Samsung has been seeing some rather decent growth in the wearable segment through the majority of 2020, a company executive revealed. In an interview held during this year's East Tech West conference, Samsung Electronics SVP Taejong Jay Yang said that global wearable sales grew by at least 30% this year, adding that some periods were even much more explosive than that. This is all in spite of the fact that this year's happenings resulted in people spending less time away from home.
On the other hand, the lingering health concerns that 2020 placed front and center made many people more conscientious about health analytics. Something modern wearables are well-versed in, as Taejong explained, pointing to that trend as a major factor driving the recent growth on a global scale. The executive refused to disclose any Samsung-specific figures.
Wearable sales and profits are wildly different things
While added sales momentum can hardly be a bad thing, it's worth pointing out that a 30% growth isn't necessarily a cause for celebration at Samsung. Because the market is already ultra-competitive, and things will only get worse for manufacturers should Google succeed in acquiring Fitbit. Meaning sustainable growth may require a bigger boost to both sales and profit margins.
Not to mention the fact that the cited figure is an industry-wide remark, so it's possible that Samsung's own business hasn't been following the same trajectory. As suggested by the fact Taejong only reflected on it in passing. Moreover, Samsung has been giving away quite a lot of its wearables in recent months, usually to new buyers of its latest flagships such as the Galaxy S20 Fan Edition. This, too, would suggest the firm overestimated global demand and its ability to compete, leaving it with a large stock of unsold inventory.
