IDC: Half the smartwatch market will belong to Apple Watch

Research firm International Data Corporation (IDC) has released its report on the smartwatch market and predicts good time for Apple. The report predicts that Apple Watch will capture 49.9 percent of the market by the end of this year, selling 14 million units.

The IDC also predicts that Android Wear will hold 21.4 percent market share and smartwatches running Real-Time Operating Systems (RTOS) will come in third with a five percent share.

Apple for the first time beat Swiss watches in sales and held 63 percent share in Q4 last year, reports Apple Insider. IDC believes that Apple's share will fall further in the beginning of 2016 as the launch of the successor to the original Apple Watch will draw closer, which will prompt prospective buyers to put off their purchase.

The report also predicts that Apple's market share will plummet further with other OSs eating into its share. According to the report, as more device manufacturers embrace the Android Wear platform, the market share held by the Google-owned wearable OS will rise to 35 percent in 2020. This figure, when combined with Android-powered smartwatches, will rise to 40.2 percent. Apple's watchOS, the report predicts, will power 37.6 percent of the devices, still maintaining its position as market leader.

Despite the loss in market share, it's safe to still say that all is not bad for Apple as the report predicts an increase in sales. The IDC says that in 2020, Apple will manage to sell 31 million units. Android Wear alone will power 28.8 million devices and this number will shoot up to 33.2 million when Android-powered devices are factored in.