The global smartwatch market is seeing some interesting changes, according to a new report. Experts at Counterpoint Research, a company that studies tech markets worldwide, recently shared their findings. They noted that smartwatch sales have dipped for five straight quarters.
Looking at the first three months of 2025, global smartwatch sales dropped by 2% compared to the same time last year. However, not all news is gloomy. The smartwatch market in China is booming. Sales there shot up by a whopping 37% during that same period.
Counterpoint Research points to two main reasons for this ongoing slowdown in the bigger picture. First, Apple’s smartwatch sales have started to decline. Second, India’s tech market, which is usually quite strong, has cooled down for smartwatches. India was a major growth engine for these devices before.
Apple still holds the biggest slice of the global smartwatch pie, with 20% of the market. But their sales dropped by 9%. Meanwhile, Chinese tech giant Huawei is making big moves. They now have 16% of the global market. Their sales soared by 53%. Xiaomi, another major player from China, also saw strong growth. Their market share jumped from 6% last year to 10%, with sales also increasing by 53%. Samsung, a South Korean tech leader, saw its market share shrink from 9% to 7%.
Consumers seem to be changing their minds about what they want in a smartwatch. More people are buying watches with higher price tags and more features. The segment for watches priced between $100 and $200 saw sales go up by 21%. On the flip side, watches costing under $100 saw their sales drop by 17%.
Despite the current challenges, Counterpoint Research believes the smartwatch market will see a small rebound later in 2025. They expect sales to increase by about 3%.