A new report from International Data Corporation (IDC) has found the wearables market is booming, but while Apple, Inc. is adding to the overall growth of the market, Fitbit, Inc. is the market leader.

The report found that vendors shipped a total of 27.4 million units during the fourth quarter of 2015, up over the same quarter in 2014 by 126.9 percent, while for the full year 2015 units shipped came in at 78.1 million, up a whopping 171.6 percent over 2014.

Apple shipped an estimated 11.6 million Apple Watches for the full year, meaning it saw solid growth in the holiday quarter after IDC reported it had shipped 3.9 million in Q3, but only enough so it now ranks in third place in the wearable market with a 14.9 percent market share.

In second place was Chinese upstart Xiaomi, Inc. with its focus on inexpensive fitness trackers in China said to have driven the shipping of 12 million units for the calendar year, for 15.4 percent of the market.

Fitbit though ruled the roost, shipping 21 million units in 2015, up 92.9 percent compared to 2014, for a 21 percent share of the market.

Going mainstream

The report noted specifically that 2015 was the year wearables started to enter the mainstream.

“Triple-digit growth highlights growing interest in the wearables market from both end-users and vendors,” IDC Research Manager for Wearables Ramon Llamas said in a statement. “It shows that wearables are not just for the technophiles and early adopters; wearables can exist and are welcome in the mass market. And since wearables have yet to fully penetrate the mass market, there is still plenty of room for growth in multiple vectors: new vendors, form factors, applications, and use cases. This will help propel the market further.”

Innovation was cited as the key for future growth, with Llamas adding “What is warranted is continued innovation and development… The market can only get so far with ‘me too’ and ‘copycat’ wearable devices. End-users expect improvement from what they have now, and new applications to spur replacement and increased adoption.”

It should be noted that the figures are estimations based on retail data, so the actual sales figures may be somewhat different. However, IDC has a decent track record of getting close to the mark.

While the numbers are great news for Fitbit, the company itself is predicting slower growth in the year ahead as competition continues to heat up; Apple, on the other hand, had a decent enough first year of sales for its Apple Watch, be it below original market expectations.

There are some predictions that a new Apple Watch and/or Apple Watch accessories may be coming as soon as March, so Apple may yet have another shot at producing a product that may grow to market leader versus one that lands it in third place only.

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