A Chinese smartwatch brand that targets kids aged from four to 15 has overtaken Apple Watch to become the second top selling brand in China, according to new market research.
Imoo, widely known in China as “Little Genius”, accounted for 21 per cent of the country’s smartwatch market in the second quarter, surpassing Apple to rank second, only behind smartphone giant Huawei Technologies, according to a report from research firm Counterpoint.
The brand benefited from the high demand in the first full back-to-school quarter after the pandemic lockdown was lifted in China, according to the report, which noted that multiple offline retail stores also contributed to its growth. Meanwhile, features such as remote notification to parents of abnormal body temperatures in their children have proven popular amid rising health awareness in the post-Covid era.
Other functions allowing parents to remotely monitor their children include real-time location tracking, which has proven helpful for parents needing to pick up their kids after school.
In the second quarter, China’s smartwatch shipments rose 5 per cent year on year, signalling a recovery that was “slightly better than we had predicted”, said Bai Shenghao, a senior analyst at Counterpoint. That marked a stark contrast with the 10 per cent year-on-year decrease in the same period in 2022, as consumer demand contracted due to Covid-19 lockdowns and negative economic growth, according to Counterpoint.
The Imoo watch brand was founded in 2010 by Chinese entrepreneur Jin Zhijiang, under Guangdong-based consumer electronics conglomerate BBK Electronics, which also gave rise to popular Chinese smartphone firms including Oppo and Vivo.
The first generation of the watch was launched in 2015, and has since gained wide popularity after introducing functions designed for school-age kids at relatively low prices.
The gadget sells for between a few hundred yuan to nearly 2,000 yuan (US$276), compared with Apple Watch which has a starting price of 1,999 yuan.
The latest model launched earlier this year, called Z9, included features such as video and voice calling, photos and video recording, as well as body temperature monitoring. The new model offers upgraded location services that are able to notify parents which floor in a building their children are on, according to the product’s official website.
The China Industry Research Institute found that out of 170 million children aged 5 to 12 in China, nearly one in three had a smartwatch, according to a report by official media People.cn in May. The market penetration rate in urban areas was over 50 per cent, it added.