'Apple has won the wearables game' - analyst

Canalys claims Apple is the clear leader in the wearables market after seeing shipments of its Apple Watch rocket over 50 per cent in 2017

Apple shipped 18 million of its smartwatches last year making it the clear leader in the wearable devices market, according to Canalys.

Shipments for the Apple watch were up 56 per cent year on year in 2017, with the most recent Series 3 model accounting for just under half of these shipments.

Senior Canalys analyst Jason Low said: "Apple has won the wearables game.

"Despite innovative designs, such as the rotating bezels and circular screens employed by other vendors, Apple has pulled far ahead as it continues to focus on its core iPhone user base.

"Its recent updates to the Series 3, such as GymKit and Apple Heart Study, are proving to offer compelling use cases, encouraging users to spend more on accessories."

Canalys also picked out strong sales of the cellular version of the Series 3 - which sees the watch connect directly to a network carrier - as being key to the growth.

This version is the fastest selling smartwatch on the market, according to Canalys, with its shipments doubling quarter on quarter in Q4 of 2017.

Apple published its quarterly results last week, claiming that Q4 was the best quarter the Apple Watch has ever had.

When combined with the Beats and AirPods headphones ranges, Apple said its total revenue for wearables was up 70 per cent year on year.