After a lot of struggles and some disappointments, Fitbit may finally have another hit on its hands. The company said on Monday that it has shipped over 1 million of its new Versa smartwatches in less than two months since the device went on sale. Fitbit also said that more than 2.4 million customers had started using its female-oriented health tracking feature since it went online a few weeks ago.
The $200 Versa, Fitbit’s second try at a smartwatch, is the fastest selling product in the company’s history and the top-selling smartwatch on Amazon right now. The company’s first smartwatch effort, the $300 Ionic, was larger and a bit clunkier and didn’t sell as well after it went on sale last October.
The Versa’s popularity vindicates several design decisions made by CEO James Park and his team. The Versa is smaller than Ionic, fitting better on women’s wrists, and it also costs 33% less. The Versa lacks the Ionic’s GPS tracking capability, but that apparently wasn’t a big enough draw to make Ionic a hit.
Fitbit’s shares gained less than 1% to trade at $5.54 at mid-morning on Monday. The company could use a hit, as sales of its more basic fitness trackers have plummeted and Fitbit’s stock has dropped more than 70% since it went public in 2015.
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The news also comes as analysts report that growth in the wearables market nearly came to a compete halt in the first quarter. Shipments of smartwatches and other high-tech wearables increased just 1% in the quarter from a year ago to 25.1 million units, market tracker International Data Corp. Reported on Monday. The overall picture reflects two very different trends. Sales in the larger segment of low-cost fitness trackers dropped 9%, while sales of higher-end smartwatches like the Versa and the Apple Watch surged 28%. Sales of sensor-laden clothing, while still a tiny fraction of the overall market, jumped 59%.
Among wearables makers, IDC said Apple (AAPL) took the top spot with 16% of the market. Chinese gadget maker Xiaomi was second with a 15% share and Fitbit (FIT) ranked third in the market it once dominated with 9% share. Huawei ranked fourth with 5.2%, closely trailed by Garmin (GRMN) in fifth place with a 5% share.