Samsung ships 500,000 smartwatches in Q1 2014, smartwatch market doubles in size

Samsung already dominates global smartphone sales, capturing a leading 29 percent of the market. Now, the company is first place in the smartwatch race, holding a market share of 71 percent.

The company shipped 500,000 smartwatches in the first quarter of this year, according to research from insights firm Strategic Analysis. Note that shipments of the Gear 2, Gear 2 Neo, and Gear Fit watches are not counted in these numbers, as these devices went on sale in April.

Around 700,000 smartwatches from all manufacturers were shipped in the first quarter, further highlighting Samsung’s dominance over the market. Smartwatch shipments grew an astounding 250 percent from this time last year.

And the smartwatch market may not be done growing yet. With the upcoming release of Android Wear, Google’s OS designed specifically for wearable devices, and the big players’ deep advertising pockets, more people may become interested in bringing computing to their wrists.

While these numbers reflect the total amount of smartwatches shipped and thus don’t reflect the final amount of smartwatches sold to consumers, they’re still important for many reasons. Stores don’t order products with the expectation that they won’t sell, so these numbers are a good indicator that retailers believe the devices will become popular.