Apple Shipped 11.6 Million Apple Watches In 2015, Says IDC

In 2015, Apple shipped 11.6 million Apple Watches, a new report from research firm IDC has revealed. That makes Apple the third-largest wearable maker last year, a period during which the Apple Watch was only available for nine months.

The news should be of great interest to competitors and technology pundits since Apple has yet to break out official sales numbers for the device. In its quarterly financial reports, Apple groups the Apple Watch into the company’s “Other Products” category, which includes multiple devices, services, and accessories.

With Apple’s 11.6 million Watches shipped in 2015, it comfortably sits in third place over other wearable makers. Garmin and Samsung come in a distant fourth and fifth with 3.3 and 3.1 million wearable units, respectively, shipped in 2015. Apple is also nipping at the heals of number-two wearable maker Xiaomi, which shipped 12 million wearables in 2015.

But the company has a lot of catching up to do to catch the world’s largest wearable maker, Fitbit. That company shipped 21 million wearables last year. In total, 78.1 million wearables were sold in 2015—a staggering year-over-year growth of 171.6% from the 28.8 million wearables sold in 2014.

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