What you need to know

  • The Apple Watch continues to be the most popular wearable.
  • It saw shipments rise 22% in 2018 thanks to the popularity of the Series 4.
  • Apple still claims the largest market share for wearables.

The Apple Watch remains as popular as ever with shipments of Apple's wearable growing 22% in 2018. That number comes from Counterpoint Research data, which tracked how Apple Watch sales progressed over the year.

The impressive performance in 2018 was in large part due to the instant success of the Series 4. Apple introduced a new, bigger display and health-related features that offered something tangibly new with the product for the first time since the Series 1, and thus customers jumped at the opportunity to purchase one.

Counterpoint Research Analyst, Satyajit Sinha, said, "Apple Watch shipments grew a solid 22% YoY in 2018. Apple Watch Series 4 was the star performer. It sold 11.5 million units during 2018, making it the best-selling model for the year. We believe its success was due to its focus on health-related features like ECG and fall detection. Further, it speaks volumes of how far Apple has come with Apple Watch as a meaningful health device.

With everything taken into account, the Series 4 remained Apple's most popular model of the Apple Watch along with being the most popular wearable. It was closely followed by the Apple Watch Series 3, Fit Versa, Imoo Z3 and Apple Watch Series 2.

Apple still holds on to best wearable market share at 37%, though it did shrink a little as more competition continues to challenge it. Regardless, Apple still remains the wearable king and with the innovations offered in watchOS 6, look for that to remain the case for a while.

Best Apple Watch in 2019