Apple Maintains Smartwatch Throne in Q1... Samsung Falls to 3rd Behind Huawei

[Asia Economy Reporter Joselgina] Apple Watch, leading the smartwatch market, maintained its number one market share position in the first quarter. Samsung Electronics slipped to third place, overtaken by Huawei.

According to market research firm Canalys on the 18th, Apple Watch's market share in the global smartwatch market in the first quarter was 36.3%. Shipments were estimated at 5.2 million units, down 13% from the previous year. Phone Arena reported, "Launched in April 2015, the Apple Watch is currently the most popular watch in the world."

Apple Watch's market share fell about 10 percentage points from 46.7% in the same period last year. This was due to intensified market competition and the direct impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it still held the top spot and recorded a higher market share than the combined shares of the manufacturers ranked second to fourth.

Huawei took second place. Huawei's smartwatch shipments in the first quarter increased 113% year-on-year to 2.1 million units. Its market share expanded to 14.9% from 7.9% in the same period last year.

Due to Huawei's rapid growth, Samsung Electronics was pushed down to third place. Samsung's smartwatch market share, which was close to double digits at 9.6% in the first quarter of last year, rose to 12.4% in the first quarter of this year but could not keep pace with Huawei's growth. Samsung's first-quarter smartwatch shipments, represented by the Galaxy Watch, were 1.8 million units.

Following were Garmin (7.3%, 1.1 million units) and Fitbit (6.2%, 900,000 units).

Total smartwatch shipments in the first quarter reached 14.3 million units, up 12% year-on-year. Canalys conveyed the atmosphere, stating, "Despite the impact of COVID-19, the growth trend of smartwatches continues." By region, North America, which had driven the smartwatch market, fell below one-third of total shipments for the first time. Meanwhile, shipments in China increased by 66%.

Research analyst Cynthia Chen predicted, "Due to the offensive by Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo, and others, China will become a key growth engine for smartwatches." Xiaomi, targeting the market with cost-effectiveness, recently released the Mi Band 5 equipped with artificial intelligence (AI).

Samsung Electronics is also expected to unveil a new smartwatch, tentatively named Galaxy Watch 3, ahead of the Galaxy Unpacked event scheduled for August. Apple is also expected to introduce the Apple Watch 6 (tentative name) in the second half of the year, significantly enhancing healthcare functions such as blood sugar measurement, oxygen saturation, and pulse measurement.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.