"Catch Apple" Samsung Narrows Smartwatch Market Share Gap... Surpasses Huawei to Take 2nd Place

[Asia Economy Reporter Eunmo Koo] Samsung Electronics reclaimed the 2nd place spot in the global smartwatch market in Q3, overtaking Huawei with the launch of the Galaxy Watch4.

According to market research firm Counterpoint Research on the 22nd (local time), global smartwatch shipments in the third quarter of this year increased by 16% compared to the same period last year.

Samsung Electronics achieved its highest quarterly shipment volume, narrowing the gap with Apple and swapping positions with Huawei, thanks to the launch of the Watch4. The Watch4 series expanded its app ecosystem by using Google's Wear OS based on Android instead of the previous Tizen operating system (OS), and offered two models, Basic and Classic, broadening user choice. Newly added healthcare features such as body composition measurement have also received positive responses.

Lim Sujeong, Senior Researcher at Counterpoint Research, said, "The shipment volume of the Watch4 series was higher than expected, with more than 60% of total shipments sold in North America and Europe, where mid-to-high-end models have a high market share," and analyzed, "Samsung Electronics is expected to release low-priced models targeting the Asian market within 2 to 3 years to increase its market share."

Apple maintained its 1st place position in Q3. However, its market share dropped by more than 10% year-over-year due to the delay of the Apple Watch7 launch to Q4. The 3rd place was taken by Amazfit, which is popular in Europe.

There were also changes in the OS market. Google's Wear OS showed growth as Samsung Electronics used it in the Watch4. Google recorded a 17% market share in Q3, up 13 percentage points from 4% in the previous quarter. Meanwhile, Apple's watchOS market share slightly declined from 28% to 22%.

Researcher Lim said, "Google has not yet achieved significant results in the wearable OS market, but starting this year, its partnership with Samsung has laid the groundwork to expand its presence in the OS market," adding, "It seems Google is now ready to transform into a more open wearable platform."

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