Dubai: Smartwatch maker Garmin posted the largest year-over-year increase among the leading vendors despite Apple maintaining its position as the overall leader.

Garmin grew year on year 324.2 per cent in the third quarter while Apple suffered 71.6 per cent and Lenovo by 73.3 per cent.

Samsung ended the quarter nine per cent higher from a year ago on the strength of its ageing Gear S2 smartwatches.

Samsung’s 1.3-inch Gear S3, announced at IFA in September, can be pre-ordered in the UAE from October 27 to November 12. The pre-order can be made with an amount of Dh1,399, and the product will be available by November 16. Customers who pre-order the Gear S3 will also receive two complimentary straps as part of the offer.

The worldwide smartwatch market experienced a round of growing pains in the third quarter of 2016, resulting in a year-over-year decline in shipment volumes.

Whereas other smartwatches attempt to be multi-purpose devices, Garmin’s smartwatches focus on health and fitness, and the applications reflect that strategy. Its total volumes helped close the gap further against a declining Apple and extended its lead ahead over Samsung.

According to research data from the International Data Corporation, (IDC) total smartwatch volumes reached 2.7 million units, a decrease of 51.6 per cent from the 5.6 million units shipped during the same period last year.

Although the decline is significant, it is worth noting that third quarter of 2015 was the first time Apple’s Watch had widespread retail availability after a limited online launch. Meanwhile, the second generation Apple Watch was only available in the last two weeks of third quarter of this year.

“The sharp decline in smartwatch shipment volumes reflects the way platforms and vendors are realigning,” said Ramon Llamas, research manager for IDC’s wearables team.

He said that Apple revealed a new look and feel to watches that did not arrive until the launch of the second generation watch at the end of September. Google’s decision to hold back Android Wear 2.0 has repercussions for its OEM partners as to whether to launch devices before or after the holidays.

Jitesh Ubrani, senior research analyst at IDC, said that the present smartwatches are not for everyone. Having a clear purpose and use case is paramount, hence many vendors are focusing on fitness due to its simplicity.

However, moving forward, he said that differentiating the experience of a smartwatch from the smartphone will be key and we’re starting to see early signs of this as cellular integration is rising and as the commercial audience begins to pilot these devices.