Apple Watch Isn’t the Best-Selling Wearable

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Apple is failing to have the same type of success with its watches that it's used to with its other devices. Fast Company reports that a new study from market intelligence firm IDC shows 11.6 million Apple Watches were reportedly shipped in 2015. (We should mention shipped means sold to vendors and represents something different than the amount actually purchased by consumers.)

That figure has already vaulted Apple into the third spot among wearable makers. A pretty big success when you consider that Apple Watches have only been on sale to the public for nine months and wearables is a new category for the tech giant.

Apple is a very close second to the world's second biggest wearables maker, Xiaomi. However, the company that is still standing tall in the category is Fitbit. Fitbit has a large lead over Apple having shipped 21 million of its wearables during 2015.

Garmin and Samsung were a distant fourth and fifth with 3.3 and 3.1 units shipped, respectively.

This comes after a disappointing holiday sales period for the gadget. CNN reports that Apple only shipped 4.1 million watches during the last three months. Analysts predicted them to move at least 5 million. "Around the world though, there's been muted demand for the Apple Watch," IDC analyst Jitesh Ubrani tells CNN. "People don't see the value just yet."

The Apple Watch has been pushed onto the fashion world since the second it was announced, with large-scale spreads in Vogue and partnerships with Hermès and the Met Gala or slightly gimmicky check-in tricks with Tommy Hilfiger. It's hard to say whether these efforts are paying off, but it's now clear that the Apple Watch is working for someone.