The wearable band market grew over 150% as more than 7 million units were shipped in the first quarter of 2015, according to Canalys (www.canalys.com).

First place Fitbit saw major year-on-year volume growth, while greatly increased shipments of the affordable Mi Band, predominantly in China, secured Xiaomi second place. Garmin also had a strong quarter and rolled out two new products in its vívo line, says the research group. Canalys forecasts that 20 million Apple Watches will be shipped in 2015.

"Despite the Apple Watch requiring an iPhone, Apple’s impending entrance in quarter two had a negative impact on vendors such as Samsung. Discounting has been used to clear inventory in the channel," says Canalys Vice President and Principal Analyst Chris Jones. "The Apple Watch has set the benchmark for other smart watches and will make up the majority of shipments this year."

Wearable band shipment data is taken from Canalys’ Wearable Technology Analysis service, which provides quarterly market tracking, including country-level estimates. Canalys defines basic wearable bands as devices serving a specific set of purposes that act as accessories to smart devices, are designed to be worn on the body and not carried, and cannot run third-party computing applications.

Smart watches are multi-purpose devices that serve as accessories to smart devices, are bands designed to be worn on the body and not carried, run an operating system, and are capable of running third-party computing applications. Bands are wearables designed to be wrapped around the body and do not include activity trackers in the form of clips.