While smartphone shipments are expected to decline in 2026, the smartwatch market seems to be doing fairly well, having grown 4% year-over-year in 2025. This doesn’t necessarily mean this trend will continue throughout 2026, as smartwatches contain both RAM and storage components, and the shortages are bound to impact smartwatches at some point.
However, it’s worth noting that this 4% increase last year followed a decline from the previous year. So, smartwatches are on an uptick at the moment. Interestingly, Samsung, which is one of the more popular smartwatch brands out there, saw a significant decline in shipments in 2025. The company saw 12% fewer shipments in 2025 than it did in 2024, amounting to an overall 2% decline in year-over-year growth. Apple, Huawei, and other Chinese brands, however, all saw increases.
Huawei and Apple were the biggest contributors to 2025 smartwatch market growth
In terms of growth for smartwatches last year, Huawei and Apple were the biggest contributors. Huawei saw the most growth with an increase of 4% YoY growth, according to Counterpoint Research. Apple and Xiaomi both saw a 1% growth increase YoY.
As for shipment changes, Huawei saw 30% more smartwatch shipments in 2025 than it did the previous year. Xiaomi saw an increase of 18% more shipments, while Apple saw an increase of 8%. Despite all of this, Apple still had the largest market share for smartwatches in 2025. According to Counterpoint’s data, it had 23% market share. Huawei was next at 17%, followed by Xiaomi at 9%, then Samsung and Imoo at 7%, and then finally all other brands at a combined 37%.
Interestingly, higher-priced smartwatches, such as the Apple Watch, grew the most. These more premium offerings increased in shipments by 5%. This is compared to more affordable offerings, specifically those that were less than $200, decreasing in shipments by 9%. Signifying that consumers are currently leaning more toward premium smartwatch models, despite the larger price tags.
