Why Apple Watch Is Losing to Fitbit

Just two years ago, smartwatches -- especially the Apple Watch -- were expected to kill off simple fitness bands that only measure physical activity. Instead, fitness trackers are growing at smartwatches' expense. That makes sense: Users don't want to pay extra for unnecessary or duplicating functionality.

On Dec. 5, the tech market analytics company IDC released a report on wearables showing that Apple Watch's share of unit shipments was down to 4.9 percent in the three months through September. It was 17.5 percent in the same quarter of 2015. Apple sold 1.1 million of the gadgets, down from 3.9 million. Samsung almost caught up, selling 1 million smartwatches. All the other major wearable makers produce fitness bands, cheap smartwatches or both, rather than upscale, made-to-impress watches like Apple's or Samsung's.