We imagine there's some intense nail biting going on over at Fitbit Towers. On the eve of its IPO, the San Francisco startup is not only facing a legal challenge from long-time rival Jawbone, there's also now a threat from further afield in terms of activity tracking domination.
Earlier this month we reported that Fitbit was leading the way with regards to wearable tech shipments – with 3.9 million in the Q1 2015 period and a market share of 34.2% – thanks to the launches of the Fitbit Charge, Charge HR and Surge.
Wareable verdict: Xiaomi Mi Band review
However, those IDC figures state Fitbit's share has dropped over 10%, with Xiaomi now its biggest rival. The Chinese company recorded 2.8 million shipments, compared to zero in Q1 2014.
And now reports are circulating that the $15 Mi Band has sold 6 million units in total. With an estimated 4 million total sales up to mid-April (based on a 1 million estimate for 2014 plus the Q1 IDC data) that means Xiaomi is now selling around a million fitness trackers per month. That will only grow with Xiaomi's new online store for Europe and the US.
Essential reading: Best fitness trackers 2015
Without knowing individual product breakdowns for Fitbit it's impossible to declare categorically that the Xiaomi Mi Band is the biggest selling fitness tracker in the world but it's certainly looking that way.
Wareable has a Mi Band strapped on its wrist right now and we'll be bringing you a full review later this week.
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By Paul Lamkin
Wareable Media Group co-CEO Paul launched Wareable with James Stables in 2014, after working for a variety of the UK's biggest and best consumer tech publications including Pocket-lint, Forbes, Electric Pig, Tech Digest, What Laptop, T3 and has been a judge for the TechRadar Awards.
Prior to founding Wareable, and subsequently The Ambient, he was the senior editor of MSN Tech and has written for a range of publications.