-profile smartwatches.
During the big year, Fitbit remained the top fitness tracker brand in 2015, accounting for 79 percent of sales. Many industry predicted that Fitbit market share would fall thanks to the introduction of the Apple Watch in 2015. However, Fitbit share grew more than 20 percent during the year.
"Despite slightly lower overall awareness of the fitness tracker category, fitness trackers are still showing strong sales and ownership, which shows that the category still has more headroom for growth, while strong awareness has not yet translated into more robust sales for smartwatches," said Weston Henderek, Director of NPD Connected Intelligence.
The US market for fitness trackers stood at nearly 33 million devices at the end of Q4 2015, while smartwatch ownership--including more traditional watches with smartphone notification capabilities--stood at almost 13 million.
It looks like the Apple Watch has not put as much of a damper on fitness tracker sales as expected. People likely became more aware of smartwatches thanks to the Apple Watch and then found fitness trackers like the Fitbit to be a cheaper, better entry-level option than a $350 smartwatch.